Brother has an 05; What to get him for X-mas?

[glhs]

His truck is bone stock with 10,000 miles. He complains about the mileage and says it gets 14 mpg empty. He also complains about the slow and slushy shifting auto. He wants better mileage and better shifting. Any suggestions? If I could resolve just one of the issues that would be OK. Looking to spend around $4-500. If some performance modules could add power and mileage, even better.

Kurt

 

[CBrahs]

with it being as new as it is and still under warranty I would get him the SMARTY. the only downfall is that it is a bit more than you wanted to spend. The good thing is that he would be able to return it to stock settings and the dealer would not be able to trace the software.

 

[Cummins724]

Edge juice w/attitude is a good choice. It monitors egt's, turbo boost, transmission slip protection & defuels the engine to prevent excessive egts & many other features/protection. It would be like getting gauges & a performance module in one great package.

 

[jltcasper3]

For a performance product i would 100% go with smarty.

 

[BigDan]

Make sure he knows the consequences of adding any power adder. They will void his warranty if they find out and every electronic power adder except the Smarty will leave some evidence left behind should a prolbem occur.



My vote is the Smarty. See if someone else will donate some $$$ because its definetly worth it if he wants to keep his warranty. If not hen there's lots of other cheaper ways to add hp.



merry christmas

 

[Giachino]

I vote smarty, best investment i've made in my truck..... power, mileage and drivability..... but i qualify this with his personality... . if he's not going to have the self control to keep it on level 1 (30hp) or level 3 (60hp, what I use), you're setting him up to have a big fat transmission bill!... . but you face that issue with any powerful power adder!



Good luck and let me know if you ever want an additional brother!

 

[Diesel Nut]

Smarty is nice because it will help his mileage (when he can stay off it) and be completely undetectable by the dealer.

 

[glhs]

Thanks guys, I now have two ideas for power and mileage. How much is Smarty?

What about the transmission? He may upgrade the transmission himself.

 

[RobertP]

well i guess you have already been told the smarty is the way to go. i think you could get away telling him that this is this years and next years gift because he will still be happy with it then



Robert

 

[Smokin Joes 2500]

I vote smarty, best investment i've made in my truck..... power, mileage and drivability..... but i qualify this with his personality... . if he's not going to have the self control to keep it on level 1 (30hp) or level 3 (60hp, what I use), you're setting him up to have a big fat transmission bill!... . but you face that issue with any powerful power adder!



Good luck and let me know if you ever want an additional brother!

I agree thats what Im thinkin as I roll through these post, "well that smarty oughta' cure that mushy converter" :-laf

 

[Smokin Joes 2500]

Id get him a good quality air filer set up with the sheilding box or a nice exhaust system, may help mileage a little, probably not a lot though, but leave it alone, these trucks run good stock and theyre reliable. Go modifying and its hard to turn back, you loose some of the reliability and more $$$$$

 

[JMalone]

Id get him a good quality air filer set up with the sheilding box or a nice exhaust system, may help mileage a little, probably not a lot though, but leave it alone, these trucks run good stock and theyre reliable. Go modifying and its hard to turn back, you loose some of the reliability and more $$$$$

He read my mind... I got a AEM Brute Force for $240 shipped, but I think there's folks getting them even cheaper now... I noticed about a . 5 mpg improvement right off the bat. There's a lot of talk about the AEM Work Horse now... I ordered my BF before I even heard of it...

 

[bighornram]

Aren't you my long lost brother?

 

[BigDan]

An intake and exhast will leave nothing but a big hole in his wallet. Ive had 3 CTD and all 3 of them I installed intake and exhaust and I didnt notice a dang thing in either performance or MPG. I live up in the mountains and its hard to get consistant mpg and I dont run around with a caculator and pen and paper and I also cant afford to always top off the tanks when im on empty a $3+ a gallon = over $100.



He already has a factory 4" mandrel bent exhaust stock. I'd be really upset if I got an air filter and a redundant exhaust system when I know I could of had a Smarty.



P. S these arnt normal trannies and most of us invest $4,000-$6,000 in a transmission rebuild alone that can hold the extra power. The Smarty will give you an honest 170HP increase at the rear wheels and that will trash a stock transmission.

 

[Rhinohd]

CHROME!!!! Less resistance = more MPG LMAO...

 

[Cummins724]

P. S these arnt normal trannies and most of us invest $4,000-$6,000 in a transmission rebuild alone that can hold the extra power. The Smarty will give you an honest 170HP increase at the rear wheels and that will trash a stock transmission.

This is why the juice was recommended..... transmission protection is important. I really like the juice w/attitude, because of the safety factor with a stock truck. My brother has the triple dog w/crazy larry & loves the 230hp increase. He bought a juice & was gonna stack the t-dog, but guys say that they don't stack well together. I have the juice sitting on my shelf & trying to sell it in the classifieds. I want to get one for my 99, but funds are tight with a wedding in January. It will be in my signature shortly after my walk down the plank though.

 

[nick05]

gauges for starters. not that it will help anything he wants, but it's good insurance.

maybe intake and a muffler elimination pipe from geno's to help him with power adders in the long run.

 

[glhs]

One hundred seventy more hp! Why couldn't first gens be that easy.

So with Smarty no egt protection or gauges?

Would a converter and valve body do some good?

I'm sure he would keep his foot out of it most of the time... ..... until I come to visit.

 

[BigDan]

Well why dont you just ask him if he's willing to invest a fair ammount money in the future because I can just see him comming to the dark side. .



Seriously though it never stops... . Unless he has the self control to keep it on the 30hp setting its going to have an adverse effect on certian parts on his truck. Adding on thing will always make another part more questionable. Like fiest a Smarty and then gauges, and then transmission work and then a turbo and then a fuel system, ect... . ect It goes on for quite a while and requires alot of $$$ to be able to safely operate our trucks once you turn that electronic on high.



I dont know what your brothers like so you better ask because he may just be happier with some other items like air intake and a replacement muffler oh and a set of truck nutz which wont harm a thing... . and should keep his warranty intact. Maybe some clear cab lights, line of fire bar, center seat subwoofer... .



I mean there lot's of other things you can get him that wont put his marrage or relationship in jeprody when he starts spend thousands of dollars on his truck. .



Hey sorry if I was rambling on its late and I just took my meds and...



If this sounds dumb I didnt mean it but I think its a good idea.



Dan