Bullydog GT Diesel Tuner

I own a 2004.5 Ram 5.9L Cummins. When I bought it a few months ago, it came with a Bully Dog GT Gauge Tuner on it. I can tell you that forums for Ram Cummins diesel trucks, that tuner has a terrible reputation and is not recommended at all so I'm getting rid of mine

I have spent quite a bit of time on the phone twice with the Bully Dog tech folks, who are assisting me to try to VIN unlock this tuner, as I want to remove it. To the company's credit, the Bully Dog tech people have been very helpful, but the bad news is that so far, they haven't been able to VIN unlock the tuner from my truck. If I can't VIN unlock it, I will have to take my truck to the Ram stealership and have them flash the ECM back to stock. Ugh!! Still hoping to get it VIN unlocked, but not successful as yet.

BTW, OP mentions the Bully Dog tuner gives gauge type digital read outs. That is correct, but mine does not produce one very important bit of data that I want when towing: TFT (transmission fluid temperature). The OBD2 port does supply that data, however, as I put in an Edge CTS Insight Monitor, which does give me TFT. After I somehow get this Bully Dog cleared off my ECM, I plan to buy a Smarty Jr, which is the universally recommended tuner on the Ram Cummins diesel forums for the 5.9L motor. And the EFI Live is the tuner most often recommended for the 6.7L.

Kip81 wrote:
The canned tunes will work just fine. Leave it in tow mode and you won't have any problems. Yes the custom tunes are better but bully dog and other canned tunes are just fine for the average guy.

Who wants to be "average"???

Canned tuners do an awful job of regulating fuel especially on the bottom end. When you see a guy rolling coal at every stop light you know he's got a******canned tuner.

The canned tunes will work just fine. Leave it in tow mode and you won't have any problems. Yes the custom tunes are better but bully dog and other canned tunes are just fine for the average guy.

BigSkyFamily wrote:
Bullydog makes brutal power...but it will destroy your truck.
Dump that junk and get efi-live with an edge cts insight monitor.
Canned tuners suck.
Check out tunes from Kory Willis, Idaho Rob, and Cumminstuner.com
If you don't have EFI-Live, you'll be chasing someone that does.

^^^This^^^ Canned tuners are second rate...

Bullydog makes brutal power...but it will destroy your truck.
Dump that junk and get efi-live with an edge cts insight monitor.
Canned tuners suck.
Check out tunes from Kory Willis, Idaho Rob, and Cumminstuner.com
If you don't have EFI-Live, you'll be chasing someone that does.

crcr wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You are playing with fire. I would leave your truck stock and run TH and EB ALL the time. Your turbo and transmission will be happy. You should have plenty of power towing the RV that you have.

What are TH & EB?

Tow Haul Exhaust brake

crcr wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You are playing with fire. I would leave your truck stock and run TH and EB ALL the time. Your turbo and transmission will be happy. You should have plenty of power towing the RV that you have.

What are TH & EB?

(T)ow (H)aul & (E)xhaust (B)rake.

I use my exhaust brake all the time. Still have 50% + brake pad life left from the factory at 108k miles. Using a mild tune with my Smarty programmer.

from my experience, mileage increases once the EGR and DPF are deleted. I'd be surprised if you get much mileage gain with just a tuner. I went from about 12-13 to 18-20 mpg empty and 10-12 to 12-14 towing (depending on how I drive).

I use my exhaust brake all the time. At 109 000 km, I still have 50% front pads left.

Tow haul changes how the exhust brake comes on and changes the shift points. I use it in the mountains towing but not daily driving.

I leave my tuner on the stock setting when towing and most of the time daily driving. I will crank it up once and a while to play but once the truck is deleted there is TONS of power just at the stock setting.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You are playing with fire. I would leave your truck stock and run TH and EB ALL the time. Your turbo and transmission will be happy. You should have plenty of power towing the RV that you have.

What are TH & EB?