RV Towing and Smarty Jr.

[prestonmck]

I would like less smoke with my Jr. as well. Are these beta down loads gonna be available on mads site?

 

[MrFixit]

Thanks Bob, Glad to see Marco is working on something. I love the power of the Jr. but the smoke has been my issue since day one. I am in the process of changing my intake to see if this helps before Marco gets the update out.



Again, thanks for the support.



Ramon

 

[pwr2tow]

A handful guys seems toi have some smoke issues. We are beta testing a less aggressive tq to see if it helps lessen the smoke for those guys.

Thanks

Thanks for the reply. I have zero smoke unless I mash the throttle. Even stock I can get a haze if I mash the throttle!!

These are diesels guys, there suppose to smoke a little getting on the throttle.

There's an old saying, "you can not please everyone", looks like Marcos trying though.

 

[PKnoerzer]

Back to the original post - I tow a small 5'er and the Smarty Jr lowered my EGT about 150 degrees and I picked up about 1/2 to 1 mpg. On levels 1 and 2 I can't get it to puff any smoke at all in cooler weather. On level 3 it puffs a little if I floor it with no boost.



I'd like to compare it to a regular Smarty, but I'd want to turn off the smoke with out having to switch programs. :-laf

 

[ronman]

Mine behaves much the same, but especially under high-load when towing and pulling away from a stop light and shifting from 2-3 or 3-4 and accelerating lightly/normally I get lots-o-smoke - no WOT needed! Granted, it's a diesel and smoke is to be expected, but it did not smoke nearly as much stock, and I'd perfer it smoke less with Jr. The side of my trailer is turning black! I have noticed this on both first and second settings and esp while towing under high load.

I can make my Jr. smoke a little if I'm doing about 25 mph, and the transmission is in 3rd or 2nd. and I floor it. It smokes a little till the turbo lights, and the transmission upshifts, and then it is all clean out.

 

[MrFixit]

In reading Bob's and Marco's reply's, it would appear that they will try to please everyone. It might take a little time but the customer service from what I can see is excellent!



For my smoke issues, I will clarify a little more (06 mega auto 3:73 stock). First off, I have only tried level 1 and 2. On level 1, I see a little smoke (not bad) accelerating moderatly from a stop light. No biggie, these are diesels like Pwr2tow says. While cruising on the freeway, if I "mash" it to pass, I get a good puff of black that obscures the view of the car behind me momentarily. Now, I do live in CA where smog rules are tough and people call in if they feel there are offenders, so I am a little sensitive to this. Most of the time I drive very easy so level one is not a problem. Under the same conditions as above on level 2, the smoke is a little more on accels from stop and a good size black puff upon mashing throttle the obscures the view of the car behind me even longer. This cloud is more than I desire.



Towing is impossible on level 1 as I smoke continuously and I realize this is supposed to be MPG mode, I just didn't think I would get so much smoke. I have not tried towing level 2 yet. This truck is not my daily driver so I don't have a chance to test it all that often and on stock mode, I don't really see any smoke.



What I have learned is to drive it a little different to avoid the smoke issues but if a new program came out, I would sure like to try it so I don't have to worry about how I drive. I am going to change my intake a little and maybe try a free flowing muffler to see how this helps.



Don't get me wrong, this is a great product. I bought it to gain MPG, lower my EGT and have a few more horses going up the hills. It appears to do all these things with some smoke here and there. I came from an 01 HO 6 spd w/ the EZ and saw little to no smoke issues.



THe Jr. also seems to behave differently on similar trucks which makes it harder for Marco to please us all. I figure if we give him more real world data, we can help him fine tune his product. I know he does a lot of testing, I am not sure if towing is in his testing or not. Maybe so w/ Beta testers? Bob?

 

[PKnoerzer]

I wonder if the ones experiencing too much smoke are the newer models (2004. 5 - 2006)? I have the older 2004 without a cat on the exhaust. I get very little smoke and none during a steady cruise - towing or not.

 

[MrFixit]

You may be on to something.

 

[DZLROKET]

A handful guys seems toi have some smoke issues. We are beta testing a less aggressive tq to see if it helps lessen the smoke for those guys.



Thanks

"less aggressive tq" what does that mean Bob? mine seems a little MORE "peppy"??

 

[DZLROKET]

I also have a performance muffler and AFE Proguard 7 intake so THATS not the problem.....

 

[DZLROKET]

Bump... . Bob? Would that be Less torque?

 

[MScheiper]

My 04. 5 has level 2 loaded in it now and seems to smoke until the turbo spools up, then just a light haze. Of course if I ease into the throttle, smoke is much less. Haven't towed the trailer with it yet. Really happy with the response, and drivability. Bob and Marco..... thanks for a great product and your constant customer support

 

[DZLROKET]

I agree about the wonderful driveability! But have had, so far, less than "constant support" Time will tell. Not passing any kind of judgement just yet...

