04 ram with a cutout, intake and superchip currently set to the 87 oct flash. I have 35's on there also. Would gears make a different in mpg and would it be worth the cost?

Also would haveing the cutout open or closed yeild more power or not make a difference?

Been noticeing that it likes to stay in 2nd gear a lot, I can be going slow at about 20mph and it will sit there at 2k rpm in 2nd gear and not want to shift, also sometimes i can be crusing at 40 on farily flat road and it will downshift for a bit then shift back, is that because of the programer, or the tires?


-Nick

 

First thing is first, get rid of the 87 tune as soon as your tank runs dry and throw on the 91 tune, better performance and better mpg.

For gears yes they will help with both mpg and launches with 35's and are 100% worth it.

Cut out open gives better performance than with it closed (I ran a few dyno runs with it opened and closed and saw more gains with it open), only downside is that with it open and no gears you may notice a lack of low end because of the lack of back pressure.

As far as the shifting goes, there are dead spots in our transmissions where it just will not upshift and thats what it sounds like for your 20mph problem, for your 40mph problem it sounds like it is searching for the right gear to kick into. The way I found with the SC to help get rid of the problem is to adjut the shift points a little which moves the dead spots around and semi-stops it from searching for gears so you may want to play with that a little.

 

i disagree with most of what truckin says.

yes gears are great, but will NOT be worth it is you are getting them for mpg. they will help your trans issue because of the different gearing, and you will get mroe wheel torque so the motor will have an easier time, and the trans will shift sooner.

I run the 87 tune full time jsut for the trans stuff, and I have no qualms with it. It doesn't shift because that's what it's programmed to do. even the 87 tune has a somewhat aggressive trans setting, so it'll stay in a lower gear if it can (up to a certain point of course). Those tires of yours are definitely making it harder for the engine to hold a high gear, so it likes to shift down. I don't know what type of truck you have, you sure its not just MDS kicking on and off?

superchisp is releasing new stuff for the rams on their 3865 tuner. should be able to make it shift whenever you want to.

yes cutout gives you more top end power, but will hurt you down low, and might even hurt mpg because it's too open. the difference in mpg, however, will be tiny wether it helps or hurts.

 

Uhh ohh ???? aaahahahahahaaaaa


It's good to have people on both sides. This way it will give everyone perspective from 2 different angles.

 

Not to start a verbal fight or anything here but...

The gears WILL add better mpg if you are running a larger tire. I have 4.56's on my truck and even with the smaller tire my mpg's went up both city and highway. There is NO debating that part my MPG went up. Gears with larger tires and wheels should definitely see a an increase as well as you are using less force to move your truck and keep it going so the engine does not have to work as hard. You said it your self "Those tires of yours are definitely making it harder for the engine to hold a high gear, so it likes to shift down." A more efficient running engine is going to perform better and give more gains in both power and mileage.

The SC tune, again first hand experience with both, mpg and performance went up WITH the 91 tune installed. I got worse mileage running the 87 than I did running the 91, and thats not compairing one tank to the next, thats compairing the overall average from one year to the next. for the extra $0.20 per gallon, the 91 gave far better results than the 87. Adjusting the rev limiter and WOT shift points also gave the truck a bit more seat of the pants bite to it, didn't change the mpg's but made it pull harder.

Cutout open/closed mpg didn't go up or down, your lowend will suffer a bit if you dont have a way to make up for it, that I will agree with you. That being said, once you have a way to make up the lowend it flies. Performance wise, you will see an increase in your peak hp. Again all first hand experience, dyno proven.

If you dont want to believe it thats fine, BUT I can tell you on MY TRUCK those are the results I got with those parts actually installed. No hear say, no assumptions, those parts are on my truck or have been on my truck. And if any of them were not worth it I would not have had them installed and I would not be reccomending them plain and simple.

 

Well all I can tell you is I have a 5.7 Superchipped with 87 and a E-cutout and rolling on 36s and 456s and get about 12 in town. Is that what you wanna hear?

[EDIT] As for the truck staying a bit longer in 2nd before shifting, the SC tuner does that.