Piggyback tuners.

[jc56berg]

Would like to hear from anyone who has or is using a piggyback style tuning device on their 5.7L 5th Gen Ram. Are they worth it? Are they safe, worth the money or just a fancy throttle enhancer? I have the usual bolt-ons. Afe CAI and shorty headers with Borla ATAK C/B and do not have any tune (ECU is locked). The Pulsar seems to be popular. Good or bad or leave it alone feel free to chime in.

 

[Adamcr68]

Would like to hear from anyone who has or is using a piggyback style tuning device on their 5.7L 5th Gen Ram. Are they worth it? Are they safe, worth the money or just a fancy throttle enhancer? I have the usual bolt-ons. Afe CAI and shorty headers with Borla ATAK C/B and do not have any tune (ECU is locked). The Pulsar seems to be popular. Good or bad or leave it alone feel free to chime in.

I ran the Pulsar for a little while, left it on “performance mode MDS off” basically advancing the timing and tweaking fuel/air ratios, ended up fouling the spark plugs early, you could smell how rich it was running.

I’m much happier with my unlocked cpu & custom tune, lots more adjustments possible, but of course comes with a bigger price tag.
Piggybacks have some benefits, but if I had to do it over, I would’ve waited until I could do the custom tune.

Do a search on here before deciding which direction you want to go,
there are plenty of members here who have forgotten more than I know about our engines and can give more detailed pros/cons regarding tuning.

Hope to hear back from you on what you end up doing.

 

[Mojo88]

I went through same choice dilemma in 2024, ended up buying HPTuners setup. I downloaded/saved my engine/trans tunes from the stock PCM (very easy to do), then emailed them that file and had them load it onto a brand new unlocked PCM.

This way, you can tweak the engine and trans to your heart's content. Plus I have the stock PCM on a shelf, just in case I brick the unlocked one somehow, haha. I made small changes myself, mostly to trans shift points. Tweaked the timing a little bit, mostly at low speed, and also did a few things to reduce ECT (engine coolant temp).

I think my total costs were about $1,500, which includes the 'credits' for allowing me to tune the engine AND the transmission. This may be more money that you want to spend... BUT ........ it's worth it. JMHO, of course.

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

None of the mods you have really require any custom tuning to take advantage of the increase performance/flow. They are all designed to work with the OEM parameters, just do a better job at flowing without throwing a CEL. HP Tuners and a custom tune will be the best option for most performance gain, but comes at the largest price tag. The Edge Pulsar is a good choice for a small bump in power and middle ground pricing. A throttle enhancer will probably be the best bang for your buck as it is relatively in-expensive and will give a good seat of the pants difference. For a throttle enhancer we recommend the Banks Pedal Monster.

Message me if you would like a quote

 

[jc56berg]

I ran the Pulsar for a little while, left it on “performance mode MDS off” basically advancing the timing and tweaking fuel/air ratios, ended up fouling the spark plugs early, you could smell how rich it was running.

I’m much happier with my unlocked cpu & custom tune, lots more adjustments possible, but of course comes with a bigger price tag.
Piggybacks have some benefits, but if I had to do it over, I would’ve waited until I could do the custom tune.

Do a search on here before deciding which direction you want to go,
there are plenty of members here who have forgotten more than I know about our engines and can give more detailed pros/cons regarding tuning.

Hope to hear back from you on what you end up doing.

Thanks for the info. I can see where an unlock pcm tune would be more precise. Unlocks from where I have shopped around run about $500 plus the tune and time on the dyno so figure dollar per H/P. I am kind of leary of those piggyback set ups. Thanks.

 

[Wild one]

Thanks for the info. I can see where an unlock pcm tune would be more precise. Unlocks from where I have shopped around run about $500 plus the tune and time on the dyno so figure dollar per H/P. I am kind of leary of those piggyback set ups. Thanks.

For your mods a remote tune from one of the respected tuners is more then adequate,you don't need to spend money for dyno time.

 

[jc56berg]

I went through same choice dilemma in 2024, ended up buying HPTuners setup. I downloaded/saved my engine/trans tunes from the stock PCM (very easy to do), then emailed them that file and had them load it onto a brand new unlocked PCM.

This way, you can tweak the engine and trans to your heart's content. Plus I have the stock PCM on a shelf, just in case I brick the unlocked one somehow, haha. I made small changes myself, mostly to trans shift points. Tweaked the timing a little bit, mostly at low speed, and also did a few things to reduce ECT (engine coolant temp).

I think my total costs were about $1,500, which includes the 'credits' for allowing me to tune the engine AND the transmission. This may be more money that you want to spend... BUT ........ it's worth it. JMHO, of course.

The engine temp is really one if not the biggie for me. Engine runs 206-208 degrees but at slower traffic it will hit 220-222 then I guess the fan kicks in and brings it down to the low teens. Talked to the Dealership a couple times and they said that it was normal for it to run at temps like that in slow traffic. Seems hot to me but have not had any issues.

 

[Mojo88]

The engine temp is really one if not the biggie for me. Engine runs 206-208 degrees but at slower traffic it will hit 220-222 then I guess the fan kicks in and brings it down to the low teens. Talked to the Dealership a couple times and they said that it was normal for it to run at temps like that in slow traffic. Seems hot to me but have not had any issues.

Yeah, those are the factory normal ECT's. Mine was running even ~10* hotter at times, every once in a while I would see 230* and that pushed me (mentally) over the edge, haha. I couldn't take it. Now my cruising ECT is 185*, in traffic will creep up to ~195*, then AGS open and fan comes on, ECT goes quickly back down, it's purrrrfect.

 

[jc56berg]

Yeah, those are the factory normal ECT's. Mine was running even ~10* hotter at times, every once in a while I would see 230* and that pushed me (mentally) over the edge, haha. I couldn't take it. Now my cruising ECT is 185*, in traffic will creep up to ~195*, then AGS open and fan comes on, ECT goes quickly back down, it's purrrrfect.

Hey Mojo, I'm guessing but to get these cooler temps you have to unlock the ECU and (I'll call it) reset when the fan comes on? I was told that just a T-stat change won't do it.

 

[Mojo88]

Hey Mojo, I'm guessing but to get these cooler temps you have to unlock the ECU and (I'll call it) reset when the fan comes on? I was told that just a T-stat change won't do it.

Yes, you are correct. I went with the whole HPTuners setup, with a brand new unlocked PCM (total cost around $1500 for the dongle, software, new PCM & credits). But I had a few other things that I also really wanted to do, like tweak the engine (timing & throttle response) and trans (shift points). So with all those things in mind, it seemed like the best thing to just spend the money and have full control. I'm totally happy with all the mods I did.

You could do a new stat (I'd do 180*) and carefully remove center slats from the AGS, that should get you lower ECT's some (but not all) of the time. That might be enough to make you happy and it would be very cheap to try.