prox_denali

Alright so after months of seemingly endless videos and pictures of people's catch can installs, I sacked up and bought a Motion Raceworks catch can. While the price difference compared to other cans is certainly one point that is not to be overlooked, I really could not be happier with the way it looks and the level of customer service that Motion Raceworks has. I gave them my year, make, model, and modifications done to the truck to figure out how it should be routed, they told me what I needed and sent everything to me in a matter of a few days. Upon attempting to install it (the first time... six months later) I realized that where I was attempting to run the lines to just simply would not work. - PCV Valve to catch can and intake manifold pcv port to catch can - The AN fittings were too large. According to Procharger's install instructions (without a catch can), they say to connect a 5/8" hose that loops the valve covers - then tee from the loop to another small 5/8" hose section that connects to a 90 degree fitting on the back of the filter for the Procharger. Thus, I was getting a fair amount of oil and etc. getting pushed right back through the Procharger and into the motor. Nonetheless, as you can see below, this is how I ran the catch can per the instructions given over the phone by both Motion Raceworks and Procharger. I also included pictures to show the vacuum line from the intake manifold. Soon this will be rerouted (yet again) for another vacuum manifold so I can hook up my boost/vacuum gauge. Reason for this was that I must have bumped the previous vacuum line into the serpentine belt and it began cutting into the hose. Therefore it needed to be fixed in order to drive it. According to both Motion Raceworks and Procharger during the catch can install, the PCV valve 'must be plugged'. You will see my attempt (or temporary solution) to plugging the valve below. I simply purchased a new PCV valve and kept the green cover on the port that came with the PCV valve. Do note, this is not an airtight seal. I am able to feel a very small amount of air moving from underneath the cover. It is likely that I will source a brass or aluminum plug to fit in place of where the PCV valve threads into the motor (I believe it's 5/8" but have yet to try with an actual fitting.) Before installing the catch can, I had the PCV valve just venting to the atmosphere with nothing connected to it and ran just fine despite continuing to see oil in my intake. I then used a combination of 3/8" hose and 5/16" hose and 1/4" fittings to connect the intake manifold PCV port to the bypass valve. Procharger's install instructions say (without a catch can) to route a 3/8" hose from the PCV valve to a supplied vacuum manifold (that I lost when installing the cam) and the vacuum manifold is then routed to the pcv port on the intake manifold along with a 1/8" hose that is connected from the vacuum manifold to the bypass valve. Believe me if that sounds confusing, it looked just as confusing in the install instructions provided by Procharger. Moral of the story is, Motion Raceworks catch can is designed to be connected to the ports on the valve covers. It was literally that simple. Hopefully, if you are looking to install a Procharger or centrifugal supercharger and a catch can on your truck, that the pictures will help. As far as installing the AN lines, I highly suggest purchasing aluminum blocks that fit into a vise and an adjustable AN wrench. I sourced them from Amazon. I marred up one of my fittings pretty good when I was attempting to use a normal adjustable wrench and resulted in me buying another $30 fitting to replace it. It was my first time messing with AN lines but now, I feel I want to replace everything I can with AN lines (I would if it weren't so gosh darn expensive!) I know, I've been going on and on, so without further ado here are the pictures! Engine Bay from Driver Side: Yeah I know... it's a little dirty in there at the moment haha 10 AN lines along with rerouted/replumbed vacuum line Driver side valve cover connection Passenger side valve cover connection PCV valve 'plug' and intake manifold PCV port Rerouted/replumbed vacuum line from intake manifold to bypass valve. The catch can itself And just for the hell of it Let me know what ya'll think! Cheers, Griff

**** SOLVED! I'll post pictures after I finish for anyone who wants to see how it's set up!

Ahh I see. I guess I gotta do what I gotta do and snip the wires. It'd certainly be nice to see someone who made these. I think there was an Alpine kit that had plug and play dash speakers but it has since been discontinued. It also costs a fortune. As far as Shift's situation goes, I guess it depends on what you've got in there now and if you can justify it enough to tear it all out and start over again. I'd probably be the last person to ask about the sound systems on these trucks but I'm also looking to do this myself. I just want to have all of my ducks in a row before I start tearing into a virgin sound system that I've never messed with before. Indeed though, I am certainly learning a lot!

I'm still somewhat confused, would changing the dash speakers mess with the door chimes? - i.e change the volume of them or not be present at all? I assume the chimes sound from those? Or would they not change because the headunit isn't being changed?

I thought that the factory harness for the dash speakers had to be cut for new ones? Do the audio frogs plug and play? Or is there an aftermarket harness out there somewhere that mates to the factory harness that plugs into the dash speaker? If so, I must’ve missed them!

