Ok so im finally going to pony up the dough and buy a programer. I would like something that i can get a little better gas mileage out of during the week and really open her up on the weekends. anybody out there know what might best suit my needs. Don't really wanna break the bank. would love to stay under 600. nay info will help.

 

What year/truck/engine/tranny?????

 

I can only give an opinion on the Edge & TST... both work great and will help with mileage. both are external boxes that go between the computer & the injectors.

My TST has given me 2 all time high's for mileage, the last one just this past week was with the power turned up & the boost levels never above 10 psi. light foot = great mileage. heavy foot when you want to will = not so great mileage.

if you want data.. there is a link to a thread in my signature.

 

Ive got both the TST box, and a smarty programmer.

the TST box is quite fun, the low end rpm's dont have much in the way of gitty-up, but when you get above 1800rpm you better hold on. the smarty programmer is just nuts when it comes to low end fueling, however above 2500rpm it pretty much flatlines. however stack both together and oh my!!!!


now the advantages of the TST box, edge, or any other box is it can be removed without a trace of it ever being there. programmers on the other hand are easier to operate, but will leave a trace of their existance somewhere on the ECM. now aparently the Smarty that I have is not supposed to leave a trace, but if the guy running the star scan tool knows what they are doing they can find where things have been altered and fueling has been changed. yet, with a programmer if you have problems you can usualy get things back up and running and clear codes with few issues and be back on the road.

soon I'm going to be doing some mileage tests with my smarty to go along with what steve has been doing. now while my truck is set-up MUCH different than his. we can still get good percentage increases over stock. the only thing that will put a slight kink into the system is I am planning on upgradeing to 35's VERY soon, but I should have some data on smarty with the 30hp program loaded.

here is the thing. if your truck is stock w/auto. you dont want to go 50-75hp over stock or certian damage will happen. if you have a stick you can push about 100 before the clutch starts to slip.

on my own tests, I have found I can run both my TST and smarty and my clutch hangs on somehow.

also, depending on what generation truck you have some boxes and programmer work better than others.

 

Agreed with ^^ last two posts ^^, I have personaly always wanted to get a Bulydog just for the numbers, but i don't like the idea of a programmer leaing a trace, so i'd like to go with either a Edge or TST myself. it all just depends on what you want, From what i hear, and see, you'll want to stay away from banks stuff, their hardware is great ' although alittle pricy' but their software has something to be desired.

 

I gotta smarty jr. so I wouldn't be tempted to go over 100hp settin and tear stuff up, great power and 70hp settin gets me the best mpg... Clipped this from my previous post...


Hey all finally back from my xmas trip back home, anywho here were my highway MPG w/different Smarty settings for those of you that were wondering!

Stock-17.8 ~ 544.1miles
40 HP-17.1 ~ 528.2 & 520.3 miles (2tanks)
70 HP-18.6 ~ 591.1miles

This was my hand calc results over the whole trip I ran 40 HP all the way up there thinking the economy setting would do the best but tried the stock and 70 HP setting just so I could get results and was happy to find the 70HP did best. I tend to get best mpg running 65-70 mph but ran between 85-87 mph on cruise because thats how fast everyone else was goin .

The 70 HP setting was showin 21.3 at 70mph on the lie-o-meter which I usually find shows 2mpg higher so I assume a guy could break 19 using the 70 HP setting runnin 65-70.

Also the truck tends to do alot better in higher altitudes... on the way through Louisiana the lie-o-meter would show better mpg when gettin away from the coast and lower when coming back down towards it..



Hope this helps, and BTW you'll love the power on it. As Drew once said "its the strongest 90 hp you'll ever see"

 

Ok. Hypothetically, if I were to get the Juice and all the other fun stuff stacked on, what would I need to do to the mechanical parts of the drivetrain so as not to blow the damn thing up?

 

valve body, torque converter, billet input shaft. . .thats just the start.

 

Smarty Jr. no problem with 40hp setting, started using the 70 Hp setting lasted about 3k miles still drives but give her more than half pedal and she'll slip on ya, looking to replace the about parts that Drew mentioned and hopefully I don't pi$$ off my tranny.... Just be carefull or start a savings accound just in case....

 

ha ha . . .your right, it doesnt take much to **** these engines off enough to twist something important.