Its approaching christmas time, and im looking in to purchasing a programer for my fathers 2004 LLY Duramax pickup. I would like to get him a programer that he can "EASILY" remove and replace without my help, hence the OBDII style programers.

He was happy with his Hypertech on his LB7 duramax, and misses the power. I wanted to get a few opinions on other hand held programers for the new LLY.

Here are the ones i have heard about:

Hypertech
Superchips
Predator
Bully Dog

Thanks in advance for your help with chosing.

Andrew

Predator suggests you pull certain fuses before uploading.
The Power Pup I tested freaked out during uploading.

I didn't test the Hypertech or Superchips yet.

Predator has been VERY good. You need to pull three fuses (covered in the destructions, which should be done with any tuner. I've personally had some tense moments with file errors when loading custom tunes (something the average guy will generally never do) and the Predator was able to restor in every case. Again, the file errors experienced are not something from the tuner itself nor the release tunes.

With the power pup you have to pull fuses also.

Thanks for the comments so far guys, i really appreciate it. How is the predator for drivability, and the others for that matter? I noticed that the 2004 LLY seems to be a "dog" in acceleration, unlike my LB7? Would the predator or similar tuners cure this?


Thanks,
Andrew

Yes. You will let the dogs out.

With a programer like the Predator, would he need to run guages? It would probably be set on one of the lower settings, he is not in to racing or anything wild, he just wants a little more power. Im new to the diesel thing, and apologize for any repetative questions.... Thanks again for all of your help.

Andrew

As long as he doesn't tow on the high HP settings, he should be fine without gauges, although they are always a good idea.

Funny thing, I hear we need gauges, then I hear guys say, "I don't know what the EGT was! My gauge only goes to 1600!" Kinda defeats the purpose for a pyrometer! ;)

McRat,

Thanks for all of your help, for the hand held tuners, would you recomend the Predator, or something else? I just want to get my dad something that will be smooth, pretty powerfull, and reliable.

Thanks,
Andrew

Out of the 4 LLY units I've experimented with, on MY truck I'd recommend 2 tuners:

Predator
TTS Tow

Thanks for all of your help, i think i will be going with the predator due to its ease of installation and removal, and other options.

Thanks again,
Andrew