5.3 performance What to do?

[yellowrider]

hey , i purchased a 2001 chevy silverado 4x4 extended cab LT ver 5.3 summer .

only thing i have done to it so far is added extend a fender and those wheels that came off my 97.....

i was looking for some performance parts and had my heart sit on some flows but one day while sitting at a red light a regular cab with flows pulled up beside me and it sounded like doody...

so i am sorta scared about the flows... then i was looking at the throttle body spacer it seemed pretty cheap mod that save gas and gained you some horsepower but my friend told me he installed one on his 350 and he could burn out as easy as he could before it... so he throw that junk away ...


so what i am trying to ask what are some good perfomance parts that dont cost an arm in a leg to buy that would improve my performance and save me a little bit of gas money at the same time

also i know this is exriders but this is the only site that i can depend on ... cause if i go to a truck site i have no clue what they are saying and i cant read there post from last week cause i still dont knwo what they are saying cause i dont read up on trucks to much... but if any of you all told me something and it sounded fishy i would just look in your pass threads and see if you trustful.. since i do know a little about 4 wheelers.....

[MOFO]

Congrats on your purchace! You'll love the truck.... I have a 99 Silverado ext cab Z71 myself.

Forget that TB spacer, you buddy is right.... When you are looking at an exhaust, be careful. These engines were designed for some back pressure... dont just throw on a "free" flow exhaust, you'll loose alot of bottom end. I know if I was going to buy an exhaust today, I would look at Gibson... I've heard pretty good things about them with the 5.3.

One mod that I have done to my truck and love, is the K&N FIPK (Fuel Injection Performance Kit). Basically removes your airbox, replaces your intake tube and gives ya a K&N filter. I have noticed a slight gain in power, but the best part is how it sounds when you jump on it. Almost reminds me of an old 4 barrel carb and the secondaries open up. :D . Nice deep growl.

If you have any questions about the truck, PM me... I have a large spreadsheet with all common part numbers and all fluid capacity's for this truck. I also know what you can expect to go wrong, IF anything does go wrong.


Eric

[YLW400]

Magnaflows sounds good on these trucks also. I have a 99 Z, extended cab as well. I think I am going to go with some Goodyear Wrangler MTR 285's on mine here shortly, my tires are about shot...lol Hey Yellowrider, if you PM Sharpshooter, he can give you some insite on exhausts. I think he has had every setup possible on a Z-71...lmao. A really cool website MOFO and Yellowrider is

www.mychevytruck.com

forum type stuff there. Some of the things they do over there in their forum would be cool to do here too.....

[MOFO]

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Another good site that has helped me out with normal problems is this site... VERY GOOD.
GM-Trucks.com (http://www.gm-trucks.com)


Speaking of tires, I've had very good luck with Yokohama Geolander AT/2. I have around 25k on them and I almost have 1/2 tread left... should get 40k before they are done. MUCH better than the OEM firechunks that came on it....

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/yokohama/yo_geo_at_plus.jpg

[YLW400]

Cool, thanks for that one..I'll be checking it out too.. I have looked at those tires actually.. they are pretty nice too. Those stock tires scare me.....lol I just wanted something a little more "beefy" looking to give it that 4wd look, thats why I am going with the MTR's....I am sure I won't get that much life out of them though..

[RytM1]

I just bought an '03 Tahoe with the 5.3. I'm with Mofo on the K&N (slight increase in HP, and an improvement in mileage). Just put on a Flowmaster catback system (70 series). The pipes that came with it are 1/2" bigger than stock, so that adds a little noise. It sounds tough when you get on the throttle hard, but it doesn't sound much louder than stock any other time (looks like there is a slight mileage increase, but I'm not done with this tank of gas yet). There's not a lot of drone in the interior either. Lot's of info at www.fullsizechevy.com also.

