OK guys, I'm pretty new to the LS1 stuff, and even newer to modding an SUV that has some driveability and towing restrictions.

Heres the deal. The 5.3 liter Tahoe needs more UMPH! The 22" Wheels definetly aren't helping the reciprocating weight of the Drivetrain. However this is my Wife's Vehicle, and so a nice idle fairly calm idle is a must. Also note this vehicle will be used to tow approx. 4500-5000 lbs of trailer.

I've considered a Whipple, but reliability seems questionable....

The rig has ZERO performance/power mods at this point.

Heres my current loose plan:

-UPD Intake
-Bauer TB
-MAF Ends

-AZS&M or TOG Headers (Undecided)
-Corsa Exhaust

-Absolute or TEA Stg 2 Heads (Valve size due to bore, and which head Undecided)
-Comp 212/218 114 Lobe Cam (Undecided)
-Ed Wright Tuning (Don't feel like buying LS1 Edit, already have LT1 Edit, but this is am "install it and leave it" combination)

Notes for Application:

-I'd prefer to not add a higher stall converter, since especially under towing Loads we could see astronomical Trans Temps w/ the increased slippage

-I'm unsure on the shrouding of the Valves w/ the heads. Stock Valves being 1.89, Stock 5.7 Valves being 2.00, and many going to 2.02 Valves

-Obviously we need to keep the bottom end torque seriously in mind due to the weights involved, along with the currently sluggish performance thanks to BBS..... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

Belive it or not the Wife is REALLY excited about this. She just doesn't want her Tahoe to sound like This

You can see a small gallery of the truck Here

Any ideas on what it could lay down at the strip? <img border="0" alt="[devil]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_devil.gif" />

Many Thanx for your Input. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

<small>[ October 29, 2002, 06:18 PM: Message edited by: KTamez ]</small>

 

you mentioned low end several times there, for less money than a set of heads you can toss in a 6.0, that will give you alot more low end. i am a big fan of the 6.0 swap.

heads and cam sound good, i just got a quote from absolute speed for a set of stage 2 6.0 heads for $1350. i wouldn't waste my money on the throttle body and i have to quesion how usefull the maf ends are.

you will really be missing out on alot of performance by crossing a converter off the list. where will you be towing? i do alot of towing with my turck and it has a yank 3000, if you will be towing in the mountains or in a prety hilly area then yea 'maybe' cross the converter off the list but if it is prety much flat than the converter will never unlock and you wont even know it is there. i am going to do a little custom tuning there, when i am on a big hill my converter will unlock and the rpms go up to 2800 or so, i think with some ls1edit tuning i can keep it locked up longer and then have it shift down to 3rd rather than unlock, that will keep the rpm's down and the slipage down and everything cool. one other thing, you can get a gauge cluster from a denali or some other truck and it will have a 120mph speedo and a tranz temp gauge, and get this it is only $220 for the whole cluster!

i would love to see you toss a set of those absloute speed heads on your truck, i am waiting to see some numbers on those things, they are within my budget <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> goodluck and post your results whatever you do.

edit... i don't know of any whipple reliability issues but consistancy is a problem, my trucks performance is strongly affected by the temperature, if i were starting from scratch i would go heads and cam 6.0 with the 10-1 compresion. it would be less complex and more consistant than a whipple.

<small>[ October 29, 2002, 06:49 PM: Message edited by: parish8 ]</small>