Holy cow that’s a mess. It’s been nothing but rain where I am. As far as I know SC and FL are the only states who haven’t gotten snow. Y’all stay safe out there! And x2 on what y’all’s systems look like in the cargo boxes. I’m surprised nobody has done one to accommodate for the trucks with them. Small loss I suppose but it would be neat to have the cargo space AND the sub. I wouldn’t be against buying another cargo box to cut it up and add a sub inside of it, honestly would be pretty cool.

I like that sub box ya got there. A friend of mine makes sub boxes similar to those and they certainly are not cheap. At least in my eyes of what a sound system/sub setup costs. As far as costs is concerned, I think I'd be in the realm of about $1000 or so. Not necessarily trying to have the loudest sound system on the block by any means, just something that sounds good/better than the stock Bose system. Taking the JL stealthbox for the console into consideration though, I feel I'll probably be over that budget fairly quick. A newb thing I did was, went to my local best buy, listened to some of their speakers on display - i.e kickers, alpines, pioneers, etc. Low key, I was fairly impressed with the Kickers, especially for under $100.00 a pair. The alpines, what I had in the past, seemed to miss their mark BUT this is also on a display that have been powered up for God knows how long. I'm open to other brands though, like JL, Skar, Polk, and so on but I was really just window shopping. Thanks for all the feedback though, lets keep 'em coming!

That's a neat setup, looks factory and clean. I really wish there was one made for the trucks that came factory with a underseat storage box. I feel if I weren't satisfied with an 8 in the center console, then removing it would be my only option.

Thank you for your insight! I kinda figured that the dash speakers were gonna get in the way. From what I’ve seen, there isn’t any direct plug and play harness for them. That’s what I’m really going for but if there is no way around it then I guess I don’t have a choice if I do decide putting in a mild system. What speakers are you using? How did you mount them up?

Sure! I'd like to take a look!

Hey everyone, I have literally been looking for weeks about upgrading my stock Bose system with something a little more 'upbeat' - pun intended. I've searched on here along with a few other forums and sites like Crutchfield, through Google, and even YouTube for what I'm looking for but to no avail. To start, while I feel I can understand and work on most aftermarket upgrades on our trucks, I am somewhat of a novice doing sound systems and a complete newbie to this generation system - the last system I did was on my 2001 Explorer like a decade ago and I loved it - Alpine Type S front speakers/Infinity Reference rear speakers, a single 10" kicker sub with some no name amp and an old double din Pioneer AVICD3 headunit. I'll be honest, I got lucky and everything sounded great BUT that was in a truck that also had a blown factory speaker before being replaced. It was an easy and clean install for me when I was 16 years old - since then I haven't touched another factory system. Where I get confused is all of the audio jargon that comes with searching for this stuff. Like differences between coaxial and component speakers, ohm and watt ratings, etc. I also ask myself 'how do I know what I'm putting in be better than what I've got now?' sort of thing. So I figured I would create a post and see what others are doing! What I want to do is replace the factory speakers and add a sub only. Some stipulations I have: 1. I do not want to cut any wire or modify anything (harnesses, drill holes, etc.) on the truck side, I want it to be completely 100% reversible and 100% plug and play. What I'd like to know are things like which speakers you went with/which ones you added or replaced, speaker mounting brackets (whether you had to modify them or not,) speaker/amp/sub wiring harnesses (whether you had to modify them or not,) amp(s) used, sub(s) used, wire used, line out converters used, sub boxes, sound deadening, how you routed your wiring, installation tips and tricks, what you would change etc. (It's been a while so I need all the help I can get!) 2. I would like to keep my factory headunit. (I know, kinda lame but there is nothing like the fit and finish of a nice factory touch screen IMO, just looks 'seamless' and clean to me) I also assume by keeping the factory headunit, it would keep me from having to modify to fit, having to worry about losing factory door chimes, having to mess with steering wheel controls, pulling the dash apart, etc. - so I am willing to lose that little bit of pep out of a good aftermarket speaker to keep the factory HU. Maybe one day I may upgrade to a 12" 'Tesla style' headunit or an IPad but I'd rather keep what I have for right now - just sticking with speakers, amp(s) and sub(s). Here is what I do know: 1. I've seen some products made by LLJ Customs that utilizes or bypasses the O.E Bose amp. It appears to be pretty top notch stuff. If you've used them or have used something similar, please elaborate on your experiences installing. From what I've seen, they added an additional amp using their custom harnesses to amplify an added sub while still using the O.E Bose amp to amplify the O.E Bose speakers and O.E Bose sub. Not against adding just a sub to the O.E speakers, but figured it may be worth my while to upgrade the door speakers too. In this case, I get confused and I'm not sure what to get when adding door speakers. I reached out to them with what I'm looking for but haven't received a response.... yet. If you visit their website: https://lljcustoms.com/store/ols/products/2014-2019-gm-bose-amp-t-harness/v/1419GMBOSE-BS-HRN12 2. I've seen the JL Stealthbox for the center console. For those who have it, how do you like it? I have an underseat storage box underneath my rear seats and ideally I'd like to keep it BUT I'm not opposed to either removing the storage box all together and replace it with a nice sub box that fits snug underneath the rear seats OR if someone has fabbed up a sub box that fits within the underseat storage box. I'd like to run a single sub, I'd be happy with an 8" or 10" sub but that's just preference. 3. From what I've read on here, the O.E Bose system itself puts out some weird ohm readings to the factory speakers and sub, which leads me to believe that it would be almost pointless to replace JUST the speakers and makes me assume I need an amp to power them. Now I could be wrong, so if you have replaced JUST the speakers please let me know your results, I'd like to know. Still in question: 1. Active Noise Cancellation - I'd assume that my truck is equipped because it has Bose but can trucks with Bose not have it? What in the world is it and why does it need to be bypassed? 2. Is there truly any way to get a plug and play system that isn't invasive in these trucks? Because I still have some doubts. I.E: mounting the speakers, speaker harnesses, bypassing or utilizing the factory amp/sub/speakers, etc. 3. Interaction with stock HU. Would it need to be removed for what I want to do? I assume no. I'm not afraid to remove it to do what I need to do if I have to but I cannot recall what you have to do to make the newly added speakers/sub to work? 4.. I feel I have enough wrench-turning knowhow to do this mild 'overhaul.' I just don't want to trick myself - or should I take it to my trusted local audio shop and let them deal with it? To me, the trucks with Bose, it seems like it throws a wrench in the equation that confuses me - also something I did not have to encounter over 10 years ago. I mean it's been a while and I think I could figure it out once everything was in front of me but I also don't want to dive straight in without a clear picture in my mind of how it needs to be done or get in-over my head. With all of that said and I know this is a long post but, I have no issues with the stock system. The stock Bose sounds okay but I'd like to hear what other people are running and feedback on what everyone has. From mild to wild, if you got it, please show it. Pictures and videos work best for me as I'm a visual learner. I also think it would be neat to have the moderators sticky this so that people can get ideas for their own trucks.

