I am a new guy looking for more performance out of my '02 LB7 with CA Emissions (EGR and CAT). I do light towing (up to 5K lbs or so) and want to pull harder on the serious grades around here (towing or not!).

I have searched the site and it appears many LB7 owners like the Edge Juice with Attitude. (Built in EGT readings on the J/A are a bonus, but the complexity of the install is a negative, especially when removing for warranty work). Performance of the Predator programmer appears good with the LLY crowd. I have seen good reports on the VA box for both.

I understand that most early LB7's had no emissions gear; I am uncertain about the later models. I also understand that the LLY''s have the emissions stuff, but there a lot of other differences.

Does anyone have any input on what works well on a '02 CA LB7 for someone starting out? Everything on the truck is stock except for tires and shocks. Thanks in advance for all the great info on the site!

i'm actually at the nugget hotel right now :)

if you don't mind switching the ecm (10 minutes if you go slow) you could get a tts 30/80/120 that's switchable on the fly. you could also get a predator but the last one i had ran kinda hot. they may have improved it but i don't know.

Thanks DieselPower. Enjoy your stay in Reno.

I will look into the TTS. I've seen some good reports on it as well. I have also been told the Predator runs hot which is why I haven't already bought one. The other features are cool, but I don't want things to get overheated in the mountains around here; especially with a load. It defeats the purpose if you have to back way off. My concern is that my '02 LB7 with CA emissions may run different that the other LB7's out there so some of the comparisons may not apply.

Other thoughts or experience?

the CA crap will probably bring the EGT's up a bit, shouldnt be much difference other than that. Edge was nice with lotsa features but my TTS seems to run a bit cooler egt's from what I have noticed with similar tunes. Well the 80TTS compared to the 90 juice. Juice ran pretty cool though.

You thought about exhaust and or killing your cat?

Yep. I am planning on the MBRP CAT back system. I want to give it a go with the CAT on as Nevada implemented emissions testing on diesels last year. The CAT is one of the things they check. If I don't like the performance, I will get the front pipe and switch it out with the stock piece for the test.

In Nevada, you can legally gamble and go to a brothel, but you can't pull and discard that CAT!

I am going to try to find out more about the TTS. Anyone else have good luck with the Juice on a CA LB7?

NVdmax,

I have the same CAT/EGR equipped truck that you do. I have run both Juice and TTS over the last couple of years. Either will work fine.

If you go with the Juice, just keep it on Level 1/2 and you will be OK EGT wise (maybe level 1 for towing). You will be surprised how different the truck will run with just the lower levels selected. The Juice itself is a ten minute install/removal. With the Attitude monitor, it takes just a little longer. With the CA emissions on the vehicle, boost seems to build slower. With the Attitude monitor, you can select a lower boost/fueling level that will lower the amount of exhaust smoke as a result of the slower boost (the two lowest levels are actually labeled CARB). Edge used to sell a separate CA version of the Juice (before the Attitude monitor came along - which now allows selection of the program).

If you go with TTS, you will need to purchase an extra ECM to store the programs. As currently sold, the Power Loader II cannot remove the performance programs and restore the factory settings. TTS has some excellent tunes, they work just like the factory programming but a lot stronger. You can swap ECM's in 10 or 15 minutes. Other programers mentioned are the Quad Stealth (which supposedly runs fairly low EGTs) and the PPE unit (which seems to be generating a lot of discussion at the moment on the forum). I have no experience with these units, so will not comment any further.

Thanks OC_DMAX.

This is starting to make sense now. I borrowed a buddy's Juice quite a while back and it smoked like crazy on my rig. It was fine on his without the emissions stuff. I heard Edge did something to accomodate these models but I never followed up. Good info that it is the adjustable boost level in the Attitude that manages smoke output.

I am leaning towards the Juice/Attitude. It looks like TTS has some awesome tunes, but buying another PCM and swapping out adds cost and complexity for someone just starting out.

Is anyone running the Predator on a CA LB7? If so, how are the heat and smoke levels?

Thanks again for all the info!