Community Forums

cborthoffroad · 01-25-2007, 06:46 PM

I have a 2002 chevy 3500 duramax/allison I installed a K&N 77 cold air intake and strait exauhst but haven't put a programer on it yet is it worth the money? dose it help with fuel mileage? And has anyone had any problem with engine damage. I have considered the edge juice.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

cborthoffroad · 01-25-2007, 06:46 PM

I have a 2002 chevy 3500 duramax/allison I installed a K&N 77 cold air intake and strait exauhst but haven't put a programer on it yet is it worth the money? dose it help with fuel mileage? And has anyone had any problem with engine damage. I have considered the edge juice.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

maxx · 01-26-2007, 02:17 AM

I had a 2004 lb7 Duramax Banks Monster exhaust, K&N, Edge with Attitude. This combo woked great. It did help with fuel milage, put 77,000 miles on before trading on 2006 Duramax,no engine trouble at all. I kept the Edge,and is currently for sale.E-mail if interested.

xc-mark · 01-26-2007, 12:19 PM

I had a edge box on both my 2001 lb7 duramax truck and a edge box on my 2004.5 lly duramax truck, both trucks pulled much harder , fuel mileage didnt change much... its hard to tell if you have more power you use it = less fuel in the tank due to hot foot ! For any one thinking about useing a edge box they do a good job of putting power where its useable for towing. Some of the other boxes are good for hotroding and thats not what you need for towing heavy. A word of caution ! a stock allison can handle MAX 50~70 hp more then stock rating . I would stay around 50 hp towing, you will have zero trans issues if you do , over 90 hp long term and open your wallet for a sun coast stage III rebuild.

NCHornet1 · 01-30-2007, 12:11 PM

I am not a Chevy man as you can see by my sig, but facts are facts. You don't just add more power without addressing other areas of the powertrain and supporting the weak areas. Many of these generic tuners like BullyDog and Superchips and Edge work by advancing timing and dumping more fuel, this will cause high EGT's so you first must have proper gauges I would have tranny, EGT and boost, if not you are asking for trouble with high EGT's, BTW redline is 1250. Then to help keep EGT's under control you need to let the engine breathe with a better intake a higher flowing exhaust, you then may want to support the tranny, I did mine with a tune valvebody, but remember I am a Ford guy. Now and only now should you add more ponies. I bought my programmer from DPTuner he specializes in Fords, Jody will ask you how you use your truck, how much you tow, how often, what terrain etc... he will ask you for all the mods you have done to your truck as well as future mods planned, if he doesn't have a tune that will fit your needs he will custom burn one, this is hepful in the future if your needs change the tune can be tweaked, companies like Superchips won't do this. My best suggestion is find a Chevy diesel forum and ask the folks over there if they know of a place like DPTuner for Chevy's, I bet they do. Have fun!!

450Donn · 01-30-2007, 01:22 PM

try WWW.THEDIESELPLACE.COM
You will find lots of posts about programmers. Personally I don't see a need for one. Not into hot rodding anymore. The added costs/v benefits ratio is just not there. If you really want to pull /haul more, get a bigger truck that is designed for the job. Much better financially!

Ray,IN · 01-30-2007, 03:02 PM

When considering adding HP remember; the weakest link willfail first. The Allison has a fail-safe in the TCM, exceed the torque limit(ie: slip the clutches) and it puts the Allison in "limp" mode to prevent further damage. The entire drivetrain is designed to reliably handle the factory HP from the engine. My truck(see below) is stock, tows the 15.5K# 5er quite easily in every road condition I've encountered throughout the U.S.A while maintaining safe, reasonable, speeds ascending and descending mountain grades. I have no desire to find out how fast it will tow the 5er on flat roads, 65 is fast enough for me.
The bottom line is, it's your money do as you wish.

Vette Racer · 01-30-2007, 04:06 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cborthoffroad:
I have a 2002 chevy 3500 duramax/allison I installed a K&N 77 cold air intake and strait exauhst but haven't put a programer on it yet is it worth the money? dose it help with fuel mileage? And has anyone had any problem with engine damage. I have considered the edge juice.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>cborthoffroad

I also have a 2002 lb7 and I've had the Edge juice box on since around 1k miles. I don't have any other mods on it, exhaust is stock. I put it on because when towing 15k it downshifted on small hills and I didn't care for it running up at 2700 rpms for quite a ways before it shifted back into 5th gear so I added the Edge juice. It has been the best thing since sliced bread for that truck, it tows in 5th most of the time, no downshifting unless a very good long and steep hill and from what I see after 60k miles, no other side effects. I've never had it go into limp mode even though I tow in level 3 most of the time, no, it won't help your fuel mileage, just your power. In fact in level 3 I believe you will see about a 1/2 mile less per gallon but the power tradeoff is worth it in my opinion. You do need to have gage's to watch your EGT's as it can get too hot if you lug the engine, but other than that, its the way the truck should pull in the first place. I would put the Edge on in a second and never think twice. I have to caution you though, if you put it on be careful in level 4, the truck is hard to drive off a stoplight without spinning the duals.

I fixed that by just programming level 3 in the regular mode and level 2 in the tow/haul mode as I just couldn't keep my foot out of it in level 4.

Dave · 01-30-2007, 06:26 PM

I had a 2001 LB7 duramax crew cab dually. When the truck had 10,000 miles on it I added the Edge Juice. Truck had over 130,000 miles on it when I sold it. No troubles with it what so ever. I towed in Level two and empty in level 4.

It did not help the mpg empty. I live in the hills of East TN, it did help mpg towing. I believe the reason it helped was the truck down shifted much less often. It really helped in the rolling hills.

I did not do any exhaust or intake, just the edge juice.

I will add one to my 06 Duramax, I felt it was well spent money.

Vette Racer · 01-30-2007, 06:43 PM

Hey Dave, do you have the lly or the lbz and what do you think of it and how it equates to the lb7 on level 2?

Dave · 02-01-2007, 05:53 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vette Racer:
Hey Dave, do you have the lly or the lbz and what do you think of it and how it equates to the lb7 on level 2? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I currently have the LBZ. I have yet to get the programer for it. I will get one before summer. I am trying to decide between the Edge Juice again or the Edge Evolution.

I had an 05 LLY. It was a lemon. So I have the 06 LBZ

Stylin' · 02-06-2007, 04:02 AM

I agree with Vette Racer on the need for just a little more power for the hills while towing; it helps keep the transmission from "hunting". I didn't want any of the hassels with the troubles that Edge has been having lately though, and went with the Van Aaken SmartBox E instead. I've had it on for almost 2 yrs with no issues, but only use it on the 70 hp setting, and only while towing. This comes in a whole range of switchable power levels, and it has some built in tranny protection as well. The EGT's are pretty much the same as stock, and although I haven't realized any mileage gains, the extra power makes the investment worthwhile. Also, I think that a good set of gauges is a must even if your programmer choice has a built in display such as Edge has.