New Chevy Owner Performance Question

PintailDrake2010 · February 19, 2010

Ok, so found this truck and liked everything about it but the motor but I bought it anyway b/c everything else was great. So my question is what can I do to my 4.8 to make it a better engine(more powerful and better mpg, or at least as good)?

I have heard about intakes, exhausts and performance programmers but do they really work and what is the cost. Also, if I am unable to do it all at once what order should I do it in.

Thanks in advance for all the help and I am glad to be a Chevy owner.

Brandon

MS3DALE · February 19, 2010

Black Bear tune!! http://www.blackbearperformance.com/

pm26 · February 19, 2010

Also, many 4.8 L engine equipped trucks had high gearing (Usually 3.23). Using 3.73 or 4.10 gears with that engine will make the truck perform a lot better.

88m53453 · February 19, 2010

i run a black bear on mine and it runs great...i have seen it as high as 24mpg on the interstate, but 22 is closer to the avg for interstate

jblakeney · February 19, 2010

Seems to me like Joe Gibbs did some trucks with Eaton type roots superchargers they were 4.8L's........ Nothing sounds better than a roots charger........... It'd run like no bodies business.... It'd be a nice upgrade!!!

Jbo

PintailDrake2010 · February 19, 2010

All good input and I guess I will go to a local 4x4 place and get the process started. I guess I will start with intake, exhaust and performance programmer. Then from there look at other stuff but the supercharger is too expensive for me at this point. The only time it really bugs me is on the highway when I need to pass on coming up an on ramp trying to speed up to traffic speeds. Oh well I will just get it running as good as possible and live with it. Not like I am racing it anyway.

jrrod2004 · February 19, 2010

All good input and I guess I will go to a local 4x4 place and get the process started. I guess I will start with intake, exhaust and performance programmer. Then from there look at other stuff but the supercharger is too expensive for me at this point. The only time it really bugs me is on the highway when I need to pass on coming up an on ramp trying to speed up to traffic speeds. Oh well I will just get it running as good as possible and live with it. Not like I am racing it anyway.

If you are in or around Austin TX...you should come over and drive my truck. Only 2 mods that I have on the truck: Intake and Blackbear tune. These two made a very noticeable difference and I still have the 3.23s out back...

haggard_warrior · February 19, 2010

Ok, so found this truck and liked everything about it but the motor but I bought it anyway b/c everything else was great. So my question is what can I do to my 4.8 to make it a better engine(more powerful and better mpg, or at least as good)?

I have heard about intakes, exhausts and performance programmers but do they really work and what is the cost. Also, if I am unable to do it all at once what order should I do it in.

Thanks in advance for all the help and I am glad to be a Chevy owner.

Brandon

I have the same truck as you, 2006 4.8 1500, I was in the same position as you didn't really want the 4.8 engine but it was a good deal and I couldn't pass it up. I bought it "used" in April 2006, it only had 2,000 miles on it!

Do you have the crew-cab?? That's what mine is.

So far I have put on a K&N intake, Flowmaster muffler (i just cut the stock muffler off and welded the new one on) and a Hypertech programmer. I will probably do a Blackbear tune if they ever have an meetup in Phoenix AZ, I'm not doing it mail order.

I also have the Fabtech 3" lift and my next upgrade will 3.73 gears.

In the future I plan to put on Magnaflow high-flow cats and probably the Banks headers and cat-back exhaust.

Based on what I have done so far the performance has been great, obviously it isn't going to be ball-crushing performane like you might get from a 6.0 but the 4.8 really isn't a bad engine. It's a good engine, it's just not designed for a lot of towing or heavy hauling.

Good luck to you with your mods!

jro909 · February 19, 2010

just tune it, your not going to get 6.0 kind of nuts of out of it ever..they are still nice motors, its the middle ground for the 4.3 and 5.3

PintailDrake2010 · February 19, 2010

Ok, so found this truck and liked everything about it but the motor but I bought it anyway b/c everything else was great. So my question is what can I do to my 4.8 to make it a better engine(more powerful and better mpg, or at least as good)?

