Ok I have been reading alot of posts about programmers. It sems the smarty jr. ranks the highest. But I have a question? Is there anyone who has tried the cheaper programmers on ebay. 120 bucks verses the 500 from smarty are there really any difference. I just want a little more power and fuel econ. 06 5.9 3500 longbed.

 

Just my opinion, not starting a fight but if your messing with the powerplant of a 40-50 thousand dollar truck are you really gonna wanna skimp on the programmer controlling it?

 

The bigest diffrence betwenn cheaper programers and higher end ones is performance in the low end. I tried most of the chips and programmers and smarty seems to really wake it up on the low end and high end. The cheaper ones do ok but mostly HP after 45mph do you feel it.

 

don't skimp.


quick scenario- the cheap programmer over fuels the truck, melts a piston and you take it to the dealer. They find a programmer (which changed your ECM and left a big ol footprint) and say, Mr. eot, this is gonna cost you $15,000 for a new long block with labor and voided your warranty.

DON'T SKIMP,

 

No i dont want to do anything to cause problems with the heart of this thing but thought of trying to save a little money. I am sure the smarty is real good but its like any new super product OVERPRICED. All manufactures do it.

 

He's never driven a Smarty equipped Cummins...

 

Sure, there are quite a few programmers out there that are significantly cheaper than others. Do they leave footprints on the ECM? The old saying, "You pay to play" serves correctly in this case scenario... The few hundred dollars you could save, could cost you an exponential amount due to a Faulty Fuel System Calibration. It takes vast amount of research and time to perfect the right combination of Fuel Injection mapping for your Specific application. (Fuel Duration, Timing, Injection Pressures, Multiple Injection events, etc.....) When you factor the possibility of frying the ECM, or even damaging hard parts, it makes people think twice....

 

OK I will save up my cash. I hope the smarty is as good as you all have said. I have noticed the price on them is the same everywhere.

 

You won't regret it. An S-06 with a mere SW3 turns a turbo-lagging relatively powerful 05.5 into a totally different animal just by adding 60 HP, mostly on the bottom end: no turbo lag. It's like the difference in a base V6 Mustang and a 5.0 L Mustang GT.

I can't imagine buying a truck with a high 4 to low 5 digit replacement cost engine and trying to get power dirt cheap. It's not a 12 valve, where you can turn up the fuel screw with a $2 screwdriver. The whole reason for the Smarty Jr. was to keep the cost down for folks that didn't need/want more than 100 HP, or was just buying for economy improvements, and didn't need a full-blown Smarty CaTCher. BTW, on 6.7L engines, the Smarty is not untraceable, and won't work on engines with bootloader software versions dated after 3/4/2009. Newer trucks would require the full-blown S67 at this time. I'm sure Marco is working on it.

http://www.madselectronics.com/SmartyJ67.html

 

Or you can buy a high end programmer and still over fuel melt a piston and ruin a $13000 engine.

 

I ALWAYS check the classifieds at this site and a couple others for upgrades I want to do before I shell out the $$$ for anything new. I got an awesome deal on a programmer that was brand new and had never even been installed on a truck. (No offense to the sponsors) I'm just a tightwad so I'm always looking to save money.....

 

I just came up with a scenario. The smarty is proven. Not saying that there have not been any issues with engines but how many of those issues do we not hear the entire story. Someone not paying attention to the EGT's when beating on it, over fueled with too big injectors, not enough turbo etc.. too many variables. I just prefer a system that is proven with A TON of them out there with KILLER customer service. Not some ebay hooker selling cheap stuff with zero customer service.

 

Great post brotha!!

 

X2, very well said.

 

but of course I am a smarty cheerleader too! LOL..


I love mine, dropped my EGT's over 150* compared to the Edge Juice with Attitude, mileage went up, response thru the entire RPM range is awesome. Just not going to trust my money pit with anything inferior.