Diesel truck - tuner / program?

[mtnrider]

Return on investment for a chip/programmer is approximately eleventybillion years.

Do it for the powa.

^ This.

Don't believe all the people saying they are getting 10000 mpg after a tuner and some small mods. Just isn't happening and they are victims of the common core math system.

I have a 06' 5.9 and I run a Smarty S06 and Edge CTS for gauges (gauges are a must with a tuner) And after playing with all the tunes and combinations of options the best I gained is around 1 mpg, maybe 2 on a good day and I drive very conservatively (all hand calculated not going by the "lie O meter").
Now power is a different story. It will really wake up your truck and give it some extra pep. With that said you need to be careful running the high hp tunes as you can start to do some damage on a stock motor.

Look around you can usually find used Smarty's for sale. Just make sure it is not locked to the previous truck. If your patient they can be found for around $300-$350.

[68Charger]

I used a die grinder and finished with 400 grit sandpaper... But my truck is a bit more old school

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Do you have 4.10 gears? That could explain the difference in mileage with your 2003 (assuming 3.73 rear end).

Yep, and I'm sure you're probably correct.

^ This.
Don't believe all the people saying they are getting 10000 mpg after a tuner and some small mods. Just isn't happening and they are victims of the common core math system.

Sort of what I'm learning more I read. I don't help my case on mileage at all, but I'm also just not looking for speed and power. I don't tow and I have a car.
I'll need to think on this more. I did a bunch of reading about this for my old truck, then haven't thought about it forever until now. Now I am again, but I think I'll have another expediture here soon that'll eat this "entertainment fundage."

[mtnrider]

I would say if you can pick a Smarty up cheap give it a try but don't do it with mpg gains in mind. Like I said you may gain 1 or 2 if your lucky but it does make the truck more "drivable" in my opinion. My truck seems much snappier on the low end now which makes it easier to drive around town.
Again you need gauges on top of that so extra expense. EGT gauge/probe is a must and also something to watch rail pressure etc. That's why I went with the CTS, covers all of them in one package.

[68Charger]

ok, since my smart-ass answer early this year I've bought a 2007.5 6.7L for my wife... and it needs deletes after she towed horse trailer up to Holyoke over the weekend.

Anyone recommend someone that does EFILive tunes? I'd like to have my own autocal for datalogging if needed. I would also be looking for a delete pipe- but I'll make my own EGR setup (I've got a mill in my garage).

[opie011]

I've been wanting to delete my '14 and do EFILIVE but hard to do with only 20k miles. I still might but my warranty should be up in little over a year. When I do decide to do it, I've read nothing but great stuff about Higher Power Performance and their customer service is top notch!
http://www.higher-power-performance.com/

[brutal]

My Edge Juice is acting weird - locking up more than usual. Damn thing is 10 years old

Edge will give me 40% off on trade. Looking at just getting the new Edge Juice CS for $497 with trade... CTS is nice, but I would need so much more stuff - mount, new probe, etc. and the CS really does all that I need.

[mtnrider]

Are you looking to have the EFI done local? The only reason I ask is I think a lot of folks on the cummins forum go through Anarchy (I think thats right) to get EFI tuning but it's not local so they send you the stuff.

I would love to do a turbo back on my 5.9 but we have stupid emissions testing here in El Paso county.

On a side note, my F'n ball joints just went south on mine. Not looking forward to changing them this weekend. Not going to be a fun job.

[DangerLee_Industries]

I've been fiddling with these since the late 90's. The smarty is by far the safest off the shelf tune (if there is such a thing) for my gen vp44 I have seen. As mentioned the Smarty/ Edge CTS I think is the best plug and play combo too.

I didn't see a significant increase in mpg until I dropped in larger injectors, larger flow VP44, larger flow lift pump, cold air intake, larger exhaust and larger turbo. You can kinda see the theme there with the parts. My gen II cummins just rolled 260k and runs like a raped ape. I average 20.3 - 22.1 mpg depending on if I'm pulling my trailer more often through the mountains or just running to Wally World. Those numbers are with the stock turbo as well and when I ran a bigger turbo setup I gained another 1.2 on average. As items wore out I just replaced with stronger/better parts including my trans that can handle around 700 horses and I'll never come close to that. These stock 47re's in my gen tend to burn up quicker with hard shifts from a tuner hence the overkill.

The older the gen the more tuneable for mpg it is for sure. Once mine rusts out around my motor I won't buy anything beyond an early 07 with the 5.9. I managed a diesel shop here in Parker for a bit and all we saw constantly were Ford 6.0's and the Cummins 6.7's with the dpf/egr issues just eating up turbos all day long with only 20 - 70k in most instances.

After all these mods my MPG stays good only when I keep my foot out of it but what fun is that! If you happen to be this way come swing by and you can take my old girl for a spin.

[DangerLee_Industries]

My Edge Juice is acting weird - locking up more than usual. Damn thing is 10 years old

Edge will give me 40% off on trade. Looking at just getting the new Edge Juice CS for $497 with trade... CTS is nice, but I would need so much more stuff - mount, new probe, etc. and the CS really does all that I need.

Good chance I have all the wiring/probes you need sitting around nib for cheap. If you decide to go to the CTS just shoot me text and I'll dig around.