Is the truck paid for? Do you see yourself keeping it and being happy with it for a long time? One thing for sure, if you do all you mentioned and a 4l80e swap, you will have one hell of a good running truck that should be well setup to hold the power.

 

The truck is long since paid for, bought it new when I was a tech at the dealer.

I love the truck, just over 65k miles on the clock now. When it was new I did a 2-4 drop on it and added some 22's.

My concern is that I don't want to end up ruining the reliable aspect of the thing, its fun to drive now, but like any gear head I just can't leave well enough alone.

Once you take the plunge down the rabbit hole its hard to know how far to go...

 

I think with AFM/vvt delete and a 4l80e, it would be pretty reliable.

 

If you are really that worried about the reliability of it, anything past bolt-ons is pushing it and the mpg's down. I know some people will argue, but everybody has there opinion on the matter and thats mine...
My idea of reliable is something that you can start in -20*F to 120*F without having to worry about anything, throw FI into the mix and the tuning and other aspects take away from the "turn key and go" approach..
And like you said, its very easy to get into the "while im here" syndrome and end up with something you didnt really intend to.
Either way the afm/vvt stuff sucks in the long run even in stock form, so if you plan on keeping it id ditch that stuff for sure.
If this isnt your primary mode of trasport, F it what are you waiting for..
just my 2cents on the matter

 

The "while im there" is exactly what I will be caught up in.

I agree with the above on a description of relability, honestly the truck isn't something I drive every day, or even for weeks at a time but it does tend to be the family hauler when headed out to the lake for the weekend etc.

What I need to do is figure out a recipe for what I need to make the truck the best of both worlds without either going overboard or stopping short and wasting time and money.

On that note, what is the opinion on how much boost the stock non E85 pump/fpcm will be good for? Ive been searching for awhile now and it seems like problems start to crop up over 10 psi. Anyone have any insight on this?

Tony

 

Are you sure the metal in the oil is lifter and cam related? I would think once that goes south enough to show itself in oil analysis a catastrophic failure is right behind it. Was the cold tick piston slap? If it is you may be seeing traces of cyl wall and ring wear. It's not a huge problem as a lot of LS based engines experience this and still last forever. I bring it up because you may not need to tear into the motor the way you think you have to at this point. Granted I hate a afm and Id be looking for any excuse to do the same, but I wanted to point that out.

 

I have the same truck as you and done a 4l80e swap on it last year. It was actually pretty easy to do. I had right around $2000 in my swap with $1000 going towards the trans and another $580 for the driveshafts. I also traded my 3k stall for one for a 80e.

I've seen some guys say they ran out of pump at 5psi and others say they're good at 8psi However I've seen a few guys throw in the flex fuel pump and they're knocking on the door of 600rwhp.

If you're gonna keep the truck I would ditch the VVT & DOD. The only reason I haven't yet is the money factor. My truck has some slight knock if I start it and immediately drive if I fire it up and let it run a couple minutes it's fine though.

 

Pretty sure its the cam based on the noise I have heard and all the failures I have seen first hand. The beauty of the oil analysis is that you can catch problems long before they cause bigger issues. The iron content wasnt very high but i've never had a trace of anything abnormal till the last oil change.

Either way I would still like to ditch the AFM and VVT if I end up hot rodding this thing up with the blower. Can't hurt right? lol

Tony