So I was talking to a guy the other day and he tells me that he gets quite a substantial increase in mpg with his Bully Dog programmer. Apparently the higher the setting the better the mpg. Is this true or does the mpg on the overhead just show higher with the Bully Dog installed?

If my mpg increases I might have to get a programmer.

 

Negative. Nothing really gives you better mileage buddy. People have tried everything. Hubs, programmers, intake, exhaust, tires, cam, etc.... people have spent thousands and thousands and nothing. Maybe 1 or 2mpg at the most, and those are the guys that put a gear vendor in and..... Besides, it would take 150k miles to pay the 1 to 2mpg you gained. It is what it is. Some get 13mpg, some get 20mpg.

 

I'll have to only partially agree with previously said statement. With my BDPP set to tow I can get right at 3 more mpg than running stock. Now, anything over the tow tune and the stupid foot takes over and mileage goes down the drain. I can typically achieve (hand calculated) about 20-22 mpg on highway. I did make the mistake of leaving the extreme tune in the ecm and took a trip to float the river down south of Austin and I used darn near a whole tank of fuel and I have made the same trip with the tow tune and used only a little more than a 1/4 tank (roughly 200 miles round trip). Don't ever trust the overhead readout...ever....let your truck coast down hill in neutral and let it tell you what kind of mileage your getting.....mine tells me on occasion I'm getting 98-99 mpg...GOD DO I WISH!!!!!

With the job I had hauling and frequently running 3000+ miles a week the downloader paid for itself rather quickly but for just the average everyday driver the return would be much slower.......but the POWER is there instantly!

 

So I bought a Triple Dog Downloader E3. It has 1 economy program with approx. 50 hp. Still safe for towing. I installed and noticed approx. 3-4 mpg immediately with a respectable amount of increased performance. The only problem is that my high idle no longer works. Is this fixable? I could go back to the dealer and have it reset but it would get turned off again when I installed the bully dog.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can keep the bully dog installed and have high idle?

Thanks

 

Use the Triple Dog downloader to re-enable the high idle. There is an options screen that will let enable it.

 

The options screen on my downloader does not have an option for idle. It has tire size, speed limiter, speedometer calibration, and DPF burnoff. That's it. Nothing about idle speed at all. Is there a chance that the unit needs to be updated to a newer version of software in the downloader?

 

I hope you guys are doing your MPG figures with a calculator... because the factory trip computer is NOT accurate. Mine reads 1.5-2 MPG higher than hand calculations.

 

What software do you have? I have 2.4D, it has high idle as well as a PTO setting.

I find CL gives me the best mileage if I believed the over head but hand calculated that's not the case.
I get my best mileage running the 'stock' setting.

 

It so funny because ONLY on DTR can guys gain these 1-10mpg numbers, but in real life test over and over, they are never achieved. You guys have to tell me your secrets because I have tried it all, including BDog. Hubs, and lowering your truck and adding tires, I agree help a lot. But I have never seen a gain in any performance mods. Fill me in

 

It is possible to obtain better mileage from a programmer, but the number is probably in the .5-1.5 range, at most.. And most likely only when cruising.

I don't know what the BD products do, but on my Smarty Jr I can get between 15-55 extra RWHP at 2K rpms with zero extra fuel, thats all timing. So if the engine makes more power on the same amount of fuel then you should get better mileage, I have seen small gains.. The biggest gains people see with the Jr is when towing, as now your running the truck harder than cruising so the free hp gain is more apparent, so less fuel to do the same work...

Keep in mind thou, these gains are small.

The stuff that is supposed to help a 3rd gen, mainly 04.5-07, the most is a programmer to add timing, Smarty/Smarty Jr is best IMHO, a cam to remove the in-cylinder EGR, and 50hp injector nozzles...

 

I used to have a bullydog powerpup and then switched to Smarty. Both were close to the same as far as power and mileage gains. I would say about .5 gain with both. I then downloaded beta 4.4 for the Smarty and it was night and day difference in power compared to what came with the Smarty and mileage was up by 2-3 mpg. That is hand calculated like I have dome with every tank since I bought the truck. So it can be better with a programmer, but I think it depends on the truck and finding the correct download for your particular truck.

 

The regular tripledog instructions list an option to enable the manual high idle but the E3 instructions do not list that option.

 

DDP stg 2 90's = 2 mpg if you drive like you got some cents.

 

Ya, I can understand .5 mpg. The only problem is, how in the heck do you tell you gained .5mpg? My mileage varies between 1-3mpg. Even on the highway. Hills, wind, etc... Just dont see how its possible to notice .5mpg.
Anyway, I do believe you can get a little better mileage, but I will never believe someone getting 3 or 5mpg from a programmer, or any air mods! Manuel hubs, lowering truck, skinny tires... Just my 2Cs

 

I would love to get my Beta 4.4 back because it DID gain very noticeable mileage. I gained 75 miles per tank on 50/50 town and hwy and 100+ miles per tank on the highway. By Jason bed cover also was very noticeable on the interstate above 65 mph, but little to none in daily driving. I want to do the hub conversion as a replacement to the unit bearings that will fail without notice. They are serviceable and are half paid for after 1 unit bearing change on the road, which is where they will fail! My truck is an 03 and I think that is why it has such a dramatic effect in fuel milage,"Beta 4.4".