Howdy.
New guy here from Texas. I currently have an 05 Duramax with the LLY and it is stock to the rock. Over the last year my thirsty girl has sat idle while I've driven a small truck with a 1/4 barrel, 1/2 cylinder. This September, my son will be 16 and I'm losing the small ride and will be daily driving the Duramax. I've already installed a K&N intake filter and intend on installing a 4 inch turbo back exhaust along with a new turbo inlet pipe. All that being said, I've been plowing through the threads trying to boil down the info on tuners. What I'm looking for is basically a tow package and mileage. I really don't need all the bells and whistles, or enough horsepower to shred the drivetrain. You fellows seem to have your ducks in a row, so I'm asking for opinions on tuners. Best bang for the buck, that sort of thing. I've read and researched until my head hurts, so I'm doing what I should have done in the first place; ask those who know. Information on how to help my girl with her (diesel) drinking problem would be most appreciated. Tom

Moved to 2nd gen Electronics

Howdy.
New guy here from Texas. I currently have an 05 Duramax with the LLY and it is stock to the rock. Over the last year my thirsty girl has sat idle while I've driven a small truck with a 1/4 barrel, 1/2 cylinder. This September, my son will be 16 and I'm losing the small ride and will be daily driving the Duramax. I've already installed a K&N intake filter and intend on installing a 4 inch turbo back exhaust along with a new turbo inlet pipe. All that being said, I've been plowing through the threads trying to boil down the info on tuners. What I'm looking for is basically a tow package and mileage. I really don't need all the bells and whistles, or enough horsepower to shred the drivetrain. You fellows seem to have your ducks in a row, so I'm asking for opinions on tuners. Best bang for the buck, that sort of thing. I've read and researched until my head hurts, so I'm doing what I should have done in the first place; ask those who know. Information on how to help my girl with her (diesel) drinking problem would be most appreciated. Tom
OK first imo I really love the Edge programmers because stage 2 has a built in turbo brake. Second you stated you have a K&N filter? Is that the whole cold air intake or just the filter. If its just the filter and you do a turbo back 4" like I have imo you need the whole intake. Plus with the turbo back go with the Diamond eye down pipe. I get alot of my stuff here from vendors that will hook you up with everything you'll need. Check out my profile for some pics and good luck.

OK first imo I really love the Edge programmers because stage 2 has a built in turbo brake.
Are you sure this option would be available on a 2005 Dmax?:confused:

Are you sure this option would be available on a 2005 Dmax?:confused:
I do think they make the Edge for your ride maybe not in the race version but I only run level 3 and thats all I need. I got mine from Meyer Performace and Fab. Great guys with great deals so give um a call.

I have the edge w/attitude, and the version I have doesn't have a turbo brake. I do like my edge, but if I was just looking for mileage and towing, I would find a reputable diesel shop in your area that can set you up with a 2-3 tune switch using EFI Live. They should be able to give you custom tunes that will fit your specific needs.

Thanks for the information fellas. I'll check out Edge programmers and I'm keeping my eyes open on the 'for sale' forums here. Considering I'm about to have a 16 year old on my insurance, I'm looking for a sweet deal anywhere I can find it. Thanks again. Tom

efi live, ppe, ats in that order as far as tuning goes.

i personally do not like edge. i dont have any experience with the new units but old edge with attitudes had enough problems to ruin the name for me for good.

if you are just looking for some better mileage and towing power for a good price keep an eye on the used section. good place to start. lots of good deals to be found on there.

efi is considered top of the line, then ppe which i run. i considered edge but was in it more for performance so went with ppe for now. the ppe on level 3 greatly helped my fuel economy and daily driving as well as towing. only problem is you really need a set of gauges also so that is your advantage with say, edge juice with attitude, is it has the monitor with gauge display. everyone has their opinions and preferences, im just saying im extremely happy with my ppe standard excelerator, just you really need to purchase a boost and pyro gauge also for safe measure.

yes EFI is a awesome tuner but he's not looking for all the bells and whistles as he stated. I just told him Edge because its simple and comes with all the guages he will need to keep an eye on what his trucks doing. EFI you better know what to do with a computer and a truck or IMO you will toast your ride really fast. IMO PPE is a great tuner also, very simple and has great results. So if you go with Edge or PPE I dont think you will be unhappy.

