turbo

Muddy Mike · June 2, 2003

hey ya'll, i've got a 01 sierra with a 5.3 L vortec. i'm thinking about a turbo install in the future along with some other mods, what size and brand should i go with? i don't know the brands that well when it comes to forced induction. thanks for the help!

The SPEEDY · June 2, 2003

You can probably get better help at a ls1 site. Find some of the guys running them. They can tell you what you need.

I do know that on a larger displacement motor like yours twin t's are better. You can get one big turbo but then you will have a lot of lag. Two small to medium size will work best.

There are a lot of problems you will run into with this drastic of a mod though. Trans and driveline won't hold up most of the time. Running the exhaust up to the turbos will be a pain.

This type of thing just requires a lot of research. You never know you may find a company that makes a kit for it. A LS1 kit could probably be modified to work with your truck to.

Hope you have a good bit of spare change.

Muddy Mike · June 3, 2003

thanks for the info speedy! i'll check out the site you mentioned. yeah, i wish i could say i had a big chunk of change. lol

Waitin2Drag · August 11, 2003

Hey man,

First, I am pretty sure for V-8's and V-6's ytou have to have a twin turbo set up due to the 2 manifolds. It would take some hell of a custom fabricatring to fit a single turbo manifold on a V-engine. Second, I know of a place in Texas, I think its Dallas, that makes turbo sysytems for just about anything. It's called Aerocharger, and they did a twin turbo setup for trucks like ours. Heres the catch, the only one they did was a demo or project truck and the system isnt in production yet. Rumor is that if/when it comes out it will run you an easy $7500. I emailed them and asked them how long it would take them, and have yet to respond. Hope this helps ya.

Chris

americanmuscleman · August 11, 2003

A turbo kit for your truck is going to have to be custom made, and will likely cost you quite a bit (especially if you don't build it). I don't mean to discourage you, but its likely going to be cost prohibitive to add a turbo or twin turbo's to your truck.

You could probably build a supercharged stroker motor for your truck that would be more powerful and reliable for less money.

The other problem your going to have is your factory 4L60E tranny isn't going to last long behind decent power. If you have 4wd, your transfer case isn't going to like it either. Both will wear out prematurely.

If your looking to go fast, I'd suggest a supercharger to start and headers, and if that doesn't suffice, go into the motor (ported heads, bigger cam, tuning, etc..).

LS1tech.com will give you alot of insight on how to make good power with your trucks 5.3L. Its very similar in design to an LS1 (you can run LS1/LS6 heads on your 5.3L and use LS1/LS6 camshafts and valvetrain parts, among other things).

Good luck