Bully Dog, creator of the Bully Dog Tuner, was formed in Idaho, USA in 1998. The company focused on improving the performance of diesel engines. They started out experimenting with propane injection on farm tractors, and they had great success, but as diesel engines became more and more electronic-controlled over the years, they realized ECU calibration and performance tuning was their future. In the ensuing two decades, Bully Dog has consistently strived to innovate not only in the diesel tuning field, but also tuning gas-powered vehicles, as well as monitoring technology, and throttle sensitivity enhancement. Today Bully Dog offers performance enhancing products for diesel trucks and a wide range of popular gas engine powered cars, trucks, & SUV’s.
In addition to diesel pickup trucks, now Bully Dog has engineered performance upgrades for Volkswagen TDIs, RVs, Farm Tractors, even Mercedes-Benz diesels and Big Rigs. Their products are well thought out, user friendly and technologically advanced with features that will enhance your driving experience and save you money at the pump. Trust Bully Dog to deliver the equipment to make your diesel performance dreams a reality!
Today Bully Dog compliments their exciting tuners and power modules by offering their customers fully enclosed air intake systems and Rapid Flow exhaust kits. These aftermarket diesel performance products from Bully Dog enhance your truck’s power, fuel economy and overall driving experience. Their exhausts all come with stainless steel exhaust tips to complete the look of your truck. From diesel performance electronics to intakes and exhausts, Bully Dog delivers.
Some key things to remember about Bully Dog Tuner products:
With over two decades of experience and a dedicated and experienced team, Bully Dog continues to innovate and take advantage of the most recent advances in performance programming technology. Their lineup of programmers currently consists of the BDX handheld performance programmer, the GT Diesel Performance Tuner and Monitor, the GT Gas Performance Tuner and Monitor, and the Thruster Throttle Enhancement Device.
The tuning, vehicle parameters and features vary greatly depending on the vehicle you’re going to tune. Generally speaking, diesel vehicles can expect much greater horsepower and torque increases than the gains one can expect when using a Bully Dog tuner on a gas engine vehicle. Since most diesel truck owners are looking for tuning that will work great while daily driving or towing a bumper-pull camper, horse trailer or 5th wheel, Bully Dog includes pre-loaded tunes to cover daily driving or hauling a heavy load. On most gas engine vehicles, a Bully Dog tuner will offer various higher-octane performance tunes. Let’s take a look at the complete lineup of Bully Dog tuners, starting with the BDX.
This Bully Dog tuner has been one of the top selling diesel performance tuners on the market for many years. Bully Dog has created power tunes for improved fuel mileage, towing capability, as well as for those who are looking for the most performance from their diesel truck. The GT (Gauge/Tuner) Diesel Tuner, part number 40420, is sleek and compact. It is easy to use and navigate with the capacitive touch buttons, which are ideal for this form factor. It provides a wealth of information at a glance. Unlock the hidden performance in your diesel engine and monitor critical engine parameters at the same time!
The GT Platinum Diesel programmer also comes with awesome shift on the fly on many diesel trucks. This means with the touch of an up or down button you can switch between various power levels as you’re driving. This feature is available on 2003 through 2021 Dodge Ram 5.9L and 6.7L Cummins diesels, 1999 to 2010 Ford 7.3L, 6.0L and 6.4L Ford Powerstrokes, and 2001 through 2010 6.6L Duramax diesels.
Important Note: Often diesel truck owners want to keep an eye on exhaust gas temperatures (EGTs), especially while hauling heavy loads. The GT Diesel does not come with a pyrometer, however, there are two options for viewing the EGTs with the GT diesel Bully Dog Tuner.
If your truck came with a built-in pyrometer from the factory, then the GT Diesel will read the temperatures given by that factory probe.
If your truck didn’t come with a factory pyrometer, like for example a 2003-2007 Dodge Ram 2500 or 3500 with the 5.9L Cummins engine, then you’ll want to also purchase the optional Bully Dog EGT Sensor Kit.
Featuring the same design as the super popular GT Diesel tuner, the GT gas tuner is loaded with features for gas powered trucks, SUV’s, modern muscle cars and more! Customize the gauges to monitor the parameters that are the most important to you with this great Bully Dog Tuner. It comes preloaded with tunes to get the most out of the octane of gas that you use.
