I just bought a 2003 Siverado 2500 4x4 Auto Crew Long Bed. I plan to Tow a 5th 30 foot, and some business driving. I would like a little more power and better milage. I think 4" exhaust from the turbo to exit with a muffler and a chip somewhere between 75 to 100 HP increase and yes a better air filter. What does everyone out there think? Whats best and by who. I lean towards Banks as I know they error on the side of safety for the engine and trans.
Thanks in advance
Bagel

1st things 1st...welcome to the site...next ya might wanna fill out your signature so we know what you are working with....also a little bit of advice...save your moeny on a new air box...the stock one is more than adequate and studies have shown aftermarket airboxes to have little to no increase...you might get a little louder turbo whine...and if thats worth 200-300 bucks to ya have at it....i see where you are comming from with the banks and its saftey features...i feel the same way and thats why i am running the edge with attitude...i would have loved to go to banks with the pda but was not about to drop that much coin on it..rumor has it that edge will be releasing a pda for the attitude in the near future anyway...a bigger exhaust is a good idea if you will be running a tuner as it will help keep your egt's down when towing..and unless you go with a programmer like the attitude or banks with the pda that has gauges built in...you will want to install a set of boost and egt gauges...hopes this helps a little...let me know if you have anymore questions or if i can clear anything up...mike

I have GMC's version of the same truck, same year etc. Sierra. I bought mine with 75k on it about 15 months ago and now has 84k. The dealer has had it more than I have. Good luck with yours. My puter says that I get 18-19 mpg normal driving. So far I am satisfied with the power but I don't haul anything heavier than my 14' enclosed motorcycle trailer.

L8R~
Dale

A lot of this stuff depends on where you live. If I lived in Florida where it's flat as a pancake, I wouldn't touch a thing to my truck, and I tow a 40 foot 5th wheel and haul a 5000lb camper with mine. But here out West where long, steep grades are the norm, a little more power never hurts. Bear in mind, whatever you do, your truck is going to get noisier. Put on a cold air intake, and you're gonna hear the turbo whine. Add a 4" exhaust and a programmer and you better have an understanding wife, especially if she's spent much time in the unmodified version. You'll love the extra power, though. Good luck.

If your are looking for a "mild" tuner you can go with Hypertech, you can tow safely on all 3 levels and they are not much money compared to some of the others. Just my $.02

I have pretty much the same truck you do. I have the 4" exhaust on it and it sounds good and its still quiet jsut make sure you get a system with a muffler. As far as a programer I have the edge attitude so I can watch my egt's, level 1-2 towing light and on 0 ( 0 gives timing only) if its something heavy. Keep in mind when I say heavy im talking about hitting the scales at 30-36k lbs. I tow a 32 ft tandom dual gooseneck that weighs about 8k its self. I wouldnt do anything with the air filter, there are posts on here about making a home made intake, I made mine for under $30 it works it helped a little not enough to spend 200-300 on one though and you deff do not want to use a k&n. There is also another post about cutting out parts of your air box to help- kinda getto but you cant see it whenits installed. Good luck