hey guys, so i'm going to be getting some money in soon and I want to start working more on performance.. I already have a flowmaster catback exhaust and a CAI but i want to do more, what would the next step be? i was thinking either headers or programmer but i dont know what would be better do first... any help would be great, brands and types of headers or programmers, (if theres something better that i should do first then these two please i'd appreciate your input.) i've been reading that long tubes are good. I'm not very mechanically inclined but i do know a little bit about it and i'm a fast learner.
thanks!

 

Tune
Coverter
Long tubes

 

If by tune you mean live tune then yeah. Dont waste your money on a junk handheld. Def get some longtubes, shorties are worthless. And I wouldnt run a flowmaster but everyone has their brand preference...

 

what longtubes do you guys run? this is my DD but i do want to get good performance out of it....

and what do you mean by live tune?

 

A tune that someone does in person on your truck, you get the most out of it that way cause it really gets dialed in. Pacesetter will be good for the money, depends on what you wanna spend and the performance you want.

 

Welcome to the site!

Most guys tend to shy away from a chambered muffler like the flowmasters because they restrict flow. But if you like the sound, I doubt it's going to hurt you much, if at all without going forced induction.

Personally I'm running OBX ebay long tubes. The price was right for them, a lot of guys are running pacesetters, and other brands. For what you're running. A 1.75" primary and 3" collector would be plenty.

Nothing really wakes these motors up like a cam, and a tune.

Like stated before, don't waste your money on a handheld tuner. Get a mail order tune from a sponsor to the right, (Blackbear, Nelson, Wheatly) or preferable a dyno tune from someone local.

 

First off it all matters on your budget and what your willing to spend. This is sometimes a very expensive hobby but a lot can be done on a very conservative budget. Your on the right track but here are my ideas of what first mods should be.

First drop in a K&N filter into the factory box... Believe it or not the factory box is great at keeping intake air temps down just needs help in the flow department by removing the stock restrictive air filter. The stock box is actually better in most cases vs even performance CAI simple because the lower intake temps that the plastic material promotes.

Next, put in either a manual cutout or a non restrictive muffler or catback. I like the cutout way simply because its straight through but can be closed and quieted down for during the week but opened for weekend fun. lol

Both simple mods are less then $100 for both and can help a lot.

But you already have the first 2 taken care of so ill move on.

Next for you is to get a nice personal tune as handhelds are a complete waste of money. They are way to expensive for what they don't do. And by the way you really want a basic tune that is setup for thousand of different trucks or do you want one custom tailored for you truck that will net you WAY better results and be a lot cheaper? Tuners I would recommend would be Nelson, blackbear, wheatly and the others on here.

After you have those first 3 down your truck should be a lot more responsive and fun but like anything else every man needs more lmao

Next go with a nice set of headers. There are tons of different brand out there but the ones I have personally used work great. The ones I would say to go with if your tight on budget are pacesetter coated headers ($650 coated with y from TSP) LPP. ($500 SHIPPED with Y and Stainless) or OBX which are around the same price as the LPPs. On the higher end of the spectrum are the ARH and Kooks which will get every bit of power possible out of your motor but will cost you a pretty penny. Both of those will run you over $1000 but will prob outlast your truck as they are both 304 stainless. No matter which one listed you go with they will all make a nice jump in power.

All those mods can be done in your garage with a basic set of tools and just a basic knowledge or wrench turning. Nothing really special needed.

Those pretty much sum up the first few mods I would do. Next mods would be a little more involved and probably need to have your truck taken to a shop of some sort if your not mechanicly inclined. Next mods would be a cam swap, gears, converter, built trans, heads, and so forth. But with the few mods I posted earlier your truck should be fun for now.

Later on after that look into some FI or a motor swap. Both are pretty easy to do and will really get your truck moving! Good luck man and have fun with your truck!

 

thanks alot man, im definitely gunna go with a custom tune, i heard good things from black bear.

 

Just installed some TS longtubes, ORY, and a magnaflow 3" i/o muffler. I took flowmasters off in the process. The flowmasters do "sound" better, but the lt's/ory/high flow muff sounds a ton MEANER! My butt says its a bit quicker too.

I have a 3200 Circle D stall that will be installed next time I'm home (abt 3 weeks) and a buddy that custom tunes LS engines. He has an insane TBSS and Camaro SS. 200 bux well spent and he will retune with any mods that I do in the future.

So my vote is Headers, Stall, Tune.

I'll let you know when I get the stall installed and tune it though. (but that seems to be the consensus)

Oh, throw a servo in the tranny. That's an easy 20 bux.

 

ive been thinking about the servo.. how easy of an install is it? i've been looking at the write ups and i feel like i could probably do it..