Florida GM Club

ajc722

hey everyone, New to the forum, hoping to get some pointers on waking up

my 4.8 sierra. i know its a little v-8. I chose economy over umph

but Im sure there is some way to make it a little more intimidating. Its new so

Im only comfortable with bolt on stuff for now. at least till the waranty is up.

CAI? headers? Programmer? exhaust? where to start, and what really does

help? Thanks in advance for any advice.

cmtapanes

you can start with CAI and exhaust. CAI will let the engine breath better. After that you can go with the headers and programming.

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My CarDomain

InsaneSkippy

Welcome to the Florida GM Club

I have to agree with what Carlos said. Not only will the CAI help generate more power, it can also help on fuel economy too. When you combine it with the exhaust you get a lot better flow coming in and out the engine.

Programming should be done later down the road. It can be good for instant power, however it's better if you have more mods done before-hand. This way you can specifically tune the truck to get the most out of the mods you already have.

I hope this helps

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boarderbob

Welcome to the forums, hope you enjoy them. You should fill out your profile and vehicle information so we know what you have. Things like model, specific engine, and mileage can help a lot.

For your application, I'd start with a CAI (as previously stated, it will help with engine performance and efficiency). After that I'd move to smaller things (i.e. spark plugs, synthetic oil, even the Tornado, and the like). The smaller things will add up, especially in a larger application such as yours. Hope that helps a little.

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Adam

Welcome to the site. An exhaust alone will open up the system. Find a local shop, tell them you want a flowmaster thrown on the truck and ask them how much it would be to do the full exhaust from the collector back. You can keep your Cats on the truck and not replace them. You will get more grunt, and some added power along with a little better gas mialage if you keep out of it.

Cold Air Intake like many others have mentioned which will help it to take in air at a better rate. Again it will improve fuel effiency and work in your favor for power.

I would then look at different chips (Computer programs PCM) I am not sure if Bully Dog makes one for your application but I would look into them first. That will help you on the power end of it.

A cover over the bed will reduce drag aloowing you to speed up quicker and again improve on gas (unless it is a fiberglass cover then the weight may off set that).

If you want to start digging into the outside of the engine then a bigger MAF sensor, and Throttle Body would help too. After that, you are looking at higher dollar items.

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boarderbob

Also keep in mind you need to be sure that these will not void the warranty. I can't speak for the warranty that you have, but replacing major components like the intake system or the exhaust may be problematic. Just a reminder.

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InsaneSkippy

Usually the products don't "void" the warranty. The only way these parts can really be a problem is if something else goes wrong with the car because of the aftermarket parts. Usually the dealership has to prove that aftermarket part caused the problem.

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ajc722

Thanks for the pointers. I have already installed a TBS. Seems to have made the throttle response a little better, and my mpg has gone up a little too. CAI is next. Im torn between Airraid, K&N and Voltair. All seem to be in the same price range and boast the same performance enhancement. E bay has the best prices by far. learned that lesson the hard way. Went to a truck acc. shop here in lakeland and paid $40. more through him than I could have online. So much for supporting local business.

InsaneSkippy

I would go with K & N. Their the most respected name in filters for cars and trucks IMO. Plus the filters are supposed to last a life time. Once it gets dirty you just buy a recharge kit that's like half the price of the filter. So this can save some money too.

I use K & N on both of my cars.

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Adam

K&N is great quality, I have tried many different brands, and while I think the flow is a little better in some other brands, they fall apart quickly, so I would go with K&N. Just be sure you are getting a real kit and not just some plastic tubing painted silver with a generic K&N cone filter on the end.

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