silverokie19

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and performance community, so please bare with me. I have a 2008 Chevy Silverado LS with the 4.8L. I have a airaid cai, specter tbs, and flowmasters. I really want to make a decent amount more horse power, but it's limited by money and skills. Cash is pretty far short of dropping in a super. I want to be in the 400hp range though. What about long tubes, ofy, cams, and programers? Moneys short, so I need the most bang for my buck. Thank you.

slammedsilvy

iTrader: (3)

Sell the throttle body spacer, try to recoup your money. If your flowmaster is a chambered muffler, you're hurting your performance.

Long tubes and y pipe are great investments. You only have one cam, but a cam with specs ground to your application will greatly benefit you. Forgot about a programmer, get a custom tune from someone local, preferably in person or on the dyno.

A tune will give you the biggest improvement in driving characteristics. Do you plan to do all of this at once, or piece by piece over a period of time? If all at once, get the tune afterwards so the tune can take into consideration off the the other mods. If piece by piece, I would say tune first to wake the truck up, then add to it and retune for the mods down the road.

Make a plan, and stick to it. I'd read a lot before spending any money. Find out what works, where you want to be, what it will take to get there, and stick to it, otherwise you can buy many parts now that won't benefit your goal later down the road.

slow2008

iTrader: (3)

Damn, well said.

For your goals I'd say LT's, ory, flow through muffler, sdpc ht1 cam, 3200+ stall, spray, and a good custom tune.

AUTOT3K

iTrader: (3)

I found best bang for buck mods were the custom tune, gears, stalled converter and cam.
skills to install... the tune is easiest, converter was moderate, gears were advanced and cam is between moderate to advanced.
I know some people will be like "no that's all easy" and your right...for someone who knows what they're doing but he said "skills are limited" so i'd hate to see him take something on, get stuck or break it and have to pay double to have it fixed!

silverokie19

Would it be better to go to a shop for a tune, or buy a power programmer? Are pacesetter headers any good? I would probably do the first $1000 at once, and then different parts as I get the money.

slammedsilvy

iTrader: (3)

Custom tune. They cost about the same, and a custom tune can get it much more dialed in. Pacesetters are fine, they are budget friendly headers. Not the best on the market, but they get the job done.

05GMC4.8

400 rear wheel power? If so nitrous would be the best bang for ur buck, or look into some type of forced induction

NKPPhil

An AutoCal tune from Black Bear Performance can be updated as you add mods. I'm completely happy with mine for power increase and huge driveability improvements even with no other mods.

Black Bear Performance :: EFILive AutoCal

There are other sponsors of this site that other guys are really happy with, too. You might email a couple of 'em and see what they say.

Noah Burns

iTrader: (5)

the best thing to happen to this guy is the kick *** advice in this thread... all you have to do now is follow it.

silverokie19

The stall converter seems really good for what I need, but is there a quality brand under the $1000ish price point? I have pretty good power in the 3500-6000rpm range, but the throttle response and low end is just horrible. A good tune should take care of that right?