Have you ever seen or heard of a Allison trans or Duramax being ruined because of the use of a chip such as the Edge Juice? I am thinking about buying one but I am concerned that I might do more harm then good. I do not bag my truck nor do I use it to race with, just normal city/highway driving and towing a 9000 lb fifth wheel. I would just like a bit more passing power and hill climbing ability. Any thoughts? All are welcome to reply. Thanks. Edited by: AbsoluteGMC

1st, change the exhaust. 2nd, modify the air box. 3rd would be a tuner. After that and it starts to become 'Racer Max!'http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif

Like I said I'm not intrested in racing but I am intrested in learning as much about something before I commit to it. Reliability is number one in my books. Thank you anyway for your reply good to know just in case. Does the modified exhuast, like a high flow cat back system such as magnaflow, help to reduce EGT's?

The "proper" way to do it is to enable it to handle more power, only then modify things to actually make more power.

Few people do it the proper way, however....
The 1st thing I did was to replace the stock air filter with an Amsoil (or UNI) oiled-foam air filter. Then I filled the crankcase with synthetic oil, same for the transmission fluid, then I chipped it (Juice/Attitude). I still have the stock exhaust, though its "on the list". I just don't have the disposable income to keep throwing an extra $500-$600 at it every month for performance upgrades.

I've been monitoring my EGTs with the Attitude and the Juice set to #2. I have hit ~1100 degrees F for short periods of time (5 sec or less). I have not done any serious towing yet. Later this month I'll be towing the Travel Trailer (~8,000 lbs) on a two-week trip to Minnesota & back. This should give me a better idea what the EGTs will do under load.

With the Juice set on #2 I have not had any noticable problems, and it does give a nice boost in performance. I can now goose it to take advantage of holes in traffic, which did not work well before Juicing it. I've been afraid to set the Juice higher and go hunting PowerStrokes.... or rather that's not high on the priority list. Keeping the (expensive!) transmission in one piece and happy is more important to me.

Here's some interesting EGT info....
At idle, with the engine/trans at full operating temp, EGTs run about 250 degrees F (indicated). If I turn on the air conditioner, EGTs jump to ~320. I get about the same temps if its just in gear without the A/C. With BOTH the A/C on and the transmission in gear, the EGTs jump to about 370.
While driving, EGTs jump around a whole bunch. 800-900 degrees F is typical for light acceleration or easy hill climbing. Top a hill and coast down the other side and EGTs will drop to 300 degrees in about 4 seconds. Cruising (unloaded, no towing) at highway speeds on level ground shows EGTs around 600 degrees. All this is with factory exhaust. I have no idea how much the EGTs drop with a decent 4" exhaust (100-200 degrees under load?), or what the EGTs are while towing the TT (yet).

I agree with the above sugesgtions somewhat. I dont think its absolutely vital to upgrade the intake and exhaust right away. For the average guy, exhaust will only make it louder, but depending on the system, can drop egt's 100-200degrees. Intake changes will make no difference in power whatsoever. Some may make the turbo louder, but not meaning more boost. I have installed easily a dozen boxes on otherwise stock trucks and they run just fine. No mods on either end of the breathing. As far as damage caused from a box. I have seen trucks broke with a box on, but no conclusive evidence the box did it. As far as the trans goes, depends on how you drive it. An LLY truck likely wont take as much added power as the LB7 guys before trans problems set in.