I spoke with some about this issues a few years ago and kinda just gave up on it. I have an 04 (not 04.5) HO with a BullyDog TripleDog with Outlook monitor on. Quadzilla Boost Fooler...BHAF...5" straight pipe...stage 2 shift kit are the only other mods (minus the lift and tires). I know with the tall lift and 37's with 3.73's this truck will never be a rocket. But from day one, this chip only seemed to REALLY kick in between 2500 and 3100 RPM's. Almost like a 2 stroke. Never smoked much at all, even on extreme. From a stop to WOT it might puff black smoke for 4-5 seconds. I also know black smoke is just unburned fuel and not any indication of performance. After having driven numerous other trucks with the BD and Edge products, I just feel like mine isn't getting much at all from the BDTD. I know the 04 was an odd half-year. I spoke with BD regarding this when I first bought the chip in 06. They said just keep updating it, but they didn't have much performance to offer for the 04. Has anyone ran any other chip on an 04 HO that actually made a difference? Sorry for the long post...Searching didn't reveal too much on this specific topic.

 

See my thread right below this one.. "Banks Automind", has some details.

The 03-04s are basically the same (not the 04.5s). Yes, on those two years the BD is super weak, exactly like you described. 2500-and up only. Very mild.

As far as what you are looking for.. if you want a lot more power, smarty, diablosport, and eventually EFI live are the programmers. Supposedly the PPE Hot programmer is good, but I have not tried it.

You will notice a HUGE difference between the above three and what you have, trust me.

 

Thanks...does anyone know if I can still use the Outlook Monitor if I don't have the Triple Dog installed/downloaded?

 

Go Smarty, or Edge. I have both on my 2003 and both offer a substantial kick.

I like the low end torque of the Smarty(I have the Jr), edge gives more high end. Also I like Edge's Attitude monitor.

 

Smarty, enough said.

 

Go with a Smarty. Marco is constantly providing updated tunes for the products and will soon have the UDC available.

 

I have the Smarty POD and love it. My smoke is about the same as you have experienced, even on #9. That said,I have a friend with a SO 03 with the BDTD. That truck turned into a rocket sled.

 

Thanks for all the replies...I know Smarty is regarded as the best, sadly I have a house remodel underway and am being cheap. Found a Diablo Predator/Puck combo on a certain auction site for $250 shipped...seems like a pretty good deal, we shall see. Probably need the money I saved on buying the Diablo to rebuild the tranny now

 

Smarty 100%- Best money I ever spent on my 2003. Truck was night and day difference.

 

Stacking chips always seems to give better "Off the Line" power for me. I have a Van Aaken duration box that would stack great with that BDTD. It's in my classified ad for all the parts.....

 

^^^ That reminds me. My friends BDTD is stacked with a Banks Six Gun & Speed Loader.

 

It's hard to make up the zap that the tall tires takes out! The Diablo stack will sure give it bottom end but the Puck isn't really necessary. The Pred alone is STRONG. I never run lower than 100hp/econ - it is also perfect for towing. I run one of the extreme tunes for play - either regular ext (non stack/puck off) or the stack ext (puck can be on or off). Stack ext with no puck is a little tamer driving than the regular ext. Then, adding the puck makes the truck as fast as most of the custom tunes. Make sure the Predator has had the stock tune put back into the truck it was on or it will be useless to you. The power supply and 9 pin cord are good to have for updates - ask if the guy has them. The only thing I don't like is no change on the fly. One reason I picked Diablo is cuz I already had gauges and I didn't want to buy them again. Craig.

 

The Predator is new and came with the Puck for that price...after looking at the site, it's only the older ones which need the power supply and pin cord to update...unless I'm wrong...like I said, for the price, I figured I'd try it. Are you running it with a stock auto?

 

I saw that on the "auction" web site.. killer deal. Worse case, you can keep the puck "new" and sell it for $100. Then you have $130 in a new predator!

Shop around before you buy the cable and power cord. If you have a laptop, you can bring it to your truck and power the predator up using the trucks OBD port. Then, buy the usb/serial cable from a "auction" site for about $2. Just make sure the cable has a driver for your windows system.

You will be sooooooooo much happier with the predator than the BD. Such a huge difference. You'll probably have issues with low end smoke with those big tires, especially with the "puff" tunes. Have to ease into the throttle.

Here is what you will notice..

1. The ABS and brake lights take a while to shut off.. not sure why diablo hasn't figured out a way around this???
2. Tow/Performance are very mild on the 03/04s.. not a huge difference.
3. Then.. Extreme.. booyah! 4x the power of the other tunes.
4. Extreme and up + 37s = toasted stock trans in 2 weeks.. Careful!

 

HAHA! Thanks for replying...yeah the deal seemed pretty good to me. I'll look at the website and see what cable I need for it and order it. I have a Mac but use Parallels for my BD software etc. I say I won't run extreme but we'll see. Somehow, over the course of 6 years with the BD on Extreme and the 37's I haven't toasted my tranny, despite numerous attempts. Can't afford to rebuilt it now, so I definitely will take it easy. Sure do appreciate the help 5.9...now to move onto my next issue...building a new steering setup. **** Heims are PRICEY!