I have heard about intakes, exhausts and performance programmers but do they really work and what is the cost. Also, if I am unable to do it all at once what order should I do it in.

Thanks in advance for all the help and I am glad to be a Chevy owner.

Brandon

I have the same truck as you, 2006 4.8 1500, I was in the same position as you didn't really want the 4.8 engine but it was a good deal and I couldn't pass it up. I bought it "used" in April 2006, it only had 2,000 miles on it!

Do you have the crew-cab?? That's what mine is.

So far I have put on a K&N intake, Flowmaster muffler (i just cut the stock muffler off and welded the new one on) and a Hypertech programmer. I will probably do a Blackbear tune if they ever have an meetup in Phoenix AZ, I'm not doing it mail order.

I also have the Fabtech 3" lift and my next upgrade will 3.73 gears.

In the future I plan to put on Magnaflow high-flow cats and probably the Banks headers and cat-back exhaust.

Based on what I have done so far the performance has been great, obviously it isn't going to be ball-crushing performane like you might get from a 6.0 but the 4.8 really isn't a bad engine. It's a good engine, it's just not designed for a lot of towing or heavy hauling.

Good luck to you with your mods!

Great stuff and mine is a Crew Cab as well. 2006, 4.8L V8, 1500 LS, 4x4, 36,000miles. I am heading down to Desert Rat 4x4 to talk about performance programmer, and exhaust to start. I took the truck to my mechanic and it already has an intake and some kind of spacer installed. He said based on what it is that prob saved me $1,000. It also already has some type of header on the exhaust (it sounds great but right now it is like a dog with a big bite and no teeth. lol

keep the info coming.

amtz.zero · February 19, 2010

I have the 4.8 but mine is a Sierra. Only on very few occasions have I felt like I needed more power/speed. But I'm getting a Black Bear tune next month so that will be the end of that. But right now, the 4.8 has enough speed and power to pass easily and merge with freeway traffic safely. I'm happy with it.

PintailDrake2010 · February 19, 2010

Thanks for the input Amtz but the 4.8L needs help in my opinion in terms of power. There is a big gap in acceleration on the highway and around 30-40 mph. When I lean on the gas there is a gap and I am hopping the exhaust and performance programmer will help bridge that gap. I assume the timing will also be adjusted.

vester · February 19, 2010

You know, people complain about the 4.8 not being tow ready or slow, but in reality, it is still a powerful engine.

Below is a chart of engine size, HP and torque in the 2010 trucks...

4.8L - 295 hp - 305 lb-ft.

5.3L - 315 hp - 338 lb-ft.

6.0L - 367 hp - 375 lb-ft.

6.2L - 403 hp - 417 lb-ft.

For comparison sake, my old man had a 97 ECSB with the 5.0L. Edmunds has it rated at 230hp/285 lb-ft. when new. That seemed pretty powerful and had no problems pulling or hauling anything we threw at it. It was also happy to bounce off the rev limiter all day at 97 mph.

My 85 S10 had an Isuzu 1.9L with 84hp/101 lb-ft. That was a crappy, slow engine, but it still did the work of a truck.

Point being, we are spoiled by the amount of power we get in the base engines now. That being said, I would still pick the 6.2 if cost was not a factor

jrrod2004 · February 19, 2010

Thanks for the input Amtz but the 4.8L needs help in my opinion in terms of power. There is a big gap in acceleration on the highway and around 30-40 mph. When I lean on the gas there is a gap and I am hopping the exhaust and performance programmer will help bridge that gap. I assume the timing will also be adjusted.

Tune the PCM (Powertrain Control Module) to get rid of this lag or severely reduced. That was my issue along with the driveline clunk that appeared when "feathering" the throttle at low speeds.

Edit: you are not near me are you?

BadBowtie1 · February 19, 2010

The 4.8 is not a power house by no means but to add that it's a 4x4 crew cab don't help,but a good tune and intake and exhaust will help but to run with the newer truck's a charger or turbo will really wake that thing up. If it was a 2wd single cab I think you would be happy with just a tune,exhaust,intake like the guy's said look into the gears and that will help to,just remember that it's a 4x4 so that mean front and rear gears it's like 1300 dollars just to start there.