Hey, Great forum you guys have here... I was refered here by a member of the gm-trucks forum...

I have a couple question as far as mods...

I have a 99 GMc Sierra Extended cab...
5.3 - 3.73 rear end
lifted 6 inches has 315/75/ 16 bfg mt's
Borla cat back dumped over before the rear axle.
k&n fipk ...

I will be installing a set of 4.56 gears soon to compensate for the larger tires

Ive been looking back and reading previous posts but none answered my questions..

As far as Head & cam work..... Would it be better to send my heads to be port & polished or just buy a pair of Patriot performance stage 1 heads? and keep my stock heads around?
and how bout as far as cams? I dont want something tooo hot... my truck is driven every once in a while... I want more power but nothing too crazy..

Headers?? As&m or Flp?? Flp comes with high flow cats and a y-pipe... what are your guys experiences??

next is supercharger.... Magna or ati?? Like I said its not gonna be taken to the track ever.. I just want more power... the pro-charger seems to be supreme compared with the magna-charger in preice and hp/ torque numbers.. Pro/cons...

thanks

 

Welcome Sierra5.3.
Once you have some time to look/search around more, you will find lots of useful information here. I'll try to answer some of your questions...

If you are thinking heads/cam/headers, that will get you some ponies for sure. But lots of $$ and work to do.

If you just want reliable extra power, but not for racing. You might consider just doing a Radix with some trans upgrades. The stock Radix kit has a pretty safe tune and makes torque down low where you will need it for those big tires/wheels.

Finally, if you are dead set on doing the engine upgrades plus a supercharger, I recommend you talk with some people with experience setting up and tuning big power combos like that. Blownchevy is a board sponsor who could probably answer those kind of questions for you. Flyer is a well-respected member who is currently running a Radix plus engine upgrades.

Hope this helps some. Good luck!

 

From the description of your truck I think you do some serious off-roading. If that's the case, then you know you need as much low end torque as possible. Some of the things you mentioned you might be interested in doing will move your torque curve up in the RPM's which is where the pros/cons come in. Everything you listed will net you some very nice power gains but what you need to ask yourself is where do you want that power. A heads and cam package with proper tuning will cost you from $1500(a mild set up) to $3000+(an agressive set up). With a heads and cam package, most of your power gains will be in the 3500+RPM's area. Now as for the superchargers you mentioned, the same question applies-Where do you want your power. The magna-Radix system is a VERY nice system with some pretty kick-*** power all around. The ATI Pro-charger has somewhat of a lag to it and most of it's power is made at 3000+RPM's. And as for headers, AS&M's or FLP's are the way to go IMO. FLP's are very expensive($1300) but, they bolt right in without any modifications. AS&M's are about $700 but, you need to cut and weld flanges to make them work. Hope this little bit of info helps. My vote would be for the Radix, longtube headers, and a custom tune.

 

 

If you don't go offroad much then you can alos look into the STS Turbo Kit They work really well for someone wanting some extra power for towing or to compensate for lifted and larger dia. tires.

I'll let ya know how my install goes here in the next week or so.

 

Hey thanks for all the reply's guys....

about the head/cam combo... Id like to have all area's of the powerband improved.... better flowing head and bigger cam = more air for the supercharger...

Hows the radix?? Can it run at 10 lbs of boost?? Whats the by-pass valve I hear so much about so that the charger shut's off when there is no change in rpm's? How does it sound? I Like to hear a supercharger if Im gonna buy it...



So far I have concluded-

Flp headers

 

I disagre whole heartedly.
Heads can be ported with a high velocity as a goal and a camshaft can DEFINATLY be selected to put your powerband whereever you want it. Its all about cam timing. with a later IVO you should be set. I'll refrain from suggesting a cam but I can suggest experts. www.cmotorsports.com

Intake manifold is a limitation on these engines b/c not too many people make an intake unless you go custom sheetmetal. At that point you are paying for engineering AND materials AND time which is a lot.

The "problem" with the gen III is that anyone can make great numbers with it. its easy with these heads. All these new "super" companys. The problem is most of them are leaving power or driveability on the table. Although you might be happy with the numbers, the REAL good guys, guys that know what they are doing that have expierence and knowlege of engine dynamics, make the REAL power.

I really like combination motorsports. Even more so when it comes to boost! They are AWESOME NA, but when it comes to boosted LS1s and LT1s; :bow: Cartek in NJ is incredible as well. They have some great nitrous vehciles. I saw withmy own eyes a 700+rwhp C5 (non Z06) idleing in front of me and I didn't even think it was cammed. MAYBE a small cam but i thought headers and catback.

I'm not a fan of any of these generic mass producing LS1 only companys. Any monkey with a row of camshafts cam make power with this thing. Its flat out the meanest Small block for NA to EVER roll off an assembly line. The heads are what you would expect to see on a racecar. So dont get caughtup in hype and numbers.

Bret Bauer has a nice 425rwhp LT1 running around that is near stock idle I hear. I'm indiffered with him personally, but his dad is a great guy He insists on using a bit overkill in his motors though. Hes also a smaller shop and is a lot more into designing and selecting components than being a wholesaler. I wonder how he's doing on Rich Krauses 700+RWHP emissions passing LT1 througha TH400.
**also, thunder racing seems to be doing well.

 

Thanks for the links... They offer great packages.... But are there any tuner's in the chicagoland area where I could have some tuning done??

 

I dont offroad tons, but every once in and a while I like to go off road...

I know the magna has great low-end torque... does it come with bugger injectors?

How bout any tuner shops in the chicagoland area??

 

Most people think all offroading req low end. Not true. Rock crawling and mudding- yes. Sand dunes, open trails ect- let it scream.

The most all superchargers give good low end- FI creates high velocity air at low RPMs (like i was saying before; a good porter can increase velocity in heads)