Okay, I may be inclined to purchase one performance modification for my truck with my tax returns depending upon your guys' input. At the moment, the only thing I have done to my truck is a simple flowmaster 40 catback exhaust system with a magnaflow y-pipe (not much I know). If I were pressed to purchase one other modification to increase performance, would it be the Diablo Predator tuner? Or is it unwise to buy a tuner without getting an intake first?

Also, will the tuner void my warranty? Or would a mechanics garage have no idea the truck was even tuned? Will the predator hurt the truck at all (I'm referring to just daily driving)? Finally, what kind of gains and options should I expect if I decide to purchase the tuner and how much should I look to pay for the tuner? I know there's a lot of questions, but I just get very cautious about buying things for my truck because I really would hate it if somebody tried to blame an issue with my truck on something like a tuner etc.

 

IF you are only planning on doing a catback and cai and dont plan on doing anything major I would suggest going with a superchips instead. I have nothing against diablo, it is a great programmer, has tons of features, gives you a nice power increase as well but from your recent posts and worrying about warranties and other issues I dont think you would like the diablo programmer very much as there are a lot of ways that you can really screw your truck up with it if you change something that shouldn't be changed.

Warranty wise yes they void warranties but like every other mod out there they have to prove that it caused the part failure (magnuson v moss). Also if you take it down to a dealer and they reflash your truck it will overwrite the programmer and then you will not be able to reload the tune as it will be locked out. So unload it prior to doing any dealer work.

 

I have to agree with Truckin, if you are NOT doing a big cam and need custom tuning then I wouldnt get DSP and stay with SC. They at least do have the trans controls. The thing that DSP has most notably that SC does not is 93 octane tune.

I just sold my SC and the only reason I bought a DSP was for custom tuning and datalogging capabilities.

 

If you are not planning any big mods, go with the SC over the DSP. The DSP would be a good choice for your 05 if you were going to do some mods that will need custom tuning but if not then the SC will give you more features for your truck. The SC will give you full control over TM as well as all of your up and down shifts when the new programming is released.

 

To add to this, since your truck is pretty much stock, the 93oct tune won't add much at all over the 91oct tune. i've tried both and the only notable difference between the 2 was that 93oct gave me worse gas mileage over 91oct. If you have more mods like cam, headers...etc, then the 93oct tune may be beneficial and more noticeable.

I'd vote Superchips. plus they are suppose to be coming out with practically unlimited transmission support?????

 

This is why I am happy I asked you guys. So these chips can void warranties? Would a dealership have anyway to prove you were running a programmer if you removed the tune before going there? I mean, I could see myself probably buying a cold air intake kit later on down the road, and POSSIBLY, headers, but I wouldn't ever get inside the motor with a cam or anything, mainly because I don't like adding things to the truck that I can't personally do myself.

If I did decide later to get a CAI and a set of headers, would the superchip still cover me or would that start crossing into DSP territory. Also, from the sounds of it, the superchip has more transmission options than the DSP and possibly more to come? I went on Moe's and it looks like the two programmers are the same price though, so it would seem like I'd have to find a good deal privately to make it worth buying the more primative of the two? Thanks for answering my questions so far.

 

a 3865 would be fine for all your needs joe...i just got mine a few weeks ago and ill tell ya its fun....some people expect so much hp out of these and think their trucks are gonna be rockets...well ill expected less so i was impressed....and no your not getting into dsp territory with headers and cai....but im telling you dont expect to much...and heres a link...
http://moesperformance.com/index.php...products_id=11
they are even on sale....

 

In my opinion, anything you get from anywhere other than the dealer will void something. it will only be good if the dealer gives it to you and installs it.

 

Where did you feel the performance gains and what kind of options does it offer for the transmission? So if I wanted to bring my truck to the dealership for service, I could clear the tune and they wouldn't even know its been programmed? If that's the case, then I would have no issue with buying a tuner, it could be the invisible modification lol.

 

Correct, if you take the tune off before you go in they wont know a THING, but if you dont and they reflash your computer then it will overwrote the programming and you will have to pay to have the programmer unlocked so you can use it again. For trans tuning the SC will have all that you need, I had one on mine for 4yrs and loved it but I want a big cam and they cannot do tuning that I am going to need. The DSP is great for the 05 and 06 years because they have the partial up/down shifts and WOT shifts (and I do LOVE mine) but for what you will more than likely be doing the SC is the way to go.