JPhauler87

First trip of the year this weekend. Called Smarty Resource last week and they reassured SW3 was a good choice for towing as long as my clutch was up to the task and I kept EGTs under 1200 sustained. This year, I stepped up to a 30' 14k GVW enclosed, 90" inside height. 6000lb empty, ~6000lb cargo. Scaled at 20360lb on the way home today. Also got the 245 19.5s install over the winter, cruising RPM is around 1950 at 65, 2150 at 70, 2200 at 55 if I drop to fifth. Works out really well. 9.3mpg running 70mph the whole trip. Really enjoyed the new found power and found EGTs very easy to manage maxing out around 1150, so I pushed it on the hills to see how it did. On the way home, I ran the speed limit and grabbed 5th on the long climbs and slowed down to 60 at 2400rpm, very happy there. Managed 10.7mpg. Moral of the story, should have bought the Smarty sooner like you all suggested I am netting the same fuel economy with a taller, heavier trailer. 6th is usable on more than just rolling hills, and EGTs are much cooler and easy to manage. Truck pulls the way I expect a Cummins should. Very happy.

The .5-1mpg is empty, I haven't made any long towing trips in a while and probably won't until spring. Thanks for the clarification on the POD.

Been running the Jr on SW1 with default timing. Power increase between 1500-2500rpm is huge! Has made the truck much more enjoyable to drive. However, only seeing .5-1mpg increase, at most. I found some threads on the Smarty Resource forum where Brian claimed SW3 was actually the most efficient setting for the J06. I was under the impression Default timing was the same across SW1-3 and additional power was gained from duration. Maybe not? Thinking I will give SW3 a try and see how it does on fuel for a while. I think I could be satisfied with the SW1 power level and am not really after much more, so thinking I will set the POD to 80-90 to keep the drivetrain happy.

67% but it's only money, right?

Smarty Jr. on the way from Amazon Made PA trip w GF's Jeep a couple weeks ago with Edge removed. Her Jeep is about 1000lb lighter than mine, and it's noticeable. 65 was doable on all but the couple worst hills which would have me down to 62-63, so still not bad. I did not miss the power from the Edge, was nice to mat it when needed with no worries. EGTs at 2100rpm maxed around 1250, scraped at 1400 running up to 2500rpm merging onto the highway. 10.4mpg. Thinking I am going to run the Smarty on SW1 and see how I like it. I've seen AH's dyno sheets on Jr. SW1 and I have a feeling it will do me well. All around improvements in economy and power. Might try SW2, but really like the idea of gains coming purely from timing and not added fuel with SW1.

I can't get the Edge to read while engine is off, so no dice there. I will try switching them sometime. The shake I mentioned in my first post is starting to get to me a bit. 1500-1900rpm most noticeable through shaking shifter while driving or by truck slightly shaking parked in neutral. 5,000 miles on remans from friend that works at a Bosch shop that does a lot of business around here. I don't hear an audible miss, temp gun on manifold runners was inconclusive. If it's a balance issue, I'll throw a Fluidampr at it and live with it. If it's an injector issue, I obviously want to get that sorted. I would like to do a kill test and rev to shake RPM, may have a friend of a friend with a scanner that can do it, or even was considering disconnecting injector wires one at a time. This shake has been there since the motor went in, hasn't gotten any better or worse. No different running two stroke or a strong dose of stanadyne. Some injector rattle, but nothing extreme. I occaisionally get a P2149 for injector bank two voltage, I suspect my aging batteries may cause that and slow crank speed. All injectors check out at .8 ohms. Vids of shake in neutral and cold start below. About 60* in cold start, not sure if friend ran grid heater or not but it was cold enough to make it cycle for me right after. Was in the 40s last night. Should I be concerned? IMG_4627.MOV I'll have to upload cold start vid when I get home and can upload to YouTube or something, I'm exceeding attachment size. 2-3 second crank, 2 seconds of gray smoke that clears up completely. Once warmed a bit, starts right up with no smoke.

Attached pic. Gauge reads 100-150* hotter between 3 and 4 than Edge does down in the collector. Wouldn't expect gasses to cool that much before hitting collector, especially since back runs hotter. Wondering if it's the cheap gauge.

