taylorjwbrown

I own a 2004 silverado 4.8l i have been wanting to put some money into it and add HP for some time now but i can't decide on whats right. i'm wanting a bully dog tuner, banks intake, 80MM throttle body and throttle body space, the throttle body is BBK and the spacer is Helix. can somebody help me. the more i research the more confused i get. would the throttle body even be worth it with the HP to cost ratio? what would be the best combo to do. and i was wondering if i went with a Jet Power-Flow Mass Air Sensor, it says it allows up to 45% more air. i just need some help. when i ask people about it they look at me like idk what your talking about or they have carb not FI

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Welcome to the site...start off with the sticky's at the top of this section and do a lot of reading in this section. You won't get any gains from the throttle body or spacer, and may see negative gains from the MAF sensor. Handheld tuners don't do much either, but a custom tune from one of the sponsors here such as BlackBear or Wheatley will make a night and day difference, even in stock form. Pick the CAI of your choice, or just mod your stock airbox and get a drop in filter for about the same gains as an expensive CAI. Long tube headers, a free flowing muffler, and some internal engine mods such as an aftermarket camshaft will show some nice gains. For some off the line fun, consider a higher stall converter and more gear in the rear, which won't add horsepower, but will definitely gain in the SOTP acceleration department.

01 5.3

iTrader: (10)

Yeah what Budhayes says. Don't waste your money on those paper weights and get some good mods. Cam,headers,converter and gears or something along those lines.

taylorjwbrown

i'm gettin my tranny rebuilt right now with a 3000 stall on it, racing gears, the works i was told a cam would be good but cams confuse the hell outta me. not even when i read about them on the stickies does it make sense. still confused. i'm doing a full exhaust when i get back from tech school

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Sounds like you're on the right path, as far as cam's being confusing, just do some searching around here and see what has worked in the past. A lot of options for the GENIII's...most of the proven combos have been in 5.3's and 6.0's, but the 4.8's respond well to cam swaps also. The 5.3 guys have shown great gains with 212/218 cams for daily driven combos, and the TR220 has put down great numbers for something more aggressive yet still driveable in the 5.3. With a 3k converter behind a 4.8, and gears that I'm assuming are 4.10+, I'd go for something in the 214/220 or 216/220 range, or even 220/22x for something more aggressive.

badz24s

iTrader: (1)

here's a basic list to start with. I copied this from a similar thread about 2 wks ago.


1. get rid of Flowmaster, get Magnaflow or Corsa
2. corvette servo ($20 from Oregon Transmission)--best $20 I ever spent
3. get a good tune from our sponsors such as Wheatley, Nelson or BlackBear(handhelds are a joke) $250ish
4. Long Tube Headers(ebay OBX type $300)
5. gears & trutrac (sponsor: Ron's Machining Service approx $600)
6. higher stall converter(sponsor Circle D $395)
7. cam(Thunder Racing, Texas Speed & Performance, Scoggin Dickey, $600ish for cam, springs, pushrods)
(if you do 4,5,6,& 7 do the tune afterwards)
2,5,6 aren't going to increase HP/TQ, but will help get better use out of what's there.

OR

do a 6.0 swap

Then start saving for built 4L60E

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Or build the 60E first lol, my mild 5.3 ate my 60E at 59k...

outlawz2004

iTrader: (18)

The 4.8s respond well to mods, the tune alone will give great gains, and the longtubes help alot also.

taylorjwbrown

ok my transmission will be done this week, had it rebuilt to handle 600+ hp, 3,000 stall, the company i took it to has built many transmission for the drag cars up in alaska. so that 3500 it off the list, i'm not going to do anything to the engine until i supercharge it i'm not gonna waste time on the bolt ons since that would be a waste of money when i do a s/c. i'm gonna talk to a local performance shop and get a cam to compliment the s/c, and i'll have it tuned, a full 3 inch exhaust, magnaflow, and long tubes will be done when i get back. or should i wait until i s/c it? i will look into the trutrac, i just had my rearend rebuilt last summer, would the LSD not hold up?

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

You can do the exhaust before or after the s/c, whatever you choose. If you were going turbo that would be a different story. Since you're going s/c, you won't need a ton of gear or converter, as the popular Magnacharger makes a lot of torque everywhere. Common converter/gear setups are 2600 converter with a 3.73 gear. You can do an aftermarket LSD such as an Auburn or Eaton if that's what you prefer, just a lot of guys around here like the big chunk of trutrac that doesn't have any wearable clutches. Some guys (hirdlej for instance) don't like the trutrac design...if you end up with one rear wheel in the air, that is the one that will spin with the trutrac, unless you tap the brakes to allow it to engage. If you do go for an LSD, a little birdie told me that the Auburn is a much tighter unit than the Eaton, although there are a bunch of guys running Eatons without any problems. Eaton makes the Detroit TruTrac BTW.