namotuman

went thru the initial installation of the smarty jr. program. the directions were very good and easy to follow. i've been waiting a while, reading thru threads of enthusiastic owners and i'm gonna do some towing out to the dez for turkey day. can't wait to give the ole gal a test drive and see what all the excitement is about......

tankeryanker

Report back on your experences of the difference while towing. I was going to purchase the Smarty jr. before the ression hit. Now I'm just hording my $$$ until I know for sure where this country is going to end up. I miss the power my 01 had with bigger injectors & a chip & I'd like to wake up my 05 which is used strickly for my 5vr or TC.

namotuman

will do....gonna pick up my rig tonite. just went for a test drive (on tow setting) and...well, let's just say that i could feel myself sink into my seat when hard accelerating up some steep short grades (1/4 mile). she gets up to 50 in a fraction of the time as stock. i have a feeling i won't even feel the trailer now (7000 lbs dry)......yeeewww!

WhiteMule

You'll enjoy it. It will be like someone slapped the "ole gal" on the backside.

tankeryanker

My loaded trailer is a bit heavier than yours 12,000 loaded. I'm just currious what your egt's are while pulling hard.

checkster

my toy hauler goes about 11k loaded and i never go over 1200.......and i tow on the performance setting.

WhiteMule

The max I've seen is about 1350* on a pass in Colorado. I let out of the throttle some and let the EGT's come back down and continued to climb the mountain. Cruising EGT's vary depending on load, wind, grade, speed, etc.

flytrip

I have a question for you guys. It looks like pretty much all of you are towing with JR. on stock transmissions, unless I missed it in your sigs. I tow my RV on the towing setting, and when pulling a good grade, solw,(25-35mph) my trans will overheat. Watching my trans gauge, it gets to about 235. The stock alert light never comes on. When it gets hot, it tries to upshift to 3rd and lock the converter. I think it does this to reduce friction. Keep in mind I'm goin pretty slow, and third is way too high a gear. I hate seeing it get over 210, Any of you have this problem? THink a deep pan would solve this?

Thanks, Colby

Mega Ram

I just ordered a SmartyJr and a PRXB Pac Brake. Should arrive this weekend! I can't wait

rockcrawler304

I'm hoping Santa brings my Smarty Jr this year

CD in NM

I've had the Pac Brake for quite some time, I really like it, I think you will too. As far as the Samrty Jr, I just got mine, I plan on loading it up this weekend and giving it a work out. Saturday I am installing an Air Dog 150, should have plenty of fueling now. I was drawing the pressure down to 1-2lbs towing heavy, so hopefully I will now have better fuel delivery and with the Jr just better overall.


CD

SLEDGE

Yeah they will warm right up when unlocked.... A deep pan will get ya around 10 deg. cooler but when you're loaded and going slow drop the lever into 2nd it'll lock up in a useable gear. And install a lockup switch. Makes it easier to control the temp. Hope this helps.

flytrip

Alright, I'll give it a shot. Thanks.

WhiteMule

As Sledge said, tow/haul, manual second and go up the pass.

namotuman

alright i'm back from my trip to the hi desert and a few observations from the drive:

1. my rig fully loaded with water, fuel, bikes, and gear gets well over 9500lbs and pulling it was very smooth and effortless. i even asked the wife if she noted any change in the ride (bought the smarty jr under the radar) and she thought it was a smoother ride.
2. temps...temps were generally normal as stock. there was power enough to pull in overdrive up a couple of 4-5% grades that were fairly long. on the longest grade i saw a temp spike to 1300. i just locked up the tow/haul and it quickly dropped to 1150-1200 and i proceeded to pass a lot of other brand diesel trucks pulling their rigs. i just cruised (2500rpm @55mph) and had plenty of pedal left to really pull out and accelerate by the slugs.
3. mileage also seemed to be improved. i'll have to hand calculate to confirm this though.

i'm thoroughly impressed by this upgrade and now am kicking myself for not doing it sooner.......can't wait to play w/the PoD and the 100hp setting!!!