Looking for dyne-proven tunes to boost your performance? The Bully Dog GT Gas Tuner, part number 40417, is the programmer of choice for many that need more power and advanced monitoring capability, all in the same device. The Bully Dog GT Platinum Gas Tuner is really four products in one remarkable package of a Bully Dog Tuner. It’s a vehicle engine tuner, a monitor, a set of gauges, and a diagnostic device all packed into one sleek single programmer. The GT Platinum Gas transforms the utility of your vehicle by increasing horsepower, improving fuel economy, and providing a comprehensive set of monitoring features and diagnostic functions.
The options that you can adjust will often vary widely from vehicle to vehicle with Bully Dog performance tuners. This isn’t unique to Bully Dog tuner products either. It’s important to look specifically at your year, make, model and engine to see what options are available for your vehicle. As an example, The GT Platinum Gas Tuner installed on a 2009 Dodge Charger with a 5.7L Hemi V8 will allow for adjustment of the following:
All Bully Dog tuner programmers come only with tunes that do not violate the Clean Air Act. Currently their tuners are all 49-state legal. Bully Dog has not submitted most of their tuners to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for emissions compliance testing. This means that their programmers cannot be shipped into or used in the state of California, which has its own emissions restrictions and testing requirements. The exception to this is their 50 State Legal GT Platinum Tuner with coverage on a limited number of gas engine vehicles. These CARB approved tuners have a unique part number, 40410.
All Bully Dog Custom Tuners also abide by the Clean Air Act, meaning their custom tuning network of tuners do not have the ability to do “race” or “delete” tunes. Similarly, their tuners won’t do diesel particulate filters (DPF), exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), or catalytic converter or diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) emissions deletes. In the past some of the Custom Tuners abused certain vulnerabilities in the Bully Dog Custom Tuner software, to create a Bully Dog Tuner that would, in fact, facilitate emissions deletes. Those vulnerabilities were removed though, so all Bully Dog tuners sold today are emissions compliant.
On the Bully Dog website there is an Updater App. If you download the Updater, you will be able to update your BDX, GT Diesel or GT Gas tuner’s firmware and upload the latest tune revisions and upgrades. This app is also what you use if you’re going to be purchasing or receiving a custom tune from a Custom Tuning shop. Also available on the Bully Dog website is their proprietary Livelink App. With Livelink you take vehicle data from your Bully Dog performance programmer and make it viewable on a laptop computer. You can data log, view, record or playback your vehicle’s PCM data. This feature is especially important if you’re racing or testing custom tunes.
For those that want to improve their vehicle responsiveness, but aren’t interested in tuning with a Bully Dog tuner for whatever reason, the Bully Dog Thruster Booster module is just what the doctor ordered. Do you notice a delay between when you press the gas pedal and when your vehicle starts to accelerate? The lack of the expected response can make the pedal feel mushy or not as responsive as it should be. The Bully Dog Thruster is a throttle sensitivity booster. It installs in-line between the pedal sensor and your vehicle’s harness. Once installed you can reduce lag and improve throttle response with just the turn of a dial.
The throttle responsiveness can also be adjusted on-the-fly. It is an easy plug and play installation that takes just 10 minutes, it’s built with a weatherproof construction that is great for those doing off-roading, and it won’t void your vehicle’s warranty! Breathe life into your diesel truck, Jeep, muscle car, or other gas-powered vehicle in just a few minutes!
Coverage with the Thruster includes many vehicles. A partial list of some of the most popular would include many Mopar vehicles like the Dodge Ram trucks (both gas and diesel, from 1500 half-tons all the way up to Ram 5500s), Jeep Wrangler JL & JK, Jeep Gladiator JL, Jeep Cherokee, Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Dodge Durango.
There is extensive coverage of popular GM trucks and SUVs including: Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500 HD and 3500 HD, the Chevy Suburban and Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 HD and 3500 HD, the Yukon, and the Cadillac Escalade. Many GM cars are covered including the Camaro, Corvette, Impala, Malibu and many more. Toyota and Lexus are also well represented with coverage for Lexus ES300H, ES350, GX460, LX570, RX350, RX450H and the Toyota Avalon, Camry Corolla, Highlander, Land Cruiser, Matrix, Rav4, Sequoia, Sienna, Tundra, Venza, Yaris, FJ Cruise, Tacoma and 4Runner.
