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Banks Economind

N

n4haj

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I have been reading the threads for some time now hoping to find a clear cut choice for a tuner to improve fuel mileage. One thing I have noticed is the absence of comments on the Banks products. Is Banks a "bad" word???

Might as well ask the question again. Whats the best tuner for the money?? I did not say cheapest.

Thanks
 
EFI live is hands down the most versatile, most capable tuning device on the planet, and we who drive GM are lucky to have it available to us. Its not cheap though but it is limitless in every way shape and form.

A handheld tuner that is worth every penny is probably Diablo Sport Predator. Many of us have had great results with it. I currently 'am running the Predator 85 tune and its plenty for me. I love the throttle response and mileage I can squeeze out of it.

Hypertech is a good tuner as well. I also have one of those and frequently switch back and fourth.

PPE is good but pricey and those deliver enough power to fry any stock tranny with ease.

Bully Dog is a "dirty" tune that basically delivers good power but its all fuel and timing. If you wanna fog an intersection, thats the way to go but your trans will pay the price.

Banks is really proud of their stuff and the price tag reflects that. I also hear that their customer service is horrible. They also dont quite make the power that they advertise.

Edge products is decent too after they've had some healthy problems on most generation Duramax's. I ran them on my 04.5 LLY and had nothing but problems and ended up going through 3 brand new Edge boxes and they all eventually left me stranded on the side of the road. Each box had their own separate problems and after countless trips to the dealership, endless check engine lights, rattling, blue smoke, pilot injection shutting off, stalling truck, I had enough. My 3rd box wouldnt even let my truck start. I fried like 5 sensors trying to get it started. I said the hell with it and sold the brand new box to a forum member about 5 years ago and ended up buying a Hypertech, which was flawless for years.

Edge has since worked out their bugs but I will never run them again on anything.

If I could go back and do it all over again, I would've spend the money on EFI live and been done with it. Do it right the first time.
 
OK on the EFI live. I do not have any additional guages in my LLY....so do you need them for EFI?? Also whats the cost and is there "off the shelf" programs already built into the program?? I do not have the working knowledge of a diesel engine to be able to program preformance variables. So that being said, do you still recommend EFI for me??
 
If you purchase EFI Live from a good tuner, often times they will include a tune or two for you to run.

I too lack the knowledge and patience for creating and tweaking my own tunes, hence my decision to go with the PPE Hot +2 ET. Diablo Predator is also a good tuner.

Gauges are a must, at least to monitor EGTs. Many of us also run a boost gauge as well.

Be aware that tweaking your truck's programming from stock can have adverse affects on a stock tranny, and especially tires.
 
Yeah, thats what Im afraid of...screwing something up. I guess by now you've figured out that Im very "green" when it comes to diesel engines. Im not into high preformance or speed. All I want is to get better fuel milage espcially while towing. On the open road (empty) at 60 mph, I can knock out 20-21. At 70mph 14-15. Let me put my boat behind it (approx 1500 lbs) and it cuts back to 12mpg at 60mph.

The drop in mpg towing such a small amount of weight just doesnt make sense to me.
 
It never made any sense to me either. It didnt matter if I strapped 20k lbs or 100 lbs, it seemed that my mileage was consistent with 14.5 at 70mph pulling any load.


I'm not into power and performance either so I'm content running a simple hand held tuner.

For you, I'd recommend a Diablo Sport Predator. Many of our vendors here carry lots of tuning devices to help you out if you're interested.
 
I'd be happy at 14+ with any load! I must admit that the response here has been great and much appreciated. My LLY is still under warranty, having said that, can you "back out" the programming with the Diablo and return to stock?
 
BudTX, I have a 1500lb boat and a 4800lb boat and get the same mpg at 60mph.
 
I get similar results in that towing tends to drop MPGs regardless of load, but have never seend under 15 hand calculated.

You are running at a sweet spot as far as engine RPMs when traveling 60, and I would have expected to see you in that 15 mpg neighborhood.
 
Well, you already have an intake and exhaust so there's no flow restrictions at all there.

How often do you change your fuel filter?
 
Well guys, it look like either the Diablo or the PPE. I DO appreciate your inputs. To jump another rabbit.... Whats the feeling on losing the cat?
 
Where are you located? That makes all the difference if you're in an area that does inspections. If you're not, get rid of it. It will only help your truck breathe better and free up some power.
 
Located in North Carolina and they DO inspections, however, can you "gut" the cat and leave the housing in place??
 
You can gut it or you can just take it off. If you can remove it then I would do it. If NC dosent fail you if it isnt there, then there shouldn't be a problem.
 
I can understand the better breathing and free flow of the exhaust by losing the cat. Will the engine start throwng codes?? Will it increase the noise level??
 
X2 on the Diablo Predator. I used to run the 85 tune with no gauges, but I was easy on the truck. I then moved up to an EFI tow tune made by SoCal Diesel burned on a spare tune and that's what I've run for the past year and a half. Super smooth and consistant 310 hp and 605 torque at the wheels. No gauges, cat still in place, and a Banks cat back exhaust. Truck runs perfect.

As far as the cat is concerned, my finger is on the trigger, but I would like to research CT's emissions laws before I do it. The exhaust will be louder, but a good kind of loud. My main concern is inspections.

As far as any Banks products, a great unbiased view can be gotten from HemisareSlow, a member here.):h
 
Another option would be to get a spare ECM and contact one of the vendors here and have them do a custom program for you. The canned tuners are nice for ease of use, but nothing beats custom tuning for power, smoothness, and milage. I recently hauled an empty 1500 pound car trailer and another 700 pounds of tools and such in the back of the burb 110 miles running 70. Then loaded up 4500 pounds of junk boat and tile from a friends house and drove another 160 miles to the inlaws and then home running 60. Then followed that up with a trip to TAMPA running 110+ on interstate to get to the hospital to see my mom and then back home driving normal. I averaged 16.5 MPG on that tank which I thought was pretty good since my DAKOTA before wouldn't even get that running 70 on interstae with nothing in it. And mixed driving with some heavyfoot mixed in is getting me 20+ average. I know mine is an LB7, but EFILIVE tuning got me about 2-3 MPG increase in milage over stock tuning. And many say the LLY can see an even bigger improvement with good tuning as you can adjust the turbo on the LLY.
 
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