Intake and exhaust question-help please

[DooSPX]

I have a 2004 GMC Sierra 5.3 3.73 Ext cab short bed. It is 100% stock. The truck's main purpose is towing and long distance traveling with the family (2500 miles each summer). I have been seriously considering getting a catback, a intake and I have HP Tuners for my old modified Camaro, just bought the credit to tune my truck.

 

I am new to the basic bolt on and truck game. My camaro was modded big before I sold it. 6L, h/c, 4000 stall, suspension. I just have no clue on how good the factory parts are on the trucks.

 

My neighbor has a 2003 Chevy 5.3, he put a dynomax catback and a volant intake on it and I have witnessed the slight increase in mpg as well as a little increase in tip in torque and what seems to be less hunting for speed while cruise is locked. Pretty much exactly what I am looking for.

 

Now I looking at intakes. I saw BB's article on the Airaid MIT with the stock 08 box. Does the 08 box flow better then the box in my 04? would it be worth it to get just the MIT with my current box?

 

Last question, is a 3" catback worth it, or just the stock 2.75" with a muffler installed? Total mods with be tuned, stock manifolds and cats, intake and exhaust.

 

Thank you for your time.

[Carder09]

The 5.3 is a dog. Take's a good bit of mod's in these times to keep up with what would be considered slow. I have headers with custom exhaust, an hybrid intake if you want to call it that, "stock air box with a "smooth" tube or straight pipe intake to throttle body", and an BlackBear tune which can not be beat IMO! And yet, I still find it behind the competition. But, with BB's tune, it brings out an whole different animal in your truck. Everything seems like it runs better. The older gmt800's are capable to about 350hp/tq before you grenade that tranny. Best to build the 4L60E or upgrade to the 4L65E or higher. Sky is the limit on the engine if you beef up the internals and port the heads. So, that being said, keep your air box and get rid of the resonator, exhaust is what you want to do with it. Like I said, I have LT headers, dualed to and Xpipe, no cats, two Cherry bomb extremes dumped before the axle. Very aggressive sound! Good luck on your decision!

[Chris]

Cameron he has HP tuners so he can tune himself. As for the Volant, I like it on my 6.0, I also have a Corsa Sport exhaust. Not sure of power gains because my 6.0 was tuned when it was dropped in

 

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[DooSPX]

Thanks guys. Yes, I have HP Tuners. From what I saw from BlackBear's results from the intake test, the 08 box with Airaids MIT tube netted the same as the Volant. My main questions are, is the 08 air box actually better then the 04? And, is a Catback worth it over a muffler on the stock 2.75" exhaust?

[Carder09]

Cameron he has HP tuners so he can tune himself. As for the Volant, I like it on my 6.0, I also have a Corsa Sport exhaust. Not sure of power gains because my 6.0 was tuned when it was dropped in Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 4

But does HP offer the most benefits as an custom tune BB does?

[DooSPX]

HP Tuners is tune software just like EFI Live which BB uses to tune.

[Chris]

Hp offers most benefits EFI Live does. What matters is the person using the software

 

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[Chris]

Thanks guys. Yes, I have HP Tuners. From what I saw from BlackBear's results from the intake test, the 08 box with Airaids MIT tube netted the same as the Volant. My main questions are, is the 08 air box actually better then the 04? And, is a Catback worth it over a muffler on the stock 2.75" exhaust?

 

The 08 box has larger fender openings than the 04. The volant has a large opening. As for a cat-back, mine is dual 2.75 into a single 3 that passes through a muffler that is essentially a straight pipe. The sustem has been dynoed to make some gains. The sound of the corsa is worth it to me

 

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[kstruckcountry]

Keep your current box and get the Airaid tube, I'm happy with mine. If your exhaust tubing is in good shape there's really no reason for a catback, I just got rid of the factory muffler and have a 22" Magnaflow.

[DooSPX]

Thanks! Did you notice any slight performance gains, such as tip in torque while driving and any mpg improvments with the Magnaflow? How is the drone with the 22" Magnaflow?

[kstruckcountry]

It felt like it picked up a little power. Don't expect any drastic changes. But with the different intake and muffler PLUS the tune I saw a huge difference. Whatever gains you get from other things, the tune will put to good use.

 

My muffler is the 5"x11"x22" and drone is nonexistent. If you turn off the radio you can hear it, but it's not really a drone, more of a low hum or rumble. With the radio 2 bars or above on the highway you don't really hear it at all, if that gives you any idea of the volume of the muffler. It will be noticeably louder around town than the stock muffler, I like the tone. It's still much quieter than most trucks with aftermarket exhaust.

[hodo78]

FWIW, I am in a similar boat as kstruckcountry, I have the MIT tube, high flow Airaid filter, and a Borla touring muffler in place of my original using the factory exhaust pipe. But I have no tuning currently, although i plan to have it tuned in the future.

 

I feel like there is a little more power on top end, and even less of an increase if any at low rpm.

 

And for the record, I run mid grade fuel (89 octane) as BB recommends in the 5.3 with stock tuning. I just hand calculated 17.9 MPG average on a 900 mile road trip with my cruise set at 78 MPH through east Arkansas over into the hills of central TN. All interstate.

[DooSPX]

Thanks guys! I appreciate all the responses. I know not to expect drastic changes, but I have seen the slight gains in my nieghbors truck. I get 20mph on 87 octane, with cruise locked at 72mph. (stock including tune)

[kstruckcountry]

The last trip I took to the San Juan's I made 18, that's with cold idle every morning and driving up and down wolf creek pass every day (1400mi total). Flat highway I can get 18.5. I have 3.73 gears as well. The Magnaflow gave me about half an mpg.

 

You won't regret the exhaust and air tube.

[DooSPX]

Thank you very much. I believe that answered all my questions! Also, I am getting a Vette Servo as well, forgot to add that.