 

[XXLTexan]

I'll throw this out there if it helps. I have 35"s with 373 rear and I smoke bad in #1. I don't really care cause I came from a Sr. on my 05' but if I cared or if i lived in a town where cops cared it would be an issue. Thanks hope that helps Bob. BTW... I think its awesome that they try to please everyone!!!

 

[CFollett]

Towing on SW3

See my sig for the truck and mods, Towed my 5ver down to Pismo last month.

Coming home north bound on HWY 1, ( Questa Grade ) is a pretty good pull. Started at the bottom at 60mph and was going 55 at the top. The other guys were no where to be seen by the top. Had a car pulll out in front of me half way up and slowed down to 45. I was able to get back to 55 to go over the top. The Van Akken was on level 3 and I had the Smarty Jr on Performance sw3. Smoke is not a problem with a tail wind going south and none on the way home ( Hwy 1 to 41,46 to 5 north to Lodi ) I got 12. 5 down and 14. 5 home, over head which is corrected for the oversize tires. It reads 1 or 2 high. Can you say GRINING..... Three other rigs with us and none could keep up and they are all small trailers and way lighter. I always take off real easy and light footed until I get going. My next mod is the TQ and E brake. I'm sure you can break somthing if you heavy foot it at the start. And to make thing even better on the beach I was the biggest, heavist trailer and the only one not to get stuck. Unhooked and pulled one other guy to the camp site and ended up pulling him out and watching the other guys get stuck tring to get off the beach. Hooked back up and drove off like I owned the beach. 20 PSIG on all the tires may have been the key ( not everyone aired theirs down that low, trailer and all ). Towing or not if I jump on it from a start it will smoke a car size puff, I run the Van Akken c3. 1 on level 2 most of the time. On the thrid level it is a little more, but not bad.

 

[CToney]

I don't have a smoke issue but I have an '03 6sp. I don't lug the truck and have a modded airbox, cool hose, and intake horn. I have the stock exhaust. If I blip the throttle the truck will puff a bit of smoke. I haven't driven a night towing with someone behind me to see a haze or not. A bit more air might be all they need or a little less fuel prior to spoolup.

 

[AH64ID]

I don't have a smoke issue but I have an '03 6sp. I don't lug the truck and have a modded airbox, cool hose, and intake horn. I have the stock exhaust. If I blip the throttle the truck will puff a bit of smoke. I haven't driven a night towing with someone behind me to see a haze or not. A bit more air might be all they need or a little less fuel prior to spoolup.

I think its less timing prior to spoolup, as the 40hp SW doesn't add anymore fuel than stock, but I can smoke on demand if I want... ... I also drive in the 1100-1600 rpm range until I am in 6th, so usually below 5psi boost. . but that is also yielding me 17+ town mpgs.

 

[Bob4x4]

One thing I don't see here is anyone talking about rpm,if you apply too much

pedal at a low rpm you will smoke... ... . even in with stock software. Next time you tow pay attention to the rpm at your shift points and pedal application during that period of time.

If you all had come up from the 12valve with big injectors and wild pump set ups you would have a lot more experience controlling your smoke by pedal application and rpm.

If you tune out all the smoke potential you will tune out that resposiveness we all love so much.



Bob

 

[Buffalo]

CFollett,



Is the Van Aaken c3. 1 a "pressure-only" box?



How were your EGT's towing that much weight, uphill?



Thanks.



Joe F,(Buffalo)

 

[AH64ID]

One thing I don't see here is anyone talking about rpm,if you apply too much
pedal at a low rpm you will smoke... ... . even in with stock software. Next time you tow pay attention to the rpm at your shift points and pedal application during that period of time.
If you all had come up from the 12valve with big injectors and wild pump set ups you would have a lot more experience controlling your smoke by pedal application and rpm.
If you tune out all the smoke potential you will tune out that resposiveness we all love so much.

Bob

Well I didn't remember the smoke stock, but just to be sure I just reprogramed to stock for a run to the pressure washer... Just as I remembered no smoke where the Jr would black the road on SW#1 (timing only)... . Once the motor was warm I did a close to WOT run, I noticed that on the first run as soon as I hit 1000* I had some good smoke in 4th, 5th, and 6th... but only on that run. . . I think I was cooking out the exhaust system... after that smoke I was smoke free...

Boy I sure do love the EGT's of the Jr, I had warmer EGT's on that empty 75% throttle run that I do towing my TT up a good grade at 65mph in 6th.....

My motor is also quieter with the Jr software, I really hear the injectors on the stock software.

I also noticed my EGT's didn't want to cool to 225* on shutdown like they do with the Jr, 275* was all I seemed to get, even after 2-3 minutes, and 1 minute of fast idle... .

The Jr SW is also much stronger around 1100-1500 rpms than stock, aside from the smoke...

I will probably leave the SW stock for the week to see what my mileage does, then hopefully try the beta SW from Bob this weekend towing my TT out camping.