I have a 2004 Joe Gibbs 4.8 RCSB with the standard 5 speed trans. I am in the process of installing a Detroit TrueTrac and a set of Motive Gear 4.11's. So far I have the superchips program which was applied from factory and I have downsized my pulley from a 3.9" to a 3.0" pulley and I put an open element cold air intake. I installed a Spec stageIII clutch and pressure plate. All of these are minor but effective upgrades. I would love to have the cylinder heads flowed and do a camshaft upgrade. For time and money reasons, I would like to do a custom tune on the engine before I spend money on the other items. I would just like to see what I can pull from this 4.8 without pulling the heads and cam. I am located in the Atlanta, Georgia area and I would like some advice on what kind of tune and who to use to do this tune. Please if someone out there can help me, I would appreciate it. I hope to hear from someone soon.

 

For any kind of tuning, I would strongly suggest local tuners first, then mail order tunes if there are no local shops available.

As for mail order tunes, Wheatley is a sponsor here and a hell of a good tuner. Ive heard many many good things about his tune, and was going to get one from him until i found a local tuner willing to do it cheaper. Other than him, there is Nelson's, Westers, and Wait 4 Me.

Nelson and Westers are pretty big names in GM tuning, and have quality tunes. But these come at a prices, sometimes being up around $500. And alot of people have good results with W4M (wait 4 me), which is cheaper than Nelson and Westers, but unlike those 2, I have heard bad things about the W4M tunes.

 

You are running a 3.0 pulley on a 4.8 motor?......That motor has a short lifespan.

 

should probably consider a budget for a T56 soon as well...NV3500's are pretty much complete sh*t when it comes to being able to handle power, which is why GM didn't put em behind the 5.3 for more than i believe a year...

 

I wish people would quit preaching about the 3500 being junk. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. As with anything don't beat the **** out of it, grind and bang gears and it should live a normal life. It's not going to give birth to the gear cluster the first time you get on it. Run it, enjoy it for a few years and if you want to at that time upgrade to a 6 speed. Just because 1 or 2 guys on here broke their 3500 trans, everyone preaches over how weak they are. 04gibbs put down more than 450RWHP on his bone stock trans and clutch and never had any problems.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am always in the process of dumping my wallet into this truck and I love everything I do to it. The engine is very responsive. I agree, the NV3500 is not that bad and it has withstood a pounding from myself! I know what I have as far as the truck is concerned and yes, a 3.0" pulley is pushing the issue as far as the engine lifespan but hey, you only live once and as long as ebay and craigs list are around, I will always feel comfort knowing that there are replacements out there. I would love to do the T56 swap but I need to find someone out there selling one for a reasonable price. But anyway, thanks for the responses and I hope to here back on that T56 soon. Thanks Guys

 

There are a few local dyno tunes up near Atlanta and if you want to travel a little south of Macon...there is a local tuner who does awesome work and has tuned several trucks on here.

 

I do custom tuning on the side. I could meet you part of the way at a friend's shop in Birmingham if you were interested. I use a wideband for tuning along with HPTuners. PM me if you are interested. There's a dyno in town too.

I believe I was the one that Hirdlej is refering to about a stock 5 speed and clutch doing fine. It went a 12.78 @ 109mph on slicks as well when I had the blower and 4.8.

 

Turbo Gibbs would be a good option IMO since he had that setup at one time. Vengeance Racing in Cumming also does decent work. They had a 4.8 liter 5 speed they converted to a 6 speed with an LS1 a while back.