Recommendation needed

[minendrews68]

My son has a 2005 Crew cab Chevrolet Silverado 5.3 2wd, automatic, with 250k miles. The truck is bone stock and he is wanting a little more umph to it. The question is where does he start? If anyone has any ideas were open to suggestions. He's thinking a different cam, maybe headers, full exhaust, and cold air intake. But what else is going to be needed? For example, if he changes cams, would changing lifters and springs be needed? Is there a necessity to change cam bearings etc. When changing the cam I'm thinking changing the oil pump etc. Just need some ideas from people that have done this before.
Thanks for the help..

Carl

[raustinss]

Cold air , exhaust and a tuner is a great start , if he can afford headers and full exhaust then go that route . A cam upgrade is kinda useless unless you can get the air in and out of the engine. Once hes got the full exhaust and a cold air set up he will be in much better shape for a cam upgrade down the road .

[79 Camaro]

So after 250K it's bit tired. So drive it like it is for now. Get a junk yard 5.3 and bore it to 5.7 and then stroke it to 383. Your 2500 is a heavy beast. Or get a 6.0 and do a semi stock rebuild with a mild cam, headers and maybe new rear end gears?

[minendrews68]

So after 250K it's bit tired. So drive it like it is for now. Get a junk yard 5.3 and bore it to 5.7 and then stroke it to 383. Your 2500 is a heavy beast. Or get a 6.0 and do a semi stock rebuild with a mild cam, headers and maybe new rear end gears?

It's a 1500 2WD, so really not that heavy. He's just wanting a little more pep so I think what Ryan is suggesting may be the ticket. thanks for the comments guys.

[raustinss]

Np . For what is worth I did a cold air tuner exhaust combo I picked up about 20 hp and 25 ft lbs at the wheels in my 2017 crew Z71

[79 Camaro]

So on your first post you said 2500. So I will change my mind somewhat. The 5.3 is OK but not a torque monster. Intake and exhaust will help but a good intake and exhaust is going to cost? Intake I'm guessing $300? Exhaust again guessing if aftermarket cat back $800? So $1100 for 20 hp? No disrespect but that's kind of expensive dollar per hp.
So my .02.
It's a tough call. But if you decide on a cam it will most certainly need better springs and push rods. At 250000 miles new lifters would be a good idea or at least a trunion upgrade. Run a compression check to check rings. So then since you need to pull the heads to replace the lifters a valve job? Also update the oil pump is always good idea. Not sure about cam bearings but if needed you are really talking about a total engine tear down. Again my way forward would be if the cash is available buy a 250000 5.3 that would plug into the truck. Rebuild it with good parts and drive it another 250000 miles.

[raustinss]

In my case it was more about wanting to change the truck just a little, while still having a warranty. My power improvements are real world chassis dyno numbers Again in my case (I know older trucks dont make the same power levels) but go look at 2017 5.3s ... completely stock 355 and 383 are quite respectable numbers

[dhutton]

CAI is going to buy you some dyno horsepower at max rpm but I doubt you will feel it in daily driving. Bit of a waste of money on an otherwise stock engine imho.

Likely a similar case with exhaust mods but at least it will sound more powerful...

Don

[myth]

As said before. Full exhaust and a cold air intake will help that truck a pretty good bit. But you have to use a long tube header, a shorty header will not get you much more then the stock manifolds. I would suggest looking into speed engineering for a set of headers. They are not the best header on the market but they are very affordable and the fitment is not bad. We has used them many of times at work.

Another thing to keep in mind. You can start with the supporting modifications such as bolt ons. Then once you are ready to look into engine work, the supporting mods will have already been done.

We had a truck very similar to your sons on the dyno or a month or 2 back. It had full exhaust, cold air intake and a tune. Give me a minute and I will look at the numbers.

[raustinss]

Actually I did notice a seat if the pants difference with both cold air and my exhaust

[minendrews68]

So on your first post you said 2500. So I will change my mind somewhat. The 5.3 is OK but not a torque monster. Intake and exhaust will help but a good intake and exhaust is going to cost? Intake I'm guessing $300? Exhaust again guessing if aftermarket cat back $800? So $1100 for 20 hp? No disrespect but that's kind of expensive dollar per hp.
So my .02.
It's a tough call. But if you decide on a cam it will most certainly need better springs and push rods. At 250000 miles new lifters would be a good idea or at least a trunion upgrade. Run a compression check to check rings. So then since you need to pull the heads to replace the lifters a valve job? Also update the oil pump is always good idea. Not sure about cam bearings but if needed you are really talking about a total engine tear down. Again my way forward would be if the cash is available buy a 250000 5.3 that would plug into the truck. Rebuild it with good parts and drive it another 250000 miles.

Not to sound too picky, but my first post say's 2005, that is the year, it is definitely a stock 1500 series.

[minendrews68]

He's not wanting to do a complete head jerker at this time, just wants a little more power and a little better sound. We're thinking like Ryan, find a salvage yard 6.0 or 6.2 rebuild it over time (and there's not a time crunch here) and when finished with it drop it into the truck. This truck is his daily driver so the idea of rebuilding a separate motor makes sense so he won't be without a means of transportation.

[Slick68]

1: Don't get fed the cold air intake propaganda. Most "cold air" intake systems have the filter out under the hood where hot air circulates, then they use a metal intake tube. Metal conducts heat. Do some research and you'll find that the stock air box does a really good job with a good DRY filter, like Airaid, with the Airaid MIT (modular intake tube) in place of the stock ducting. It also helps to open up the bottom of the stock air box. https://www.airaid.com/search/product.aspx?prod=201-719

2: LS engines love to breath. Speed Engineering make some very affordable headers and y-pipe kits. https://www.speed-engineering.com/sh...1999-2006.html

3: Find a good tuner and get it properly tuned. A chassis dyno will get the optimal tune, but as long as they datalog and drive it to find the best setup, your money is well spent. Yes, this will cost between $400-800 depending on what you want done. They will also tune the transmission to match the engine output, but an upgraded servo and mild shift kit will blend nicely with all this.

4. Rear gears. Most likely, that truck has 3.23 gears like my turd. swapping to 3.73, 3.90, or 4.10 gears will certainly make it gittyup a bit quicker. Go ahead and install an Eaton LSD while you're in it so it won't be a one-tire fire wonder.

I would start with this. If he still wants more, we'll talk cams, valvetrain, and converters later.

[79 Camaro]

Yes I'm an idiot sorry I can't read. It did say 2005.