I've done the searches, but don't find "exactly" what I'm looking for.

Here's where I am: Just bought an 03 Yukon 5.3L for wife to drive daily. Its a 4WD so I want to spend a little money making it more efficient and stronger.

-I want to only replace the muffler w/ a free'r flowing unit that won't make a drone at cruising speed (unlike my 70 series duals on my ex-suv) According to the searches it comes down to Hooker Aerochamber or Magnaflow. The f-body Magnaflow is LOUD, so I can't believe it would be whisper quiet on a 5.3L.

-I want to also free up the restrictive air box (and don't want to here it sucking wind like my ex-truck w/ K&N FIPK)

-Should I descreen the Mass Air Flow sensor like I did on my F-body?

Any suggestions are appreciated. I can handle the LS1 cars, but this is new to me!

Any "free" mods on these 5.3L trucks?

Thanks!!!

 

The only easy free mod that I have done is the Throttle body bypass. As far as exhaust I put on a polished 2 1/2" Magnaflow muffler with stock pipes. I love the exhaust it is quiet at cruise speeds and screams at WOT. I had an Ultraflow on my other Hoe and it had resonance at around 1800-2100rpm.Hope this helps.

 

so the magnaflow settles down real nice at cruise -that's good.

why do they put the screen in the MAF anyway?

 

I have no idea, they say its to keep the incoming air clean. I removed mine but I did not see a difference. Maybe its just me, but I feel like it downshifts harder now when deccelerating. As far as the magnaflow my wife says its too quiet.

 

The screen is to straighten out the air it is actually bad to take the screen out cause it causes turbulence without it I dont know where the dyno chart to prove it is but dont do it. The 22" long magnaflow is the one that most suvs seem to have good luck with. As far as the intake goes you sound like you need a closed element intake like a volant. You arent really going to get away from the sucking sound with a performance intake cause they flow sooo much more air. I have a airaid mit with a ebay heat shield and a k&n cone air filter and it isnt loud but then again when I get on it the cut-outs kind of drown everything else out. I would recommend a volant for your app you will still here some air movement but not as much as an fipk. Get a nelson tune you will be EXTREMELY happy with it. Do a search for nelson tunes and you will see all the happy customers including me. It is by far the best mod I have done, well the stall is close second.

 

BTW the screen thing look at the holes in the screen if the air filter hadnt caught it then your in trouble.

 

Magnaflow muffler for sure, volant or outlaw power intake, and definatly get a tune, whether its a handheld or a custom tune, get one.

 

yeah, volant is a nice choice. upd intakes will also have no air noise because it uses your factory lower box and its closed. thats what i have and have no complaints. i had an open element before it but i kinda liked the sucking noise it made but didnt like the hot air that it was sucking up. upd has a pretty bad reputation for customer service though, and if you do go that route, dont get any of the clear, smoked or carbon versions. bad quality from them but i dont see anything wrong with the black version.

dont descreen the factory MAF. i did mine and didnt think i had any problems. when i went to get a tune allen was having to fight with my MAF because it was getting bad readings without the screen. im still lookin for a new one...

i disagree. ive seen posts where they have proven that the factory airbox can flow more air than your motor will ever need. i think its the lid and tube that hurts the flow most. hell, the f-body guys only change the lids and filters on their factory intakes and get a gain around 10HP. 01thunder has a 13 second N/A 4.8 still using the factory box and lid. the only things he did to his intake was change the tube, port and polish the throttle body, ram air mod, and bypassed the coolant.

 

As stated above, don't descreen the MAF, it can have no or negative effects on performance. My K&N FIPK is loud, but I hear that the closed box systems are alot quieter. Creederado has the new Volant and says that it sounds like a toilet flushing, but it's still quieter than the open element systems. (I think I'm gonna go for the Volant myself) Everyone here who has Magnaflows really seem to love em...I've heard tdrumm's Mag exhaust, and it has a nice low tone to it. Quiet at idle, but you can hear it when you get on it.

 

Lots of good info.

Anyone used a Hooker Aerochamber?