Worth the extra $300?

[victoryismine06]

I've read through sooo many threads about tuners I think it's making me more indecisive... From what I've been reading I believe I want to go with an H&S (or?) but I can't decide between the XRT or Mini Maxx? I did the simple Home Depot CAI and have a diamond eye exhaust on its way. The truck has plenty of power for what I need, just looking for more mpgs. I'm toying with the idea of making my own b100 so the gauges might be nice but $300? I just can't decide... Any advice? Flip a coin?

[TurboDiesel7]

You will want gauges. Now decide if you want them all in a compact package or mechanical gauges. Cause getting your boost, egt, and whichever other you choose will end up being around 300 dollars also.

[Super Briar]

I agree...gauges on a diesel is a must have...the more the merrier.

SB

[UtahBruteForce]

Gauges. I'm biased on tuners. H&S. It's nice that I can remove the tuner without throwing a code. I also like the Overdrive option..

[DDGTHS08]

I have the MM and Love it! You can pick one up in the classifieds cheap. If you ever trade up the H&S will work with '07-'11 Cummins 6.7. If you decide you want something different sell it in the classifieds or sell it to one of your buddies running a GM or Ferd. Like UtahBruteForce said it has an OD option that you may want to help the tranny.

The OD option increases the line pressure in the tranny and will hold you in the power longer. Factory trans tune not made to hold much over stock at all. Its a real good all in one programmer!

As far as MPG I have never ran one but some guys are running the MP8, and some are running the MP8 stacked with other programmers, someone may chime in on the MP8 for mileage for ya.

[davematthews]

I would order the xrt pro and the OD tune. Yes gauges are important, but if you've got the slightest bit of common sense, you won't need gauges until there's a problem. They are kind of bling factor at first, then when your modding starts getting serious, they are a must have.

The OD tuning on the other hand is a must have.. I can garauntee you it has saved my tranny from premature failure. I have 132k miles on mine right now. Hit the track every single chance I can get, tow a 10k lb 33 ft travel trailer 2-3 times a month, and my tranny, cp3, sticks, turbo, etc... are all stock and original. Tranny runs better today than the day I bought it by a long shot.

Biggest thing that I've seen is to let it warm up completely before getting on it. You can drive around with it cold, but keep it under 50% throttle. Let it cool down a bit if you've been dogging on it. And run the right tune. If your a stock truck, don't run the 175, run the 120 or 60. You can only throw so much electronics at these things. Everybody gets all giddy and excited when they first delete. They get to thinking,,,,, Man that's insane, I want more... Well more shouldn't be in the form of a boost fooler, pressure box, or bigger tune. More should be a bigger turbo, upgraded cp3, head studs, bigger sticks... etc...

If it was me, and I was limited on the funds, I would do the xrt and the OD. Later when you save up some more you can always sell the xrt and upgrade to the mm or bm. Personally I started with the MM and quickly switched to the BM. Too small in my oppinion. If you want gauges, I would save up for a CTS monitor. allows you to view up to 8 at a time, has alarms, maintaince manager, practice tree, all kinds of stuff. And its big enough to check at a glance. The MM and BM only allow monitoring of 4 gauges at a time..

good luck with your truck.

[Diesel Duner]

The mini max is a nice clean package as far as gauges go. The OD tuning is extremely worth it!!

[DSTRBD]

I think its well worth the extra money to get the Mini Maxx and have everything you need on one small monitor. You get the on-the-fly tuning, gauges, and built in safety features. I also agree that the OD tuning makes a HUGE difference and is worth getting. Drive a truck without it, then one with it, and you will know what I mean.

[victoryismine06]

Dang, now I'm def sold on the OD tuning. I'm trying to stay under $1.5k because its hard for me to justify much more since the truck already does more than I really need. From what I understand I don't need to do any of the EGR/cooler deletes, the tuner will shut it all off?

[tcclindy]

Everyone raves over the OD tranny tuning, I need to get it for mine, still trying to get over the cost of my initial investimate as well.

[davematthews]

Originally Posted by victoryismine06

Dang, now I'm def sold on the OD tuning. I'm trying to stay under $1.5k because its hard for me to justify much more since the truck already does more than I really need. From what I understand I don't need to do any of the EGR/cooler deletes, the tuner will shut it all off?

I wld wrk the 100 dollar delete in there. Even though it shuts it off, its better to take it off. Plus it cleans up ur engine bay tremendously.

Here wld be my list:
Xrt w/od
Exhaust
Egr delete
Cts monitor.

That shld keep u under 1500.

[victoryismine06]

Originally Posted by davematthews

I wld wrk the 100 dollar delete in there. Even though it shuts it off, its better to take it off. Plus it cleans up ur engine bay tremendously.

Here wld be my list:
Xrt w/od
Exhaust
Egr delete
Cts monitor.

That shld keep u under 1500.

Hmm... Well I canceled my diamond exhaust order once I saw some good package deals online.

This might be a stupid question but I'm confused on the cts/xrt setup, do I just throw the xrt under the dash or something then? The only downside to the xrt is no on demand tuning but how often do you really change the level? My guess is not very often.

I was just curious about the egr delete because I'll have to put all this crap back on every year to do emissions... Still worth the $100 egr delete kit? I figure I can do the throttle valve delete and grid heater relocation once/if my checkbook recovers.

Thanks everyone for all the good advice!