Programmer help/Education

[bwillis1]

I have a 2007 Quad cab with the 5.9. All stock with exception to AFE air intake.

I am looking to increase fuel mileage and have the option for power/towing changes as well. (Nothing to drastic that may cause issues/damages somewhere else in my truck.)

Can any of you recommend a product to put in or what products to stay away from?

Thanks for any input.

 

[sag2]

Welcome to the TDR. I can't recommend any performance devices but can tell you that you are better off with the stock intake box and paper filter. Also the 48RE does not do well with increases in power so whatever you do be careful and use common sense.

 

[Ozymandias]

Also it would be a good start anyway to install a shiftkit to the transmission if there isn't already one installed.

 

[lpennock]

Easy answer on programmer is EFI live. The hard part is choosing thee tuner that porvides the actual tune. I used Anarcy but there are other tuners out there that do good work.

 

[Ozymandias]

Smarty is the most recommended tuner in this forum I think.

 

[lpennock]

Smarty is the most recommended tuner in this forum I think.

For 06-07 EFI is now the recommended solution. But you are correct for the 05 and earlier.

 

[Jim W]

Smarty is the most recommended tuner in this forum I think.

That was true until EFI Live appeared on the scene. Now the EFI Live is the programmer/tuner of choice among the people who chose to install a performance tune on that year of truck.

Now with that being said be ready to drop between $2,000 to $4,000 in the engine and transmission to achieve the performance improvements you are looking for. They are as follows: Tuner and program, new turbo back exhaust 4 or 5 inch, new head studs and new head gasket and gauges for the engine. These are the minimum changes for the engine. You may need to improve the fuel delivery system on the truck from the tank forward. The lift pump may not be able to support the fuel requirements. You will than need to rework the 48RE transmission to handle the extra HP/TQ that the tuner improvements will provide.

Once you start the slippery slide down the performance improvement slop; it is terrible hard to stop.

Jim

 

[mfurrh55]

That year already comes with 4"exhaust, if you are looking for a mild tune, you don't have to change out head studs either, depending on your engine/transmission miles, whether or not you would beef up the transmission for a mild tune, you don't need to spend 4,000.00 on it though

 

[Ozymandias]

Smarty JR on Performance - 920ftp and 390Hp at the Rearwheels - all Stock Engine and 4" Exhaust. Dyno Results, not to bad I think.

 

[Ozymandias]

Thanks for the Info.

For 06-07 EFI is now the recommended solution. But you are correct for the 05 and earlier.

 

[SnoKing]

Welcome to the forum. Here is my take on it having slid down the slippery slope with my 2001.5. Go drive new RAM first, then decide if you want to spend thousands of dollars on a 10 year old truck or sell it for the high dollar amount they go for and get a new one with 385HP and 900 Ft lbs of torque that you just put your hand in the door handle, climb in and push start, and enjoy! Most here also recommend the factory extended warranty, which is only the second warranty I have purchased in my life.

SNOKING

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I vote for new and larger nozzle injectors, along with a FASS fuel filter/pump set up.

 

[cerberusiam]

I would say that EFI live is A choice not necessarily THE choice for a programmer for an +07.5 truck.

A Smarty gives load and go tunes to start with that you have to buy with EFI Live. With the Smarty you have the choice of doing your own tuning also, not sure most are going to jump into EFI tuning that quick.

Smarty has some easy to load tunes for a quick mileage tune up and the ability to easily tweak a lot of the important parameters for tuning. With a Smarty Touch you have gauges AND a tuner to work with immediately.

A package with EFI may have these but just not aware of it.

The more economy oriented tunes do not require any engine or trans mods, even the mid range tunes do not require them if driving habits and modified. They are a good idea for the transmission once you start adding more than 50 HP and wanting to use is effectively but no engine mods really needed even at +100 HP tunes.

Lot of positives for both, do your research and see who you would like to deal with and how much you want to control.

 

[brods]

No free rides. There are always trade-offs. Some may not bother you, others will. Smoke was my deal breaker.

All the different settings, software updates and still I had to drive watching the tailpipe to make sure not to leave a cloud of black smoke at the wrong time. I assume part of the problem is the programmer makes more soot which coats the exhaust under normal driving. Get on it and that crap gets blown out with the high exhaust flow from the engine. The programmer really woke the truck up and did everything that it claimed to do very well, but for me the hassle of always being on guard to prevent too much smoke was not worth it. To do over I'd look at something that allows switching between the stock program and performance tunes on the fly. It would have to be a flip of the switch on the fly, not some involved on the fly procedure. Come to think about it, anybody with a TST Powermax CR want to trade? :-laf

 

[lpennock]

EFI live with CSP5 does exactly what you want.

 

[BDaugherty]

What transmission does the OP have? The way I read his post, a Smarty Jr would be ideal.
I really like "easily adjustable one the fly". My Powermax cr with r49 and 50hp injectors is ferocious on torque especially down low, but my high mile cp3 isn't up to the task at moderate power settings...not that a stock turbo could handle it anyway. While the power curves are not as smooth as a smarty, it is very adjustable and I have pretty well got it set up for daily driving with no black smoke on power level 2. In fact, my main problem is injector rattle under light load around 2k rpm, but I don't blame the tst so much as the BSM injectors.