One thing to consider too, is how much performance you want, and how much you are willing to spend to get it. If I recall correctly, there are two programmers (similar to Hypertech) that are mentioned regularly on the above site. There is also a guy in Canada (Wester's)that will custom program an ECM for you. When you get it, you send him back the one out of your truck. He also offer's free lifetime service on it (i.e.- if you upgrade/add something to your truck that may change the performance, he will program another ECM, and send that one to you). One of these three options will cost you in the range of $400-500. I think this will be one of my next mods.

[VIC]

The K&N FIPK is a good place to start, you can kind of hear the air being sucked in. Doug Thorley makes some very good headers for chevys. Other thing mentioned is the programer. All this has been said but those are the easiest things you can start with and notice improvement. And they complement each other.

[NTPRacing#19]

nice truck man

[yellowrider]

i was really close about getting a throttle body spacer for my truck the other night out of summit catolog i am glad i waited thanks for your help....

if i just pickled up a kn airfilter and just took off the lid off the box wouldnt that be a cheap and easy way to gain horses ??


well hey i got to get to work now, to pay this big boy off. I be back online tonight...

thanks

[dannyboy20]

CHEVY RULES !!!!!!!!!!!:macho

I gots a qestion for you guys. I got a 89 Chevy Short bed single cab and i wanna put a dual exhaust on it. I don't want flowmasters, i was lookin at cherry bombs or sumtin like that i want it to sound nice kinda loud but not dickhead loud. Thanks

[yellowrider]

cherry bombs sounded stupid on my friends jeep

yeh ur friend put em on a jeep wif proally a 6cyl. thats the problem im guessin anyone else?

[.:01_eXrIdEr:.]

i have the yokohama geolander at+II on my truck and i love them. i also have the flowmaster 50 series exhaust system and i love it. not too loud, but just right. soon i am getting a pro-comp 6 inch suspension lift and 35 inch nitto terragrapplers.....:macho i cant wait to get it done

[yellowrider]

no it was a v8



well i went and got me some blackouts for 36.99 for it this morning ... at first i wasnt happy with the way they bubbled out .. but its starting to look good... also i had to lift my hood to install the top ones which is good in a way.... and bad when i need to take them off for night time driving or in the morning on the way to school...

i havent got back ones yet cause those got stolen last time... and i am little scared paying 40 dollars for soemthing that i wont have but a few months...

i am for sure not getting a throttle body spacer .. thanks to your all help and giving me those sites... nor a tornado i know i didnt say nothing about it but it was in the back of my mind.

also before it started to rain right before i was going to mow the fields i was talking to one of my buddies and he was telling me that the guy that he worked with installed some pipes but he couldnt remember what and his engine light comes on and you can smell gas if you get behind the truck.. and he didnt even install them herb jones did.... thats are local chevy dealer

but anyhow thanks for all your help i still got my eye out on performance... but those black outs were looking mighty fine in advance auto parts :devil: i had to get them...

if i didnt buy the kn air kit for like 300 dollars could i just buy the filter and expect the same amount of gains ???

someone give me some good ideas for exhaust.

[VIC]

Originally posted by yellowrider
no it was a v8
also before it started to rain right before i was going to mow the fields i was talking to one of my buddies and he was telling me that the guy that he worked with installed some pipes but he couldnt remember what and his engine light comes on and you can smell gas if you get behind the truck.. and he didnt even install them herb jones did.... thats are local chevy dealer

They probably screwed with an oxygen sensor, I believe theres one on the y-pipe or the catalyc (sp?) convertor.

I had just the K&N filter on my 94 chevy, I liked how it felt.

theres a sensor on the catalytic converter.

[MOFO]

I know exactly why your friends truck has the engine light on and smells like gas. The place that installed the exhaust, did not put the Oxygen Sensor back in. This is a vital part of the computer system that controls the air/fuel mixture. I have a hard time believing that a dealership would do that. But I have seen worse, so anything is possible I guess.

[GrInDeR400ex]

i have a 99 z71 with the 5.3 and i running a y pipe off the cat with 2 1/2 pipes so 3 1/2 tips and sounds real good, then i have a k&n generation 2 filter kit, and a reprogramer as well and i love it