I have a 99 durango with the 5.9L and I was wondering if these programmers are actually worth the money or is it waste?

 

I used mine to change tire size. Other than that i got 20hp max and that being a rough guess. Its not a diesel so don't expect a lot. I still have mine after selling the Durango but Hypertech says its year specific. If your trucks stock its not going to help much. It does change rpm shifts, speed cut off and fuel choice. Reads DTS. I think the SCT programmer, a cam swap and intake from Hughes Performance $1600+ is the ticket. Or go big like I did and get the diesel Ram!

 

I've heard if you do anything besides the speedometer it makes the engine ping? I'm just trying to gain some easy HP. I've got the cai, flowmaster exhausted, bored out throttle body on the way and then after that I'm lost. I'm not gonna do the headers because from personal experience the gains aren't worth the money

 

Never had pinging issue even on the hottest summer heat. The y-pipe was/is choke point in the exhaust. Pinging is noted in service manual though. Run higher octain.

 

I put an edge programmer in my diesel and its fantastic. You can always buy one and if it doesn't work the way you want take it back...they usually have a one year warranty. My suggestion is do your research on the top 3 or 4 and go from there. This is my second go around, I had a Bully Dog to start, but it was crap, however others have had no issues with them, I've gone with the Edge Attitude and I couldn't be happier.

 

I've had the Hyper III on my '01 since maybe '03, along with a Fastman TB and cleaner intake. I never get pinging running the '93 octane' pgm and using mid-grade fuel. I had a Gibson shorty header for a bit in '02-'04 but took it out (it didn't seal well, tried twice, was a freebee from a D buddy).

I keep the Hyper III now because I need all the help I can get since '11 when I moved to 5500' Albuquerque from 220' NY.

 

I had a hypertech programmer. the 93 octane mode, you can really feel the difference in response time for your 5.9 truck. Don't worry about pinging, hypertech programs the pcm really well and stay within limits so it won't ping.

However, I cannot say the same for the SCT tuner which is what I upgraded from hypertech. It's 93 octane mode give a little more punch than that hypertech, but at the same time, I have pinging issues at low rpms (1500-1900). The engine does not really ping where I can feel it. It's more valve clattering. This occurs if your are under heavy acceleraton at low rpm's. Once it gets past the 2k rpm mark, the valve clattering goes away.