I have a 2004 Tahoe 2wd with a 5.3L and 3.42 gears.

As the title says I am thinking about adding a little more power to the Tahoe. I already have a BB Tune, CAI, and exhaust, so time to start looking into a few more things.

I want to keep the MPG as good as I can and try to get a little more torque to turn the tires and be more fun to drive...Right now with the 285/70R17's and the 3.42 gears I have it seems a little sluggish until you get in the gas. I am trying to figure out if I should go with gears, headers, efans, cam, or something else. I don't wanna dump a huge amount of money into it, since my wife will be getting it by the end of the year, but I was wondering what should be my next mod to look into?

I figure that going with some 4.10 gears is going to be the best bang for the bunk, but I am completely knew to the headers, cam, efans, type stuff...I have always had lifted trucks that were regeared, but never have gotten into the motor mods. I had a set of shorty headers on my 99 Tahoe and I didn't notice any power difference, but have heard that the long tubes are a good mod for power.

I figure there isn't much need for a cam until I do headers, but let me know what you guys think...sorry for the newb ?'s as well.

 

Gears would probably be your best all around mod for better performance but you'll probably lose some mpg. You have a heavy vehicle with larger heavier tires, the gears will help it get going quicker.
Go for a supercharger if you can, more expensive but more power and you can keep your mpg decent if not possible better.

 

Supercharger is definitely out of the question due to price, and the fact that my wife doesn't need anything that fast...she will already be a little Nascar driver in this thing.

I am thinking gears as well...4.10 or 4.30 though?