I went from 265/70r/17's to 285/75/17 tires. I carry a truck camper so wanted bigger load range tires. I love the tires! My truck is a 5 speed manual but now it feels like I need a 6 speed. The gearing just seems a bit off now. It is hard to climb hills now. Any suggestions would be appreciated and what the price of the suggestions might cost me! Thanks guys!!!

I had posted in 3rd generation forum but the guys over there told me to post here. They were saying something about a tuner? Or something instead of gearing? I would like that better. Can you guys give me some advice? Thanks!!

 

well i have not ran a bigger set of tires yet so i cant realate BUT if you feel that you lost somthing... add something

i use a tuner called SMARTY, and its going to cost right up near $600 but if you do your research its the top dog for our engines. there are many programmers and tuners out there from all diffrent price ranges starting at 175 but from what i have found out buy buying diffrent ones.... you get what you pay for. not only will a programmer or tuner give you more power but it will also increase MPG's

i used a quadzilla xzt box for while and it was only good for 65 horse and it was non adjustable. i seen gains in mileage around 1 and it deliverd alot of extra power with smoother shifting. i got it for around $250/

im sure there are many others things to add such as a intake manifold which will run you anywhere around 200-300 and i think that makes for a smoother shift ( dont hold that to me because i have never had one) and that will also increase MPG's.


but do your research on anything you buy becaause 9/10 times when you add power of any kind you have to open exhaust, air intake, and add gauges so you can keep tabs on everything.

 

So what would I do with this SMARTY device? Is it hard to use? Does it just "re-program" something?

 

If you check out MADS website, you can see how the Smarty works... well, more or less anyhow. Pretty simple. It just plugs into the receptical under your dash and gives your truck an orgasm.

 

Ohh baby!

So how often would a device like this be used? Just trying see if it is worth it to have a device like this. I do plan on keeping the truck a long time! Would I basically tell it the new tire size and it would reprogram something?


Also, which tuner to get? Smarty? Edge? ????

 

Well... Larger tire take much more power to turn. So the larger the tire you have the more HP you need to turn them. So that relates back to reduced MPGs because of the extra load to turn the tires. This has been proven on a dyno...

But as for Smarty it work rather good for the lower end and getting it up to speed. But if you stack a Edge Comp and a Smarty i's a OMG!

But I would highly suggest you upgrade your fuel system and have gauges installed, upgrade your clutch because the clutch won't hold that kind of power with larger tires...

 

well with the smarty being adjustable, the only time you will have to tamper with it isd when you want to either change the power setting or return it to stock if you are going to a dealer or somthing (if its still under warrenty). also like you said, it will reprogram the tire size for you.... there is a setting in the unit about tire sizes, then you go into it and press your new tire size and thats all there is to it. it also reads trouble codes in readable text.

if you ask me i say go with smarty just because of all the options you get with it and it controls timing and pressure. the edge box is just a pressure box (i think) and makes most of its power shooting more fuel into the chamber which can be bad for your fuel pump and EGT's.

all in all any programmer or tuner you put into your truck is super easy, and once its in you dont have to do anything with it but just enjoy it.

 

How do you stack the smarty and edge comp? edge attitude?

 

Ive got the same issue. . .I went from 265's to 315's. and yea, while the final drive gearing is better(Ive got 4.10's) she just doesnt have the low end like she had with the 265's. but my smarty takes care of that.

I did have a TST box, but Ive sent it to TST to be fixed, having some issues hopefully they can fix.

Smarty alone is pretty fun, TST alone is nutz. both together is just brutal.

I would say look at either the Smarty Sr, or the Jr. the Jr doesnt have the adjustability of the Sr. you can also adjust tire sizes through it so your speed-o will read right.

another thing, Smarty is VERY hard to detect by the dealer. just ask David(Parts/Service) it took him some time but he found a trace of something. but I garuntee if I had been able to get my truck up to speed and hammer it a few times he wouldnt have been able to see it. I'm pretty sure the guy's at Mads electronics are looking into this to help make smarty 100% undetectable under all situations.


edit: gtxpooch. . the smarty is a programmer, it reprograms the ECM. edge, TST, quadzilla, are all standalone boxes that adjust either timeing, duration or pressure by fooling the computer.

 

Thanks Drew, are you running gauges too? So you can monitor, tranny, etc...?