[BlackHawkTDI]

alright, so i have a 05 5.3L Flexfuel truck. I gave it to my brother when i bought my Dmax. hes looking to make some mods. anyone got and cheap solutions for some good power?

im lookin for cheap end and high end. is there a turbo charger for under a grand? could i mod. a duramax turbocharger to go on a 5.3? give me idea's here guys. low cost, and some higher end idea's would be great. lower end more so becuase if its over a certain price, im gunna have to help him pay for it! thanks guys!

 

[Duromax04]

I would think you would blow the head bolts right off that 5.3 if you put a d-max turbo on it.
For starters, you can double the size of the air inlet if you take the piece off that connects the fender to the air box inself. You will have to take the air box off to do it. You can also remove the mass airflow screen from the sensor. That will allow more air through the MAS. Those won't cost anything.
Also, you can put a set of true dual exhaust on it with an H or X pipe. That will free up some flow.
The best thing you could probably do is to get a tune and get rid of the torque management. This will make the truck much snappier and pull better through the gears. Probably cost $500 to $600 bucks.

If you want to get a little more crazy, you could get a super charger and put on there. That would be much easier than a turbo, and will really wake it up. Cost is high, probably 3,000 or so, but it would run, until you busted a pinion shaft or cracked the input drum on the tranny. Those are the weak links in the drive train.

Good Luck

 

[malibu795]

trubos check these guys out
http://www.ststurbo.com/home
http://www.nelsonperformance.com/tuning.htm

efi live will work on the 5.3 and you truck

the 5.3 are 10:1 engines iirc 8-10 is the max less you drop the cr


as 04 said intake and exhaust are the two easist ans quickest things and can ne 1-2mpg gain depending on the right foot!!!

 

[juniorcruzer]

$200-$600
Tune biggest noticeable change for the money.

$800+ for long tubes
$400+ for shorties
Long Tube Headers, shop around and find a set for under a grand. You can find shorties for under a grand that would help.

$400+
Cat back exhaust, under a grand and will help with the upper RPM range.

$500+
If you can do the install yourself, you can do a cam on it. you can buy the cam and install kit for under a grand. Will need a tune to go along with it, but very noticeable improvements to be had.

$$$$$$
As mentioned before, STS turbo, very nice package and easy easy install.

$800+
Ported and polished heads, if you shop you can find them for under a grand. By themselves, not to much to notice, but paired with a cam or turbo would be nice improvement.

free
Ported throttle body. Can do yourself. Search ls1tech.com for a write up. Minimal gains to be had, but a few ponies.

That should be most of the cheap, except turbo, and pretty easy mods, except cam, that will help out with things.

 

[juniorcruzer]

forgot to mention also, if you have the flex fuel. Then run E85 in it, about 10% more power out of it, less gas mileage though also to the tune of about 15%+

Jon

 

[atver300]

Im tuning my 5.3 with hp tuners $500
Ls1 hot cam and Ls6 springs $450
Custom built long tubes $????
ported trottle body $60
descreened maf free
coolant hoses bypass throttlebody free
cusom intake made from leftover 4" from dmax exhaust
Zex wet nitous 125 hp $500
Im running 11.9 in the quater but that is in a 3100# S10

 

[BlackHawkTDI]

so i think were gunna do a STS turbo system. he wants the Garrett turbo upgrade so we will see what we end up with! thanks guys!

 

[Duromax04]

How much gain do you get from headers? I have seen a couple of dyno runs with headers and stock, and the gain doesn't come anywhere close to the cost. I thought they gained about 10 to 15 hp. For 850 bucks, I don't see the value in that at all. You could spend less than that on a tune and exhaust and get more.

 

[juniorcruzer]

On a 5.3, that is probably about all you would get by themselves. With intake, headers, exhaust and tune, you can generally achieve in the neighborhood of about 50 extra HP out of that combo.

Jon

 

[juniorcruzer]

so i think were gunna do a STS turbo system. he wants the Garrett turbo upgrade so we will see what we end up with! thanks guys!

I think that STS is a very good choice. When light on the right foot, get better milleage out of it, and retain stock driveability, but when you need to show up the kid in the ricer with the fart can on it, you should have no problems.

Jon

 

[juniorcruzer]

oh forgot to add, with the flex fuel truck, the injectors and pump are already sized to fit the STS system, so you won't need those two items when it comes to purchasing the kit. Just need the tune and the material itself basically. Make sure to tell them you have a flex fuel vehicle when ordering.

Jon

 

[BlackHawkTDI]

does anyone here run a STS system? can anyone give me a quote on what it would cost after install? and can i install it myself?

thanks!

 

[juniorcruzer]

If you have any mechanical skills at all you should be able to take care of the install yourself. specially with not having to do injectors and fuel pump. It is basically just like installing a exhaust system. Only additional items you would need to worry about is the oiling system, but from what I have seen, that is pretty simple install.

I would contact STS, or check out their dealers and find the closest one to you and talk with them. When I have called, they are always happy to answer questions.

Jon

 

[atver300]

Post some prices and pics when you get done. Thats a nice setup they sell ive seen a LS2 GTO with one and the sound is great

 

[sno king]

Can anyone post some pic's of the fender air inlet mod and the mass airflow sensor screen delete mod?

 

[atver300]

I dont have any pics but to descreen your maf take it off the truck and at one end it will have a screen that looks like a very tight honeycomb very carefully push it out from the outer edges of the maf housing and it can be pulled in one piece and saved incase you need to reinstall

 

[Duromax04]

Just what Atver said. I take the MAF out and use an awl or something like it and begin to work push the screen away from the outer edge. I collapse mine down quiet a ways and then you can just pull the whole thing out. I usually mash enough honey combs together on the edge that I couldn't reuse it. Be sure and stay away from the 3 little wires behind it, or you will spending big bucks.

The air box mod is simply removing the bottom part of the air box. It sets into two rubber gromets. You just grab hold a pull and it will basically pop out. Then you look on the inside and where that little piece snaps in there and you unsnap it and you can keep that if you want to put it back on later. Reinstall the bottom and button it back up and you are good to go. I always disconnect my negative battery cable before I start so the computer will begin to relearn the mods. Easy and cheap air flow.

 

[sno king]

i did the airbox and maf screen mod to my nephews truck, huge difference now my brother wants to know if it is possible to do it to his 4banger in his sonoma