What kind of chip/module/programmer??

[penstar4ever]

I have a 2005 ram 2500 4X4 with 130,000 miles. It has 4 inch complete exhaust,a S/B filter, 3.73 gears, 48RE auto transmission,Lt285/70/17 tires,has sure grip (anti-spin)
rear end. I drive it 1 or 2 times a week. Sometimes use my 18 ft car trailer to haul a car. Want something that can be returned to stock when I want to. What type of chip/module/programmer do you guys recommend??? And where did you get it from?? Thank You....

 

[ranger 393]

I have the Edge Juice w/attitude cts 2. There are those who don't care for the Edge, but I have had no issues, and it has your guages built in. I bought mine through Edge.

 

[p-Bar]

Smarty Jr. love it, not good if your trans is stock

 

[promisedland]

Smarty all the way. If you want gauges with tuning, get the Touch. Custom UdcPro tuning will then be an option.

 

[Regcabguy]

Yeah,I had a Smarty Sr. and gauges for eight years. Worked fine.

 

[Killer223]

The bad about the smarty is you have to wait for it to download or program the computer,
they do have better tuning options though.
i had the smarty, now i have an Edge. simply for the instant change of power. i drive on 6 or 0. no in between. the Edge will run hotter EGT's if you don't pay attention. however you have gauges for a reason.
i also didn't like waiting 3-5 min to change the power levels with the smarty. i can switch my edge while driving down the road.

 

[JLitton]

I have an Edge EZ and a Smarty Jr for sale in the 3rd Gen Classifieds. I used them independently on my 03 dually. The smarty was the better of the two units. Some folks stack the EZ and Smarty together, but I never did that. I used my truck to pull my 39 foot, 15K fifth wheel. Never had a single problem with the Smarty towing.

Let me know if your interested in either or both. I'd like to get rid of them. Getting my new truck tomorrow and no longer need these.

 

[BILTIT]

The bad about the smarty is you have to wait for it to download or program the computer,
they do have better tuning options though.
i had the smarty, now i have an Edge. simply for the instant change of power. i drive on 6 or 0. no in between. the Edge will run hotter EGT's if you don't pay attention. however you have gauges for a reason.
i also didn't like waiting 3-5 min to change the power levels with the smarty. i can switch my edge while driving down the road.

They do have POD setting though which is similar to changing levels.

I find i rarely change my level anyways (seems like a fad to me). I usually drop a level for winter and back up in the spring.

 

[DaveHess]

I have a Smarty Jr. and have for I have forgotten how many years. I uploaded the TOW mode and never looked back. Has been flawless. I do have gauges to monitor the activity under the hood.

 

[cerberusiam]

The Smarty Touch with the com module is by far the most effective and versatile. Either the JR or SR is far better than the Edge products as far as being useful and effective.

The Edge is the most cost effective for functionality, but, its effectiveness is highly questionable.

You have HP Tuners also for a custom programing tool.

All depends on how far you want to go and what you want to do.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Smarty Jr. here as well. I like the fact that it's not overly smokey and once it's downloaded, there's nothing left on the truck to throw codes.

 

[Cornstalk]

I had an Edge on my 03 CTD and I have a Smarty on my 11 CTD. The one thing I liked about the Edge over the Smarty was I could change the power settings on the go.

 

[Motorhead]

Smarty Jr for 8 years. You could set it on the 40hp setting and probably be okay with your stock automatic. People forget with automatics that wide open throttle shifts are what tears them up. That would be like speed shifting a stick shift. When I had an automatic with engine enhancements, I would get on it but back out when it was ready to shift then get back into it.
With the Smarty, the "After the sale" service is second to none. I have sent mine back twice for upgrades at no charge. All I paid was shipping both ways. Great people to deal with.

 

[cerberusiam]

People forget with automatics that wide open throttle shifts are what tears them up.

Not with a diesel engine that has more TQ rise at 2000 rpms than 3000 rpms. The part throttle shifts like normal every day driving will hurt a trans faster than holding the gear into high rpms. That 40 HP tune will translate to a LOT more TQ in the low end than HP gain in the top end.

 

[Motorhead]

You have an argument for every ones post. How does part throttle, everyday driving tear up an automatic faster than wide open throttle shifts? Why then does a stock automatic transmission last an average of 150,000 miles if it is being torn up with part throttle shifts?

 

[cerberusiam]

Argument? Not hardly, just a correction of invalid assumptions for the readers.

Why:

Because the trans apply pressures are considerably higher at WOT than part throttle, more pressure equals more holding force and less slip.
Because the higher the rpms the closer the engine rpm is to the input shaft speed and the less the TQ rise on a shift point, less speed differential means less TQ rise which means less slippage until the components are rotating at the same speed.
Because every single CR engine with an auto trans automatically defuels considerably at WOT to minimize the impact of full power shifts. Yes, they defuel at part throttle shifts also but the difference is more dramatic at WOT.

