Ok the deal is all my friends are Chevy guys. I can't hang with the newer 5.3 why is that. Also will this chip make a huge difference? I have a 5.4 supercrew 4x4 with k&n air intake, and gibson exhaust. So far I have not noticed a huge difference. What am I doing wrong?

 

Yes, I spend too much time on this site. I responded to your post in the transmission section.
There are actually many reasons why the 5.3 is a challange. You have to look at thier configurations. Are they SCrew 4X4? If they are 4x2 reg. cab short bed then they have a weight advantage.
You also want to look at your rear end gear ratio. If your a 3.08 and there 3.73's then you have the wrong gearing. I would venture a guess that your running the 3.55's. They seem common.
You, and the rest of us for that matter, have to accept that the new powertrains from GM are pretty strong. I think, based on what I've heard, that the GM v8's were designed to run an emty truck. I think the Ford v8's were designed to run with a full load. Fords are powerful. They are trucks though.
There are deffinitely ways to get your Ford way ahead of the Chevys. How much you want to spend?
You have the intake and exhaust. Now a chip would be a good idea. Just installing a chip will not necessarily put you ahead of the Chevys, but it'll get you on your way!
Stick around. You should be hearing from Mike, Performance Products, soon. He will be able to give you the hard facts on what the Superchip will do for you, and also give you a clearer picture of why the 5.3's are posing a challange.
If you really want to be ahead of thoes guys, one word...SUPERCHARGE! It's a lot of dough but it's a lot of GO!
The chip is a much better (on the wallet) place to start.
Your at the right site to achieve your goals. I've gone from stock to supercharged in just over a years time. It can happen to you to! (The dept kind of sucks but hey I can take the 5.3's )

Tom

 

A lot of dough but ... alot of go!
I like that one!

 

Hi TEBreon,

Wittom mentioned some of the most important points when evaluating the performance of your vehicle against these 5.3 Chevies, which are primarily the vehicle configuration (because it affects weight so dramatically) and then the gearing, as that affects acceleration.

There is well over 3000 lbs. of potential weight difference from the lightest to the heaviest Ford F-150's and in the GM 1500 series 1/2 ton trucks, and so even with the exact same motor and gearing, you can have anything from the lightest mid-15 second screamer to a 19-second pig in stock trim, talking about thw 1/4 mile times, and that is true of both these Ford and the GM 1/2 ton trucks.

Your intake and exhaust mods are indeed working, but they alone aren't going to make a night and day type of difference on that extremely heavy SuperCrew model, you have a 2.5-3 ton truck there. Your K&N intake got you a 14 hp gain, and the Gibson exhaust somewhere in the range of 12-14 more hp, so they are certainly doing their job. It's just that with as much vehicle weight as you have there, it's going to take more than those 2 changes to get a 2.5-3 ton truck moving with some real authority, so don't be discouraged, youd mods are working.

You can make significant further improvements to the performance of your vehicle without having to go with a supercharger. We can provide you with bolt-on parts to add another easy 60 horsepower, to perhaps 70+ horsepower on top of what you have right now without having to step up to a supercharger, and that's just the simple bolt-on stuff. We can literally take the performance of that vehicle just as far as you want, it's a question of $$$, basically, like most things in life.

You're not doing anything wrong, you just have a very heavy vehicle there, and the Chevies you're running up against probably have a lighter configuration and thus a superior power-to-weight ratio to yours, that's all. so it's going to take some more work to get your performance to that level.

What I would suggest is to give us a call when you get a chance, and we can go over with you exactly what you're experiencing, how much these other trucks are pulling you by, how your vehicle is being used, and what it's going to take to get to that level of performance and beyond, if you like. We're happy to spend time with you giving you a thorough view of all of this, so you can take some time and think about what we discuss before making any decisions. Our contact info is just below, so don't hesitate to call us, ok?

Hang in there, those 5.3 GM's are not invincible!

 

Hey Mike,

Its Jon again, I had been talking to you last week about the chip. I am planning on purchasing one come this June when summer officially starts. But anyways, onto business:::

My Sister's Husband has a 5.3 Silverado extended cab shortbead. He put Flowmaster duels on it with the addition of an air filter charger, but not the full assembly (including pipe) like the K&N's, Volants, ect.... Like i mentioned, i have a K&N intake and Flowmaster exhaust, and drive a 98 Lincoln,,, which only has 230 w/out the mods... On the way down the highway (before I got the intake) we were driving beside eachother and gunned it at about 60 up to about 95 or so. I remained exactly beside him. I am assuming that when we got up to past 100, where my governor cuts me off, he would have passed me, but he wasn't pulling ahead. However, this was before he had anything, exhuast, intake filter. So my question:... If i were to race him right now, would i have a chance? I am not sure if I could take him off the line but when we were going 90, he wasn't pulling ahead. I don't want to go and race him now if i will loose just to save my self the embarrasment, BUT if YOU think i have a chance.. i'll go for it....

What do ya think? Oh, btw,,, my 1/4 is fairly slow,,,, NOW,, its about 18.6 @ 86 MPH.

Thanks,
Jon

 

Hi Jon,

Well, since he's probably got you by about 25-30 horsepower or so consdiering the mods you both have (and that's a *very* rough guess!), I too would normally expect him to pull ahead a bit, however, it all gets down to the actual power-to-weight ratio of each vehicle. If that 5.3's configuration is heavier then your Navigator is, then you can run with him or even pull on him with less power.

In your current configuration, I just can't say who would win, it might be him and it might be you. Not to sound like a spoil-sport, but because we want to see you and everyone else around here for a long time, PLEASE BE CAREFUL racing those tall & heavy SUV's at close to triple-digit speeds, all it takes is one tire problem to end the fun *permanently* for you and maybe someone else.

Since you've been to the drag strip with your Navigator, I wonder if this 5.3 been as well? If not, try to get both vehicles there so both drivers can concentrate on one thing, racing, and you'll quickly find out just who can pull who right now.

Good luck!

 

Thanks!

I'll let ya know what happens....!!