Thanks for the information fellas. I'll check out Edge programmers and I'm keeping my eyes open on the 'for sale' forums here. Considering I'm about to have a 16 year old on my insurance, I'm looking for a sweet deal anywhere I can find it. Thanks again. Tom


a edge juice with ***. is a pretty good tuner. it has the monitor and u can change levels on the fly. but they can get expensive. part of the price is the monitor that shows a good deal of gauges. now if u would want all the guages and ur not going to install guages, then the edge would be good for ya. but if u dont want to monitor all the parameters, and just use it to change levels, then it might be alittle to much on the money part. if ur just looking for a programmer that adds alittle power and milage, then i would go with a PPE economy. its got 3 levels, 40hp, 90hp, and 120hp. these low hp tunes run great and they run nice with a stock tranny. plus with the ppe programmer, you can clear dtc, read engine parameters, speedometer corrections for different size tires, and you can reset the transmission for a relearn.

Dmaxboy08,
The Edge economy looks like it would fill the bill for what I need. Now to find one that someone is willing to give up for cheap. I would love an EFI tune, but the price is beyond what Im willing to spend. The Superchips looked like a good economy programmer, but it says it doesnt recommend towing while on economy. Thats where I need some economy, is while hauling my fifth wheel around. Thankfully, I can afford to be patient and wait on that super, once in a lifetime deal to score on. Thanks again for the opinions. Tom

Dmaxboy08,
The Edge economy looks like it would fill the bill for what I need. Now to find one that someone is willing to give up for cheap. I would love an EFI tune, but the price is beyond what Im willing to spend. The Superchips looked like a good economy programmer, but it says it doesnt recommend towing while on economy. Thats where I need some economy, is while hauling my fifth wheel around. Thankfully, I can afford to be patient and wait on that super, once in a lifetime deal to score on. Thanks again for the opinions. Tom
buying the software and cutting the tunes yourself with efi can be a little pricey but having someone tune your truck for you or build you a dsp switch can be done for a couple hundred bucks. you would get much better tunes and your price would probably be cheaper that that POS edge your talking about.

i do not think highly of the edge at all but that is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. there is much much better tuning out there.

Carter_44,
I would assume that getting a custom tune would involve finding a diesel performance shop in my neck of the woods? All I need is an economy tune and a towing tune. If I don't have the power tune, then I won't be able to romp on it and maybe get into trouble. I've seen two vendors on this site that involve sending in the EFI for re-tuning, but the price is a bit steep. I also don't like to admit this, but what is a dsp switch? I would suppose it is to swap back and forth on tunes? If I can get something along these lines for a couple of hundred, then it makes perfect sense. I'd spend that much on a programmer anyway. Any info you have would be appreciated. Tom

Carter_44,
I would assume that getting a custom tune would involve finding a diesel performance shop in my neck of the woods? All I need is an economy tune and a towing tune. If I don't have the power tune, then I won't be able to romp on it and maybe get into trouble. I've seen two vendors on this site that involve sending in the EFI for re-tuning, but the price is a bit steep. I also don't like to admit this, but what is a dsp switch? I would suppose it is to swap back and forth on tunes? If I can get something along these lines for a couple of hundred, then it makes perfect sense. I'd spend that much on a programmer anyway. Any info you have would be appreciated. Tom

yes, the dps switch is so that you can switch tunes on the fly. since efi is the absolute best tuning tool available for our trucks that makes the dsp the most badass switch on the fly tune option available. the dsp comes in either a 2 tune or 5 tune option. so your idea of economy and tow would work with the dsp 2 or you could do the dsp 5 and have your tow, economy, race, lope/smoke, stock combo or whatever combination of tunes you wanted.

if you are interested start talking to some of the big tuners like duramax tuner, idaho rob, ridgerunner etc. and see what kind of deal they will cut you. they dont need your truck to build you a tune or dsp switch.