better performance

[Silveradogearhead]

just looking for tips on how to get better fuel milage if there are any tricks or websites to visit any help would be great don't mind spending some cash either

[mjalstad]

Do a tuneup plugs, wires, fuel filter. Check for any vacuum leaks. Buy a programmer like a hypertech or predator, buy a cold air intake, buy exhaust, maybe an aftermarket mass airflow sensor.

[wigwag78]

electric fans will help too.

[Silveradogearhead]

it already comes stock with electric fans but thanks for the info there. the predator how much does that normally run

[mjalstad]

it already comes stock with electric fans but thanks for the info there. the predator how much does that normally run

I got mine on ebay for $190

[Stouffer]

I would spend the extra 50-75 and get a custom tune from blackbear performance. Programmers are good but only go so far.

[Silveradogearhead]

awesome well thanks for the help so far more input would be great black bear never herd of the company mind you i live in canada so it's a states company probably why i haven't herd of it

[mjalstad]

I would spend the extra 50-75 and get a custom tune from blackbear performance. Programmers are good but only go so far.


I don't understand why everybody here is so into nelson and blackbear. Yes, that would be a great option if you drove your truck to them and they custom dyno tuned for your specific truck but sending them your pcm and having them retune it is the same exact thing as a programmer. With the predator, you can at least change things such as your timing and fuel injector curve specific to your vehicle. Every vehicle runs a little different so nelson may have dyno tuned 1 truck similar to yours but it's not the same truck as yours since your engine may have worn differently, your fuel pump may not be as strong, your injectors may not be the same, etc.

[Stouffer]

I don't understand why everybody here is so into nelson and blackbear. Yes, that would be a great option if you drove your truck to them and they custom dyno tuned for your specific truck but sending them your pcm and having them retune it is the same exact thing as a programmer. With the predator, you can at least change things such as your timing and fuel injector curve specific to your vehicle. Every vehicle runs a little different so nelson may have dyno tuned 1 truck similar to yours but it's not the same truck as yours since your engine may have worn differently, your fuel pump may not be as strong, your injectors may not be the same, etc.


Blackbear travels and sets up group tuning where he data logs and tunes your vehicle. Lucky for me he is local. Also blackbear will send you tha cable and everything to log your truck. you then send it back and he does your tune specific for you. Programmers can't mess with the TCM and that is another reason for a custom tune. Any updates you want after that are free. Plus the software he uses is coming out with their own handheld where you will be able to have multiple cutom tunes to do whatever you want with.

[mjalstad]

Blackbear travels and sets up group tuning where he data logs and tunes your vehicle. Lucky for me he is local. Also blackbear will send you tha cable and everything to log your truck. you then send it back and he does your tune specific for you. Programmers can't mess with the TCM and that is another reason for a custom tune. Any updates you want after that are free. Plus the software he uses is coming out with their own handheld where you will be able to have multiple cutom tunes to do whatever you want with.

Logging and tuning your vehicle is the best you can do, and that is somethign I would recommend if you are local. That's cool that they will let you log your vehicle and then they do a specific tune for you, I have never heard of that and that is pretty neat, but you can't tune a vehicle properly with just one tune. True, that is probably going to be better than a Hypertech where all you can choose is "tune" or "no tune". But in order to get a vehicle correct, you have to tweak the tune multiple times. This would probably work ok if you have a new stock truck that is not that far off of where it should be, but if you have an older truck with a lot of modifications, it's going to take a lot more. Trust me, my last vehicle was a highly modified Grand Prix GTP that I converted to E85 and I did all of the tuning on it.

Also, if you use the predator, you can view and log real time data. Then you can tweak your tune and log again, tweak, and log, etc. This is the reason I bought the Predator for my truck instead of the Hypertech. The predator also has torque management settings that you can play with. Also, I bought my predator for $200 on ebay, simply plugged it in (didn't have to mess with removing my PCM twice), and when I sell my truck I can sell the predator on ebay for $200 again, and in the mean time I can use my predator to read and clear DTCs and view real time data to diagnose any problems that may occur.

I sometimes get the feeling that nelson and blackbear have employees on this forum that pretend to be regular people that are simply advertising, which would probably be a pretty good marketing scheme.

[Stouffer]

Logging and tuning your vehicle is the best you can do, and that is somethign I would recommend if you are local. That's cool that they will let you log your vehicle and then they do a specific tune for you, I have never heard of that and that is pretty neat, but you can't tune a vehicle properly with just one tune. True, that is probably going to be better than a Hypertech where all you can choose is "tune" or "no tune". But in order to get a vehicle correct, you have to tweak the tune multiple times. This would probably work ok if you have a new stock truck that is not that far off of where it should be, but if you have an older truck with a lot of modifications, it's going to take a lot more. Trust me, my last vehicle was a highly modified Grand Prix GTP that I converted to E85 and I did all of the tuning on it.

Also, if you use the predator, you can view and log real time data. Then you can tweak your tune and log again, tweak, and log, etc. This is the reason I bought the Predator for my truck instead of the Hypertech. The predator also has torque management settings that you can play with. Also, I bought my predator for $200 on ebay, simply plugged it in (didn't have to mess with removing my PCM twice), and when I sell my truck I can sell the predator on ebay for $200 again, and in the mean time I can use my predator to read and clear DTCs and view real time data to diagnose any problems that may occur.

I sometimes get the feeling that nelson and blackbear have employees on this forum that pretend to be regular people that are simply advertising, which would probably be a pretty good marketing scheme.


Blackbear is just one guy. I know tuning can be a bitch. My Cobalt ss/sc was a bitch to tune. Blackbear uses EFI live and they are coming out with a Handheld that you can you store multiple tunes and will be able to log with and send to any tuner that uses EFI and do whatever you want pretty much.

[Silveradogearhead]

Blackbear is just one guy. I know tuning can be a bitch. My Cobalt ss/sc was a bitch to tune. Blackbear uses EFI live and they are coming out with a Handheld that you can you store multiple tunes and will be able to log with and send to any tuner that uses EFI and do whatever you want pretty much.


well it sounds like a good idea cause to be honest if i bought a tuner i wouldn't wanna over due something on the engine and not knowning that i'am and blow something up cause how do you know the max limit you can go on those things. i'am a mechanic by trade but never played with those do it yourself tuners. so are they regulated so you can't blow something up?

[mjalstad]

Yeah, I guess that is a good point, a lot of people don't know what exactly they are doing so the blackbear tune would be a better idea. The tuner will allow you to go up to a pretty high point so if you had no idea what you were doing, it is possible that you could mess the fuel trims up real bad and/or add way too much spark timing, but they are not that difficult to use to get dialed in. If you're a mechanic by trade you shouldn't have a problem as long as you are knowledgable with computer controlled vehicles. Basically you just hook up the tuner and drive, watch your fuel trims and then adjust them to get them close to zero. Then hook up the tuner, drive and watch your spark timing and knock retard, if you're not getting any KR ever, you can bump the timing up, if you are getting KR you bump the timing down. It's not too bad and it would be hard to mess up.

[The_Chupacabra]

I am definately going with a black bear tune because it sounds like he can do so much more that a simple hand held tune.

[002500rebel]

i have a 6.0 and get 30 mpg stock...............................on a trailer idiling