Smarty Touch and MM3 Owners here!

[brillmtb]

Hey, just joining the crazy crowd that is willing to void a warranty to get the truck to work as it should have from the factory. My question with my Touch is which parameters do you monitor and why. I am setting mine up and wondering which might be the most useful. Thanks

 

[Shiner]

Brill, not so much crazy......I like to think of it like this, sometimes we lowly people do better work and are more picky about our stuff than a lot of dealer service techs with a hang-over from partying all night. If anyone is gonna have a hangover working on the truck, it better be me!Your truck, your money, your decision.

 

[brillmtb]

Well I hope I don't break something that the dealer then blames on a 30hp increase?

 

[Shiner]

Well I hope I don't break something that the dealer then blames on a 30hp increase?

I guess we are talking about FCA! LOL!
At least HOPE you don't break anything EXPENSIVE!

 

[brillmtb]

So it looks like the specs on the 2018 are as follows.

With 68RFE then 370/800
With Aisin I have seen two different quotes 385/930 and 400/930, not sure which is correct

So, with my 2017 and tuned with smarty touch at 30hp increase lets hope the aisin doesn't blow up. That would mean the 2018s are running close to failure level out of the factory

Also, since when does it make sense that we worry about 30hp more on an unloaded truck but the transmission is spec to run 100,000K under warrenty when towing say a 15K 5th wheel without factory concerns?

 

[DHayden]

Everything I've seen points to the Aisin having a Torque rating of 1,000 LB/FT rating (or everyone believes). 30hp from boxes or programmers is usually a 80TQ gain. I think a lot of the issue comes with the extra TQ in gears 1 thru 3. TQ management doesnt allow full TQ until 4th gear and up but the boxes that are intercepting and "fooling" the computer is giving more TQ down low which is causing the wear troubles I think. This is just my opinion...others may vary.

 

[brillmtb]

Shoot lost my reply, will try to re create below...

So if that is the case then the TQ management is there because the OEM Aisin cannot properly handle the TQ the OEM motor is putting out. Sounds like a gimmick to sell more trucks...tell the customer you have this wonderful Aisin and your TQ specs on your motor match other trucks but in reality you cant use it in the real world driving.

It seems that you could go back to an engine spec that didn't require so much TQ management and have a better running truck. Perhaps this is just so owners who would launch even the stock truck off the line too much will be prevented from ending up with a worn out transmission under warranty and that's the real concern.

I still want to believe that a person driving the stock truck with a 15K 5th wheel off the line is putting more stress on the transmission then a 30 hp tune, empty truck as long as your not stabbing the go pedal all the time.

I did speak to the national aisin rep and he reassured me that the transmission is rated much higher than what is being put in front of it. I should have kept his name/number and asked him for specs he could send as I cant remember the numbers he quoted but I want to say something like 450hp but don't quote me and that this was conservative enough to not have to be in the warranty business all the time

 

[Wiredawg]

Having more tq on the low end isn't necessarily bad if you use it wisely. I ran my 2009 Ram 4500 on level 5 (90hp/180tq) for 8 years, 95% towing heavy. I never floored it, and eased into the accelerator. The mighty first gen Aisin held that extra hp/tq just fine.

I had a 2002 Ram 3500 with 6 spd standard running 65hp/130tq increase, 90% heavy towing duty cycle with original clutch when I sold it 198K miles. Everyone I knew replaced their clutches within 6 months, mostly too heavy in the right foot and trying to speed shift the 5600.

Anyway, I'm going through this right now with my 5500, feeling out the torque by feel. Finished solo checking 90hp and now checking 60 hp.

I would not worry about 30 hp. Just feel it out and learn how to use the force young brillmtb Skywalker, and don't be drawn to the dark side of heavy right foot.

Cheers, Ron

 

[brillmtb]

OK, first unit I got didn't communicate with the truck as the underhold wire was compromised. Sent it in and quick turnaround with latest software loaded. Allows for turn signals to blink 3x with one hit (yeah, I know, many cars do this but its nice), adds ability to have fogs on when highs on. First impressions is that it adds power, my main reason for getting this is that I HATE the torque management. I would say I am still messing with 30 and 60hp loads but both remove up to 70% of the lag but its still not as good as my 5.9 with a smarty jr was. I am going to assume that it is the inability to control the slow shifting Aisin transmission and that this will never get to where I ideally would like it unless down the road they crack the ability to program somehow or I rebuild my aisin.

So overall, it is doing ok but its not the complete fix. I only plan on running at the tow mode 90% of the time but I wonder if there is a custom tune out there that could alter the TQ management but maintain stock hp. I would be happy with that.

Now it didn't help that our first good snowfall hit last night, man these trucks suck in the snow. Could also be my 35in toyo upgrades as I don't recall my 5.9 sliding around as much as this truck with 285s. Could be the extra wt or the toyo AT extremes just not that good in snow/slush/ice. So understand I was a little reluctant to do any comparison testing, stock, towing, street to see what I think the reduced throttle lag is.

I am now seeking more info on which gauges to monitor and why. This is a real weak point with Madds as it would be nice if they included a cheat sheet of suggested monitoring PIDs and why for us newbees. I understand they may be developing this. I also am trying to find where the best EGT location is on the stock truck vs just dropping in one by cyl 5 aftermarket but I am having a hard time locating stock sensor info.

Leads me to another point, where can I buy the service manual for this truck. I had the 5.9 manual and it was real handy.

Next idea is to upgrade headlights, looks like HID the best there and the fogs where LED work fine from reading multiple install experiments. The lens shape of the headlight vs LED bulbs is an issue it seems and HID work better from what I have read. I kind of believe that as when I added aftermarket LED to my 5.9 they came in stock lens and sucked, I returned them as they were worse than stock.

 

[brillmtb]

I am going to keep my updates in my post, "oh no installing smarty touch" so we don't have two strings on similar topic

 

[Wiredawg]

Tech Authority sells the DVD service manual. Info may be in the last page or two of your operators manual. Not as good as it used to be. Cheers, Ron