Suggestions for a mild tuner 2005 with 48RE

I just bought a nice rust-free 2005 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 that is completely stock. I haven't even looked at tuners since I put a van Aaken C3.2 on my then brand new 2003 HO 6 speed. (The 2003 was recently wrecked when someone pulled out in front of me. I may eventually get it back on the road.)

So what is out there now?

Is a Smarty Jr a good choice for a 2005 with a 48RE transmission? Will it give a little more power without damaging the transmission?

The truck I am buying has a transmission that was rebuilt two months ago. I do not know what components were put into the transmission, but I don't believe they put a triple disc torque converter in it. His receipt was for $4,000. I'll know more when I pick up the truck next week.

My 03 HO 6 speed has a van Aaken has C3.2 that I installed when it was new. I was always happy with that tuner. Not sure how the Smarty compares. I never worried about the NV5600 handling the power, but the engine would slip the stock clutch going up a hill when it was only weeks old. Later I upgraded to a dual disc South Bend.

My wish was to get another 6 speed, but my wife prefers an automatic and says we are getting too old to shift all the time.

 

Delete

 

Smarty jr. SW1 towing and SW2 empty.

It will be better than the Van Aaken since it modifies the timing.

 

Delete what?

 

My older son did use a Smarty for his 5.9L 06 truck. I believe there are 9 steps in the programmer he had. Using the three (3) should be ok for you, the Smarty S-03 was the unit he had. I would also look at a Smarty JR tuner that is a little less expensive and only has three levels of HP increase from 40, 70 and 100HP with level three being the 100HP level.

There are also edge tuners, but I do not know enough about them on the 5.9L trucks to recommend any.

My younger has an Edge on his truck but it is a 6.7L engine.

 

As John said, I would use the Smarty Jr (I did for a few years until I got new injectors then moved to Smarty "Sr" and then to a Touch).

 

Hey John, have these (Smarty Jr) been updated over the years? Cleaner/better tuning?

 

I don’t think they have done anything with them in years.

 

I don't think they've been updated in a decade but the Jr or Sr would do a good job. The Sr. does give you more tuning options. 5 minute install with either. They can get a bit smoky at high altitudes depending on the tuning options. I don't think you can go wrong. Even a 30-60 hp with stock torque management shouldn't hurt the trans.

 

I like the simplicity of the JR, somehow I 'think" I need the expensive stuff, like custom tuning. ‍
The JR worked well for me but I had trouble with exhaust haze. I still have this prob so it's prob just how my truck runs.

 

I had some haze with the early SJR tunes, but that decreased with the current software. It didn’t ever get as clear as my custom tuning, but I also put a lot of time into that.

I think most your haze is the BBi 0.5’s. They seem to haze for most everyone.

 

True, I keep pondering how to help this with-out buying new injectors....

Well BLAKERS, I hope you get some good info from our chatter!

My son's looking for a truck like the one you just got. Clean trucks are $$ & hard to find....

 

I run the Smarty for 10 years now, still like it.
Can be a little smokey depending on the SW# and the altitude you are.

 

Yes! Great information. Looks like Smarty Jr is the way to go.
I’ve been looking at 3rd generation trucks on Marketplace for about a month now. Several rust-free trucks have come up. I gave up looking at 6.7 as everyone I found has been deleted, and Pennsylvania inspection will no longer pass them. I’ll stick to my tried, true, and simple 5.9s.

 

Are you Smarty Jr guys seeing any improvements in fuel mileage? I just went through my first tankful and got 16.2 mpg (actual calculated mileage using Mileage Keeper app), which is close to what my 03 with NV5600 got. This is driving to work 15 miles each way on 50-60 mph state highways and backroads. It takes halfway to warm the engine up.
The 03 got close to 20 on the 90-minute drives to my previous job.

 

Marketplace on Facebook in my area has plenty of them daily. Tough to beat them for the price and ease of installation.

 

Would you feel safe buying a used one on Marketplace? Is there anything that could be damaged or hacked on a used one?

 

You just have to be sure it's not locked to somebody else's VIN. Try before you buy.

 

Maybe a tiny bit, not a huge saving.
Sw#1 is a Fuel safer program but shouldn't be used for towing and hauling.

 

SW1 is perfectly acceptable for towing, and I did it for most of my miles with a SJR. There are other Smarty products where the fuel saver mode should not be used for towing, but the SJR is not one of them.

All 3 SW profiles run similar timing, for each Revo setting, but there is added fuel as the SW levels increase for the hp gains.