If your sticking with 4.3 and want to keep it somewhat cheap, get some 4.10 gears and 100 shot. Otherwise get a 5.3 and some 4.10's.

 

I had a 06 rcsb 4.3, did the whole intake exhaust and tune, and wasted alot of money, the only thing that you could tell changed was the shift points, besides that it was just as slow. traded for a 06 sierra with the 5.3 and love it, sometimes wish i had swapped a 5.3 in the rcsb but oh well i guess.

 

had an 03 rcsb 4.3 for 5 1/2 years, little mods here and there, SUCKED! just traded out for an 08 rcsb 4.8 and am in LOVE. do yourself a favor and wait for the 8!

 

My truck used to be a 4.3. Bone stock it ran 17.9@78. That was just embarrassing. I did the intake, exhaust and tuned it. Still sucked. Put a 150 shot on it, not bad. But a bottle empties pretty quick. Said screw it, built a 5.3 stabbed it in. My truck is a hell of a lot faster and get's better mileage than that 4.3 POS. It's an easy, plug in, bolt in swap.

S10 guys can get in the 12's fairly easy. But in a RCSB Silverado, you'll be lucky to see low 15s. Not fast at all. Unless you like running stock Honda's

 

In a episode of mythbusters they bolted on a 3 stage rocket assembly to the top of a vehicle. No engine mods are required then. It's worth a try.

 

thanks for the help guys really apreciate it

 

actually, i wouldnt say that short box sinlge cab trucks are ran the crap out of..no one really sees a pick up as a "hotrod". most of the time a shortbed single cab is used as a work truck for a company or a old man had it..in my case i got lucky and found a 2003 shortbed/single cab fully loaded. 5.3. great condition with 85k miles. and only paid 8500 bucks for it off a old man. get on autotrader.com, craigslist and other websites, hell even on here and look for a truck. dont be afraid to drive to the next state over to get good deal on a truck. youll probably have to travel a couple hours to find exactly what you want but itll be worth it.

 

^^^exactly what he said, I had mine shipped 12 hours...bought it from the original owner, 65 year old man, had 54000 miles on it, bone stock. My cousin had a 4.3 regular cab and it was just straight **** poor, wouldnt get out of its own way. Save your time, money, and headache and just go with a v8...

 

Yea, I was in the same boat as you when I was in High School and College as well. I did the basics on my 4.3 and I got it down to 16.5 with nitrous. It's worth the money to go out and get one that has a 5.3 in it. A lot more options as far as performance goes. I loved my V6 just because It's was my first nice truck I had ever bought, but I found a crew cab with a 5.3 and I can do a lot more with this bad boy then I could of dreamed with the V6. Like everyone is saying, save money find one you LOVE! not just like but like damn! I want that truck now lol.

 

Save some change and put a v8 in it they are plug and play if you can find one with the harnes still on it. Very easy job have done acouple my self.