a family friend recently came to me and asked me to help him squeeze a few more MPG's out og his 06 crew cab 4x4 auto. its got 105xxx miles and has no mods.Now not really being a common rail guy, i suggested what i know will help.-suggested a fuel filter change- bumping up tire pressure a little bitnow as far as mods go the furthest i could go with educated answers i suggestedair intakeexhasut and of course a chiphe liked the chip idea, but im not quite sure what path to put him on as far as whats the best chip for MPG.anyone have any experience chipping for milage?? if so any favorite brand out there??

The most cost effective mods are advancing the timing ring behind the dampner. That procedure is covered in the power train forum in the DIY thread. Tire pressure, alignment, and make sure the steering and suspension are tight with no slop. Filters changed, transmission fluid / filter and rear axel fluid changed. drive like a little old lady from Pasadena. Time red lights so that you arrive just as it turns green and you are still rolling. keep rpms less than 2K.The mods you mentioned may improve milage but only if he drives it like an old lady. Mods tend to make people say hey watch this! which leads to even worse milage than they got before. all the while scratching their head and wondering why the do dads didn't help the milage?At least that's my experiance.If it has 4.10 gears he can go to a bigger tire to help get the rpms down. Same would apply to 3.73 as well. And stay away from open sided tires.

The most cost effective mods are advancing the timing ring behind the dampner. That procedure is covered in the power train forum in the DIY thread. Tire pressure, alignment, and make sure the steering and suspension are tight with no slop. Filters changed, transmission fluid / filter and rear axel fluid changed. drive like a little old lady from Pasadena. Time red lights so that you arrive just as it turns green and you are still rolling. keep rpms less than 2K. The mods you mentioned may improve milage but only if he drives it like an old lady. Mods tend to make people say hey watch this! which leads to even worse milage than they got before. all the while scratching their head and wondering why the do dads didn't help the milage? At least that's my experiance. If it has 4.10 gears he can go to a bigger tire to help get the rpms down. Same would apply to 3.73 as well. And stay away from open sided tires.

Your right on all counts. As far a tuners, I have the Smarty and once I found what I wanted, I left it alone. On long hauls empty, I picked up 3 mpg empty. I never check or worry when pulling a load, it changes with each load since each load was different in weight and where i was going. The biggest improvement was driving like a 'ole folk.

Your right on all counts. As far a tuners, I have the Smarty and once I found what I wanted, I left it alone. On long hauls empty, I picked up 3 mpg empty. I never check or worry when pulling a load, it changes with each load since each load was different in weight and where i was going. The biggest improvement was driving like a 'ole folk.

This^^^^^ Jim is right on. I only gave the tone wheel mod info because someone asked. The Smarty can do that for you without getting your hands dirty and scraped up. I run my Smarty Revo almost exclusively on SW5 default setting. Give good power boost and keeps the EGT's very cool..........cooler than a stock truck. I drive like a old fart also!!

dodgethis91cmns, it didn't say where you or your friend live. My friend lives in California and said the state checks for chips or anything that is not stock. They don't care if it's for better mileage or not. ANYTHING besides stock will get ya a BIG fine. Check if this is also in your state. If like in California, then sell and move. I did. I use to live in California, retired and now VERY happy in Tennessee. Don't have to put up will all that bull.

we both live in southeastern PA. he wont have to go through emission and inspections just visual. I dont know if he has a warranty at all but ive been reading into the smarty JR and the say it doesnt leave any trace behind.i think thats the route i would send him, theres alot of good testimonials on the forums about the smarty JR.

a family friend recently came to me and asked me to help him squeeze a few more MPG's out og his 06 crew cab 4x4 auto. its got 105xxx miles and has no mods. Now not really being a common rail guy, i suggested what i know will help. -suggested a fuel filter change - bumping up tire pressure a little bit now as far as mods go the furthest i could go with educated answers i suggested air intake exhasut and of course a chip he liked the chip idea, but im not quite sure what path to put him on as far as whats the best chip for MPG. anyone have any experience chipping for milage?? if so any favorite brand out there??

Timing is the #1 way to pickup some economy on the 3rd gens. The tone ring or rokkteck mod will give a static advance, but a tuner like the Smarty Jr will give a dynamic advance. Intake/exhaust are not needed, nor will the do much for economy. If he want's to mod them then that's fine, but the OEM filter is the best filter for under 450 rwhp, and you can mod the stock intake to improve it without changing it, and be better off than many/most aftermarket CAI's/

This^^^^^ Jim is right on. I only gave the tone wheel mod info because someone asked. The Smarty can do that for you without getting your hands dirty and scraped up. I run my Smarty Revo almost exclusively on SW5 default setting. Give good power boost and keeps the EGT's very cool..........cooler than a stock truck. I drive like a old fart also!!

I run my SJR on pretty much the same setting. It's a great tune, but not one I would advise on a stock auto trans, too much power and too easy to damage the stock auto. Something to point out if the OP/truck owner isn't aware of is that the Smarty will decrease the EGT's substantially, but you can't run it up to stock EGT's with a Smarty tune or you will melt something. You need to lower your safe limit. I have never seen too high of EGT with my SJR to be concerned under normal driving, and the only time I have was towing up a 6% grade at 5,000 feet (stock turbo) in OD at 1900 rpms, dropped to 5th and EGT's dropped 250°. I think a Smarty Jr would fit the bill nicely for what he wants, and would personally set it on SW1 TM-Default, TQ -4.

Timing is the #1 way to pickup some economy on the 3rd gens. The tone ring or rokkteck mod will give a static advance, but a tuner like the Smarty Jr will give a dynamic advance. Intake/exhaust are not needed, nor will the do much for economy. If he want's to mod them then that's fine, but the OEM filter is the best filter for under 450 rwhp, and you can mod the stock intake to improve it without changing it, and be better off than many/most aftermarket CAI's/ I run my SJR on pretty much the same setting. It's a great tune, but not one I would advise on a stock auto trans, too much power and too easy to damage the stock auto. Something to point out if the OP/truck owner isn't aware of is that the Smarty will decrease the EGT's substantially, but you can't run it up to stock EGT's with a Smarty tune or you will melt something. You need to lower your safe limit. I have never seen too high of EGT with my SJR to be concerned under normal driving, and the only time I have was towing up a 6% grade at 5,000 feet (stock turbo) in OD at 1900 rpms, dropped to 5th and EGT's dropped 250°. I think a Smarty Jr would fit the bill nicely for what he wants, and would personally set it on SW1 TM-Default, TQ -4.

Agree 100%. What usually melts on the '04.5-'07 trucks is the pistons due to the narrower injector spray angle, the increased duration, mild pressure increase and different piston tops. AKA, "the blow torch" effect. The '03-'04 trucks had a wider spray angle and the different piston tops. You had a drawing a while back. The wider spray angle with the different tops didn't concentrate the heat like what happens in the later versions. Plus, I don't think the tuner Gods really focused on this short version of the CR's. It was here, then gone almost as fast. This time of year...........like on my trips to MO............if I'm not bucking a strong straight headwind or a quartering into me headwind or driving thru the river valleys; I see EGT's between 500-600* driving through the pancake land of central Illinois running 65-68mph. I like to see a stock truck do those numbers.

Yeah the 04.5-07 has the poorest piston design of any CTD in a Ram. The wider non-renetrant bowl with a narrower spray angle isn't ideal, but with a little smarts we can keep from making our pistons liquid :-).