Here ya go: https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/187083-largest-tire-size-on-35-rough-country-lift/?tab=comments#comment-2490814

Orrrr you could do Whipple, heads/cam/exhaust and get best of both worlds haha! I wish e85 was more available near where I live. I just only run 93. It runs pretty good but e85 would be fun to try.

Ohh my mistake. I mean given from the thread I linked above, I don't think it would be too far out of the realm to reach 500hp with the lt4 sc. He claims it made 483 but I didn't see anywhere in his thread about whether it was ported or not and what pulley he was running. Maybe on e85, ported and smaller pulley? Idk if you plan on running e85 or running lt4 hpfp/low side fp and injectors but I'd imagine your truck would want it. A cam paired with the supercharger should certainly get you there but I don't have the 5.3 either so I can only assume all of this.

I don’t think they’d be defective as much as it’s just a used supercharger. EBay has their surprises though! Yeah cost might be a lot less than a BNIB aftermarket supercharger. But when you buy aftermarket new it comes warrantied, everything you need is already there and you won’t have to piece a kit together. With an LT4 sc, once you get all the parts you need to do the swap, you’re in it for a small fraction less than if you went with a new, aftermarket kit. This is besides the fact but still something to consider. Another thing to note is what aftermarket manufacturers do to enhance their designs from their competitors and O.E spec stuff (I.e how their designs dissipate heat/keeps temps down more, how much air they can move, how fast they spin, how much more power/tq they make etc.) as opposed to their competitors and stock designs. Whipple can also write the tune specific to your truck or give the option to tune it yourself and save a little money while the lt4 sc you’d have to find someone to tune your truck (or diy) and write a custom tune. I would highly doubt a stock lt4 map would work on the trucks. I don’t want to sound like I’m knocking on the guys with the LT4 sc setups because indeed they saved a little money and it’s unique. I can certainly respect that they found a source for everything and did all the work themselves to make it work but it appears you won't be doing a sc for $1200 given what is necessary to make it work. If an LT4 setup is the route you’re looking to go down, it can be done. Unfortunately it doesn't look to be like it’s a ‘bolt on the sc, tune and go’ sort of scenario, it looks like some parts were needed and the charger needed to be modified to fit but it’s been done according to this thread: https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/238756-so-you-want-to-put-a-lt4-supercharger-on-your-l83l86/ I’m no expert and do not have a twin screw setup, so guys with these setups can drop in and give more a more detailed answer but I figured I’d chime in to show my findings. It looks like a cool swap. I’m curious to see what it runs on e85.