Same NH trip this weekend, turned Edge down to level 3. Level 2 is 'tow', 3 is 'drive', but it feels like there is no noticeable improvement until 3. Used my foot to keep EGTs 1200 max with momentary bouts above until I backed off. Edge would say load was 60-70% load at 1200, and it definitely felt like I was leaving power on the table there but it did OK there so whatever. 10.5mpg, same as last trip. Only a couple trips left this year, but I won't go into next season without a Smarty. Will call Turbo Re-source as well about options to help open up the exhaust side of things, maybe do that over winter as well. Edge EGT probe in 5/6 collector, Glowshift pillar gauge (maybe my problem) probe in manifold between 3 and 4. Pillar gauge reads 100-150* hotter under load and strangely 100* cooler when using a lower gear to help decel on longer hills with zero load. Any guesses as to what's going on there? Always though back cylinders ran the hottest.

Been running Edge on 5 with easy driving for a whole unloaded tank the last two weeks, 16.4mpg hand calc'd tonight. Up from 14.5-15 before, though I have reduced my highway driving speeds to 65 unloaded as well and I suspect that helps. I am running stock everything aside from cam and tuner. I suspect my higher rpm EGTs may be small exhaust housing? Man, upgrading turbos seems like a slippery slope though... I am really just after a little grunt and mpg bump, though I am sure every sled puller starts there too. Bet I'd be happy with how it ran if Cummins could have tuned it without regard for emissions. Hence my inclination to just do the Jr. and be done. We'll see how this goes... http://newlondon.craigslist.org/pts/5769211858.html

Once or twice I got over 1300* (may have touched 1400? :/) very briefly while winding out a bit under load to keep from lugging the next gear as I started up a hill. Continuous was kept to 1300* or less. I don't show any signs of blowby and runs the same as it has, but regardless I will dial it back. Last thing I need is to pull this engine out again. Advancing timing with a Jr still worries me because the unknowns are still there as to what's happening to the pistons. Aside from other's experiences, but we all know that no two trucks, trailers, hills, etc are the same. I drilled a second EGT probe hole in the manifold for the Edge in the 5/6 collector. Gauge reads from top of the manifold between 3 and 4 I believe, I am getting 100-150* hotter readings on my gauge than the Edge which I thought was interesting... I always thought 5/6 collector was the hottest and most conservative place to put and egt probe. I may end up with a bigger trailer putting me around the 20k gross mark at some point, but I am mainly after the treadlife friends of mine see with the 19.5s.

Did that for my last trip, took it easy and EGT boost never got out of line, but hopefully I didn't do any damage... I will dial it down to 2 or 3 next trip. Care to expand on why it's different for a HPCR vs a 2nd gen? Mainly the fact that they run hotter in general or is there more to it. Truck needs tires, working on a set of 19.5s so that's my free cash for a bit. No Smarty for me for a few weeks. Theoretical question: it seems to me, and I think I have read, EGTs are an indication of air as it's leaving the cylinder but not necessarily and indication of how hot air inside the cylinder is getting. If you advance the timing, aren't you just moving the peak temp into the cylinder instead of the exhaust? It's all a zero sum game. How can you be sure your tuning and temps are safe without actually measuring what's happening during combustion in the cylinder?

Dorkweed, I sent you a PM. I don't think I can access that part of the forum yet, unless I'm missing something. Says 404 error when I click on classifieds. The manual for my Edge says some Dodge trucks have a timing only option but I couldn't find it. Called Edge, mine does not have that. The guy also said he did not reccomend towing on a higher level than 2, even with my SB clutch and keeping boost and EGTs in line. I am guessing that a little more fuel with a bit more timing puts a lot of pressure on things? Not sure if I should continue to tow on that setting. Too bad, it really seemed to help reduce the amount of boost I needed to pull hills or maintain speed. I realize the Smarty Jr is a better product, but it seems it's still going to have to add some amount of timing to get to where I am now with Edge all the way up.

