I'm kinda ignorant about programmers/chips. I am not a big fan of HP mods, but definately fuel economy and I want to do the 3 cylinder warm up. I would appreciate more torque while towing up a grade and avoid shifting down into a lower gear.Can we discuss the pro's and con's of various options? Smarty, Edge, etc.. I prefer simple as well. Are there literally chips to install, or is that just a term for reprogramming?

I'm kinda ignorant about programmers/chips. I am not a big fan of HP mods, but definately fuel economy and I want to do the 3 cylinder warm up. I would appreciate more torque while towing up a grade and avoid shifting down into a lower gear. Can we discuss the pro's and con's of various options? Smarty, Edge, etc.. I prefer simple as well. Are there literally chips to install, or is that just a term for reprogramming?

First off. There are programmers like the smarty and then there are "chips." Some use the terminology interchangably. The smarty plugs into the OBDII port and reprograms the fuel and timing curves while activating the 3cyl idle if your truck didn't have it done already. It adds 60hp approximately at peak, but a lot more power off the line. The smarty has many levels of timing and fueling, including a "mileage" one that works pretty decent. The chips, like Edge Juice, Edge EX, Quadzilla, ect tap the pump with a wire and have a computer box and on some models a readout in teh cab. These pump tap "chips" can add 120 hp and the most timing from what I understand. If driven properly, these can give great mileage and towing gains, but could harm the automatic trans if the trans isn't up to task. The upsides of the smarty is that its pretty adaptable with the new Revo, and we may eventually have UDC to allow us infinite changes. It is a great towing programmer. However, with the additional torque at low RPM you will be putting significant extra strain on your transmission. Its downsides are that it isn't "on the fly" changable. The smarty takes a few minutes with the truck parked to change any parameters. The chips, however, are mostly tweakable on the fly from levels 1-5. However, they take some additional wiring and whatnot. Keep in mind that there is a safe order to modifications. Fuel pressure first to keep VP safe. Gauges second to monitor safety of everything. Trans third. then play with the chips, fuel and turbo. You will hear of "stacking" chips. I have a smarty / edge Comp stack. I have 0 additional timing added with the smarty, but it adds fuel at low RPM. The comp always adds timing and fuel across the board but mostly at higher RPM. It adds the fuel from both box/programmer to make a nice enough curve and I use the Comp for timing as well.

But automatic transmission damage is preventable by keeping your foot off of the pedal? Where I am most interested is the lower rpm torque range of 1,600 to 1,800. Power through hills without downshift. I can see damage coming from a heavy load and rapid starts. First gear seems to be a bit low when starting with a load on an uphill grade.Does adding fuel at low RPM's cause smoke?

But automatic transmission damage is preventable by keeping your foot off of the pedal? Where I am most interested is the lower rpm torque range of 1,600 to 1,800. Power through hills without downshift. I can see damage coming from a heavy load and rapid starts. First gear seems to be a bit low when starting with a load on an uphill grade. Does adding fuel at low RPM's cause smoke?

Damage is preventable by keeping your foot out of it as long as the bands aren't slipping and you shift without keeping it pinned to the floor. However, you can get things pretty warm if you aren't staying in (converter) lockup if you are loaded and lugging up hills. If you are towing with an auto, I recommend a temp sensor, and W&F will recommend a special line from genos if I recall correctly to put the sensor into. He likes putting the sensor in the line from the converter where the fluid is warmest rather than the pan.