I just bought an 04 Silverado LS 5.3 2WD. I want to add more
power to it but seeing how this is my first time in the truck
scene i really don't know how to go about it. My budget is
$300-$400/month. So far i came up with the following:

QTP E-Cutout ------------------- $160-$200
Home made ram air kit induction -- $65-$100
Better plugs & wires ------------- $45-$75

I'm also going to go with a handheld tuner but which one is
known to give more power for these trucks and how much are they?
Hypertech
Banks
BullyDog
Predetor
Jet
and so on.......

Oh and one more thing, being a previous LS1 owner there was a
few free mods you could do to gain a little more power. Are there
any free mods on these trucks?

Any comments or opinions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

Free mods=throttle body bypass basically connecting the two hoses that go through the tb instead of running hot coolant through it. Dont get a handheld tuner you will get twice as mcuh hp from a custom tune. Try nelson performance he is a sponsor and I a VERY happy with his tune. Plugs and wires are not really worth it do those last I just did it on mine cause I put nitrous on it and didnt want to take a chance on misfires. Factory wires lasted till 155,000 and were still good when they got replcaed. Homemade intake is good the fancy intakes arent worth the money IMO. I would port and polish your throttle body yourself and clean up some of the casting imperfections. After that get a transgo hd-2 shift kit and a vette servo with a tranny cooler this will extend the life of the tranny tremendously. Then I would put nitrous on it but thats just my opinion I like nitrous alot. Then get you a set of pacesetter lt headers they are cheap and work great. Then go on to a cam and stall that should put you in the 12's do want to go faster?

 

Custom tune you say huh. How much is this tune and would i have to send out my computer to him? The reason why i choose to go with a hand held tuner is because it's cheaper than custom tunes and i once i add a supercharger i'm going to need a custom tune anyway. Then i can just sell my tuner and get some money back.

 

forget the cutouts, handheld tuner, plugs, and wires
do intake, exhaust, headers and possibly electric fans in any order you want. one of these mods per month would be a pretty good plan.
do pacesetter long tubes if you think you can manage the install or get it installed. do edelbrock ceramic coated shortys if you cant find a place that will do it or if you cant do it yourself.
since youre on a budget, go with a tune from jesse at wait4meperformance. get the extra pcm. 157.50 til end of july i think. no need to send out pcm when you go this route.

i'm not a big fan of homebrew intakes...wont be too attractive when you try to sell, wont be guaranteed to work, can cause some problems...just get a k&n fipk2...can find for around 230 at autozone and shucks will beat prices by 5%

doing exhaust, headers, intake, fans, tune would do pretty well in terms of bolt ons. these will complement the supercharger if you actually do decide to do it.

good luck

 

There was a UPD for sale here in the classifieds. I had one and was very happy with it. It is a lid and tube, then you can just cut a hole or a few smaller holes in the bottom of you stock air box.

 

Get a PCMforless.com Custom Tune.... Its cheaper than the handheld programmers and you can get updates for 50 bucks.....free if its within in 60 days of your last update...

Brians a good guy and will hook you up...