The price of fuel right now is high enough to make everyone cringe when pulling into the pump and then look for ways to improve fuel mileage. As of this writing, diesel is $5.65 a gallon where I live in central Florida. While that is not as bad as some places, I have a trip to Pennsylvania planned, and as I go north, apparently, so does the price of diesel.
I do what I can to make my truck as fuel-efficient as possible, but the northbound trip will also include a loaded gooseneck trailer (nearly 10,000 pounds). Diesel consumption is a concern and I wondered if there was anything — other than the obvious soft application of the right foot to the pedal — that I could do to curb my RAM’s fuel consumption.
The Bully Dog tuner comes with everything you need – for most trucks. For 2018 and newer RAM trucks, you need to also get a bypass wire kit. The RAM-specific connector (right) is denoted by a red stripe and the bypass wire is a small connector that gets plugged in under the dash.
I realize there are a few things I can do to reduce fuel consumption: again, go easy on the throttle, proper maintenance, and properly inflated tires. But is there anything else that will increase the miles I travel per gallon of fuel my truck uses? What about installing a hand-held programmer? I have heard many enthusiasts say they have gotten good results by adding one, so I thought it might be a good investment. After some research, I decided to give one a try and found Bully Dog actually has two that work with my 2019 RAM.
Decisions, Decisions…
Since I needed to decide which one to use, I reached out to Bully Dog and spoke to Jill Hepp, marketing director at SCT/Bully Dog to learn the differences. “It comes down to preference,” she states. “The Gauge Tuner (GT) is the best option if you want to monitor the vehicle and keep [the device] on the dashboard. I would choose the BDX if you are looking to get custom tunes in the future. There are a lot of features with both, but for a simple stand-out item, that would be my suggestion.”
The RAM-specific required bypass wire connects to a terminal block under the dash on the driver’s side kick panel area. The red arrow shows the wire in the proper location. The other end connects to the Bully Dog OBD-II connector.
Another aspect that might help you decide between the GT and the BDX is the BDX is Wi-Fi-enabled while the GT is not. That means the GT does need a computer connection for updates and to upload any data…
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