That is just talking STOCK tuning. It gets MUCH worse with a tune as the TQ peak sits right on the normal auto trans shift points instead of well above it like stock tunes. That is compounded by TQ management removal which drives the TQ peak much higher than stock at low rpms.

It is common knowledge the stock trans builds are less than adequate for stock tuning and the stock tunes pander to the less than adequate build and NVH initiatives just to achieve a minimal MTBF. It is also common knowledge that the typical driving style is much harder on a trans than driving it like you stole it.

The real question is why such urban legends survive the available knowledge. Possibly has something do with rote repetition of words with zero understanding of the concepts, as silly as THAT sounds. I blame the NEA for the insistence the least common denominator is the absolute standard. LOL!

 

[Motorhead]

So tell me why then that some manufacturers de-fuel momentarily while the transmissions are shifting? Full rated horsepower against a transmission, shifting can't be easier on it than a normal driving shift.

 

[cerberusiam]

HP really has nothing to do with the amount of strain placed on components during a shift point, the amount of TQ rise to accelerate the slow component is where the stress is. Since TQ tends to fall off with rpm you actually have less to deal with at higher rpms.

Inertia also plays into the equation, the faster the driven components are going the less strain there is to accelerate the mass faster. This works in conjunction with the the way the TC works as the faster you spin in it the closer the driven and drive components get and the more cohesive the fluid coupling is. There is simply have more cushion there at 3000 rpms than at 2000 rpms when a change in drive ratio occurs.

Add to that the trans apply pressures are almost double at 3000 rpms as opposed to 2000 rpms and the defuel is much sharper at high rpms. The ECU has a scaled calibration of how much to de-fuel based on speed and rpms, it knows nothing about TQ. It just knows that at higher speeds and rpms it needs to de-fuel more than it does at lower rpms.

Input shafts, output shafts,etc, don't break at high rpms and speeds they break in low speed high TQ conditions, pretty much what every day driving emulates with the stock shift algorithms. Pretty standard operation to not shift gears on top of the TQ peak, rather, shift at higher HP and allow the ratio change to facilitate the acceleration with the TQ.

In addition, your analogy of comparing speed shifting to high rpm shifting is faulted. The faster the shift happens the better it is for any transmission, it is the means of speeding the shift that causes the damage. Manuals don't break gears when you speed shift them, it tears out the synchros because speed shifting forces the issue and something will have to wear. You break gears and knock bearings out by short shifting these manual transmissions, just like destroying clutch packs and breaking input shafts in an auto, in high TQ conditions, rather than use some rpm to get them out of the danger zones.

Short recap: less TQ rise, higher inertia, less component speed difference, higher apply pressures, and greater defuel application at high rpm. Why would the transmission NOT function better and longer?

That is just stock, all things being equal. When you move off into tuning for drive-ability and usable TQ, the problems get WORSE a LOT faster.

 

[gapayne]

Smarty POD

The Smarty POD is somewhat more expensive than the other Smarty types. It is the adjustable model that has been mentioned several times. For it a boost gauge is very handy for setting it up and pyro and trans temp gauges give you information and peace of mind. I wondered about the over stressing the transmission question so I called and asked a factory engineer how to use it. His advice was to set it to the highest level, that is to 9, because this would provide the best response in city driving--where most of us are much of the time. Then on the highway, start somewhere midway on the POD, maybe 40 -50. Accelerate in top gear without downshifting while watching the boost. Try several POD settings until you get a smooth boost that holds the highest. This will vary for every truck based on the condition of the engine, its mileage, whether it is stock, or has some modifications. My 2006 now has about 120,000 miles, and I have made some changes on both the intake and exhaust sides. It all matters. Setting mine for level 9, I hold about 22# boost through 55 - 70 mph with a POD setting of 56. As you practice the technique you will learn a single digit change will make a difference. Wet weather can call for a 1-3 digit different number than dry clear weather, if you want to fool with it that much. I don't. This is very much a situation where your mileage will vary. If you don't want to use level 9, you can use the same technique for any level. I've found that for lower levels I use a higher POD. Like others, I tend to set and leave it. I do check it once in a while, maybe once a year, to see if anything changed. As my mileage went up my POD number went up a digit or two. Programming it to any of its settings or returning it to stock takes somewhere around 3 to 5 minutes, I think. I don't do it often.

 

[bcbender]

I have the TST Powermax CR R49 and love it... integrated gauges, cool-down timer, and plenty of power with no smoke.its plug n play with no modifications to the factory ECU, so you can go back to bone stock quickly or remove altogether.. I have a friend who runs the same thing with 50hp injectors on a 05 and says that is a little bit better that just the powermax was.