Alright guys this is my first post on here, I'm coming from gmfullsize. i have a 08 sierra 1500 crew cab 5.3 4l60 (unfortunately) with 3.73 gears and 4x4. it sits on 35x12.50 toyos with 20x10 pro comp wheels. 4:56 gears coming soon In the summer when I'm not in college I run a landscape business and haul around trailers with **** on them usually 3-4 days a week. load weight is around 3k to 7k. After i regear i want to make more power out of the truck. it just seems sluggish and i ******* hate the 4l60… laggy shifts, hard shifts, it blows! I was tossing around the idea of doing a 214/220 115 LSA cam with .604"/.604" lift on the intake and exhaust and doing a valve train upgrade from geoff. then i got to looking at some turbo builds and that made me really wanna do that instead. I wanna make around 400 to the rear wheels, and be able to hang with some of these hemi's but just want more power in general. for the turbo kit i was looking at the kb racing t70 kit… Which would you guys suggest? i love the whistle of that turbo and like the fact it could help my mpg out also, but it seems like shitload of work. Let me know what y'all think!

Thanks in advance.

 

My T70 4.8 made 445 rwhp on 9 lbs. The T70 with a .96 would be perfect for your needs. Just stud the heads!

 

You are about in the same situation I am except i've got a 2500hd 6.0 4l80e, but it's a CCSB, 4x4, toolbox w/ lots of stuff, 35/20s etc. I have a trick stage 3 with a 76mm 3" downpipe and a 214/222 eps cam. A lot of guys on here have single cabs so what HP they make is kind of out the window compared to what we would make with the added weight.

I used to have a kenne bell twin screw on it and it was definitely different than the turbo. If you want a lot of off idle torque I would say a blower is more for you to haul that trailer, but if you are set on a turbo I love mine. The power is definitely different but it is definitely faster than the blower setup was no doubt.

I run mine at about 7 pounds and think it's perfect for DD use. I would say it's right around 400 to the wheels.

But I will say, yes a turbo is definitely a hell of a lot more work to install and get going compared to just slapping on a blower. Since you are 4x4 you will probably have to drop the oil pan to install the oil drain and then you need to figure out where you want the feed to run from (most tap into the side oil cooler plate). I bought my kit used and had to do a lot of fab work and rework from the way the PO had messed up something either on install or taking the kit off, but in the end it was worth it.

 

Was the KB on yours intercooled or the heat soaked side mount one? Reason I ask is Im thinking of a turbo for mine. I know the twin screw and turbo is like apples to oranges comp but I atleast wanted to make sure were comparing fruits here.

 

Mine was the side mount one, i never got around to running an intercooler on it. Still running 7-8 lbs on the KB though.

The KB definitely pulled way better down low, but up top was kind of a joke compared to the turbo.

 

What type of cab your truck is won't have an effect on HP

You don't need head studs for your power goals. 4:56 gears sound to low for a turbo build. The cam that you are looking at would like a 2800-3200k stall, which is not the best for towing. I would look into the Isky triple 12 cam. I ran that cam with a t70 .96 a/r housing, 2600k stall and 3.73 gears. It would pull a trailer pretty good and I have heavy *** wheels/tires like yourself (305/50/20).

 

I'm obviously talking about size of tires/wheels and weight of our pigs compared to the reg cab guys. If he wants to take it to the track don't expect great numbers like a lot of guys have on here.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm either gonna dump money into a turbo kit and trans or do just motor work like studs and valve train. Will my mpg be able to go up at all if I do a t70 kit inter cooled or comparable kit? Reason I have to run 4:56 gears is because these tires and 20x10 rims are so ******* heavy. Will my truck be as reliable on long road trips with a turbo kit though? For example sometimes I drive from Philadelphia to northern Michigan about 14 hours... Lastly, what would I have to do to my fuel system to compensate for the turbo. I'm on stock fuel pump right now... I got a quote from trick for injectors and it was $540... Holy sneaker....

 

I bought siemens flow matched 60's from Fuel Injection Connection for around $300 for my 99 T/A. They are a sponsor here btw.

 

For what you're wanting I'd stick N/A. Reliability and gas mileage are uncertainties with a turbo setup. There are many more things to go wrong with a turbo kit and you need precise tuning, either someone that can do it locally or yourself.

If you do decide to go turbo plan on at least $4500 for the turbo setup, not including tuning or fueling. You also will need to invest in a 4l80e as well. All told, probably 6k bare minimum, realistically closer to 7-8k.

What I would recommend is a simple 6.0/6.2L swap. With cam and exhaust you'd be sitting right at 400 hp with supreme reliability. Cost is fairly low and a bone stock 4l80e would live behind that.