Did a 300 mile round trip from CT to NH this weekend with the same load. Again, no flat terrain but none of the longer several mile hills like in NY and PA. Ran the Edge on 5 with lowest boost response setting and kept speed at 65-67mph which put me right at 2100rpm. It is very happy there, 20-22lb of boost and 1100* were all I needed for almost every hill. 10.5mpg. Switched back to stock tune for one small hill, yuck. EGTs were a little cooler but I was constantly making lots of boost while feeling like it wasn't adding any power. Guessing the timing bump helps with that? I do have to watch EGTs with the Edge on 5 though which makes me a little nervous. Over 2300rpm or so if I lay into, boost and temps skyrocket. Unfortunately, when you are starting from a stop and heading up a hill on the backroads, you need some rpms so you aren't lugging it once you shift and that makes it a little tough. I am happier now that I've found a kind of sweet spot, may keep the Edge for a bit and drill/tap a second hole in the manifold so I can run the Edge EGT probe and have it automatically protect me from melting down. Or sell it now and just get a Smarty Thanks for the help guys.

Thanks guys, doesn't sound like I have anything to be worried about mechanically then. I was not using cruise control, but it sounds like I may need to just keep my speed down where the truck feels more comfortable. I am assuming highest setting on Edge is best due to most timing advance. I have been considering selling the Edge and buying a Smarty Jr because that seems to be the easiest and simplest way to add timing, which I think is probably what my truck needs more than anything, not more duration or boost which is what the Edge mainly does. I am clueless about EFI live, Google search shows PPEI makes an EFI live handheld unit and it comes loaded with 5 tunes from them. Does that also give me options to upload tunes from somewhere else? I was under the impression EFI live was a pretty universal thing. What do you guys reccomend for my use? Feel free to point me in the general direction of where I can learn the basics, I will do some more reading.

Hello all. Been lurking for a while, first post! This truck is still new to me, trying to figure out what’s normal and what’s not. 2006 G56 4wd 3.73 DRW 163k I have a little over 3000 miles on a long block with a Hamilton 178/208 with reman injectors I sourced from my local Bosch facility. While I’d prefer a Smarty Jr, truck came with a Juice with Attitude so I have been running that. All else is stock. My normal trip and main use for this truck is hauling my 8.5x20 standard height bumper pull enclosed with my Jeep inside from CT to PA via interstates 84 and 81. Trailer is roughly 8500lb loaded up, so I am guessing I am somewhere between 16-17k lb gross, though I have not been to the scale. The hills on this route are not what I would call extreme, but some are relatively steep and many drag on for 2-3 miles. With the stock tune but Edge boost fooling to 35lb, just about every hill would have my boost maxed out there with EGTs between 1200-1300*F with Edge reporting 100% load. On medium sized rolling hills this was enough to maintain 70mph, but not on the longer grades. Not much change between Edge settings between stock and 2, but 3 seemed to provide a noticeable bump. On 3, medium rolling hills were down to 25lb and 70% load, EGTs about the same but still losing speed on longer grades. When pulling grades losing speed, I noticed that boost and EGTs would reduce with rpm, I would max out around 30lb and 1150*F by the time I was down to 2000rpm, this differs from my 12v a few years ago that would fuel consistently no matter what, though I realize this is a different animal and may be normal operation. 70 mph puts me about 2300rpm. Both fill ups netted me 9mpg, which seems low to me. Daily driving seems to be about 15mpg. Towards the end of the trip I separated from my friends with lighter setups and slowing down to 65-70mph and the truck seems happier there, 70+ and it seemed it needed 15lb of boost just to maintain speed, though there is basically zero flat terrain on the entire trip. Some things to note: Not making or consuming oil Light black haze pulling hard with Edge on 3, no other smoke Rail pressure is 20kpsi full load at 2300rpm, idles at 7kpsi Baldwin filter in stock canister, Donaldson 3mic/water sep on frame rail I have slight shake in the truck most noticeable through the shifter between 1600 and 2000rpm, I can’t hear a miss in the engine or exhaust and all exhaust manifold ports laser thermometer’d within 10*F or so at idle and 1500rpm – balance issue somewhere? Does this sound normal? Should I start poking around my truck or adjust my expectations? Or do I need to just slow down. With 325/610 stock, I figured 8500lb would be a breeze at 70. It does it, but it seems to be working.