Need More Power

dannyboy20 · February 19, 2009

I have a 98 Sierra with 130,000 miles. I have basic mods such as cold air, and dual exhaust. I'm looking to get some more out of my truck. I was looking at tuners. Any opinions.

VMax2007 · February 19, 2009

I have a 98 Sierra with 130,000 miles. I have basic mods such as cold air, and dual exhaust. I'm looking to get some more out of my truck. I was looking at tuners. Any opinions.

You're joking, right?

<---------- Look over there *ahem*Black Bear*ahem*

NFSGamerUSA · February 19, 2009

Yeah, get a custom tune over a hand-held tuner. My Black Bear Performance tune has given me a larger performance gain (at least when it comes to get-up-and-go and throttle response) than my MagnaFlow cat-back did, which supposedly nets 20hp (GMT400s are pretty restricted in stock form, from what I understand).

kuhl_530 · February 19, 2009

Tuners are "easy horsepower" at the expence of.... well... money. Honestly, horsepower for dollar, the first thing you should look at is a cam, then I'd look into headers to go with that exhaust system you have. Both would compliment the cold air and the exhaust nicely, and give you much more horse than the programmer.

NFSGamerUSA · February 19, 2009

Tuners are "easy horsepower" at the expence of.... well... money. Honestly, horsepower for dollar, the first thing you should look at is a cam, then I'd look into headers to go with that exhaust system you have. Both would compliment the cold air and the exhaust nicely, and give you much more horse than the programmer.

But you need a tune to really get the full gain out of those modifications.

faisal · February 19, 2009

Tuners are "easy horsepower" at the expence of.... well... money. Honestly, horsepower for dollar, the first thing you should look at is a cam, then I'd look into headers to go with that exhaust system you have. Both would compliment the cold air and the exhaust nicely, and give you much more horse than the programmer.

But you need a tune to really get the full gain out of those modifications.

+1...if your planing on any thing more than a tune then do your thing then tune the truck to go with all the parts

66nova · February 19, 2009

Tuners are "easy horsepower" at the expence of.... well... money. Honestly, horsepower for dollar, the first thing you should look at is a cam, then I'd look into headers to go with that exhaust system you have. Both would compliment the cold air and the exhaust nicely, and give you much more horse than the programmer.

But you need a tune to really get the full gain out of those modifications.

+1

It will run like crap, if you do all of that and don't get a tune.

I will have to disagree about the horsepower for dollar. He can get a custom tune for $250 ish and easily make 20+ hp gains. A cam with springs, lifters, and timing chain, not to mention gaskets, oil, etc is going to cost a $500+ assuming he can do the work himself. Then headers another $500+.

I know, I am not doing this, BUT IF I was. I would go with a tune (custom) first. Fill the extra power and drivability. If still want more, which is only natural (insert Tim Allen Grunt here), then cam, headers, etc. Most of your tunes will come with free re-tunes. So after you get all that stuff, get it re-tuned.

By the way, where are the pics?

kuhl_530 · February 19, 2009

Tuners are "easy horsepower" at the expence of.... well... money. Honestly, horsepower for dollar, the first thing you should look at is a cam, then I'd look into headers to go with that exhaust system you have. Both would compliment the cold air and the exhaust nicely, and give you much more horse than the programmer.

But you need a tune to really get the full gain out of those modifications.

True, true. You got me there ;) lol. I'm just used to my 95 (obd1 system, no tuner). It's a pain, but a blessing in disguise. They just recently changed the emissions testing stadards in my county. All vehicles with onboard diagnositcs used to have to be tested every other year, but now if it doesn't have obdII, it doesn't have to be tested. That means as many mods as I want! lol

But you're right. To get the best on a cam and whatnot, you do need a tuner to squeeze every last ounce of power out of those mods. I'd just hate to see $400 go flying out the window, when a cam kit costs $200 with the same hp increase, even without the tuning

kuhl_530 · February 19, 2009

Tuners are "easy horsepower" at the expence of.... well... money. Honestly, horsepower for dollar, the first thing you should look at is a cam, then I'd look into headers to go with that exhaust system you have. Both would compliment the cold air and the exhaust nicely, and give you much more horse than the programmer.

But you need a tune to really get the full gain out of those modifications.

+1

It will run like crap, if you do all of that and don't get a tune.

I will have to disagree about the horsepower for dollar. He can get a custom tune for $250 ish and easily make 20+ hp gains. A cam with springs, lifters, and timing chain, not to mention gaskets, oil, etc is going to cost a $500+ assuming he can do the work himself. Then headers another $500+.

I know, I am not doing this, BUT IF I was. I would go with a tune (custom) first. Fill the extra power and durability. If still want more, which is only natural (insert Tim Allen Grunt here), then cam, headers, etc. Most of your tunes will come with free re-tunes. So after you get all that stuff, get it re-tuned.

By the way, where are the pics?

$500 for headers!!! You'd better call the police, cause some one just ripped you off! Walker headers for a 95 small block chevy, $200. And if by running like crap, you mean that off idle, deep rumble that comes with a .450 lift cam... well that's just music to my ears

66nova · February 19, 2009

Tuners are "easy horsepower" at the expence of.... well... money. Honestly, horsepower for dollar, the first thing you should look at is a cam, then I'd look into headers to go with that exhaust system you have. Both would compliment the cold air and the exhaust nicely, and give you much more horse than the programmer.

But you need a tune to really get the full gain out of those modifications.

+1

It will run like crap, if you do all of that and don't get a tune.

I will have to disagree about the horsepower for dollar. He can get a custom tune for $250 ish and easily make 20+ hp gains. A cam with springs, lifters, and timing chain, not to mention gaskets, oil, etc is going to cost a $500+ assuming he can do the work himself. Then headers another $500+.

I know, I am not doing this, BUT IF I was. I would go with a tune (custom) first. Fill the extra power and durability. If still want more, which is only natural (insert Tim Allen Grunt here), then cam, headers, etc. Most of your tunes will come with free re-tunes. So after you get all that stuff, get it re-tuned.

By the way, where are the pics?

$500 for headers!!! You'd better call the police, cause some one just ripped you off! Walker headers for a 95 small block chevy, $200. And if by running like crap, you mean that off idle, deep rumble that comes with a .450 lift cam... well that's just music to my ears

I'm not saying it won't run and sound decent. Not saying that at all. But compared to how it should run with a proper tune and those upgrades. Yeah, I say it runs like crap. Your OBDI system and his OBDII are two totally different stories. There is absolutely a lot of potential in that motor. Vortec 350s are great starting points for a cam, headers, exhaust.

$200 for a cam change...parts and labor (again assuming he can't do it himself). He can't or shouldn't just stick a cam in it with out lifters, springs, timing chain, etc, etc with 130,000 miles.

I think your truck would run better with a custom burned chip too. But it will not yield you as much as an OBDII truck. Those computers are not designed to adjust for the extra flow of a good after market cam. Will it work...yes. Work as well as it could...NO

As far as the headers go. That is a great price if they are a set of long tubes. Most of the long tubes I have seen are 350 to 700.

REV353 · February 19, 2009

I have a 98 Sierra with 130,000 miles. I have basic mods such as cold air, and dual exhaust. I'm looking to get some more out of my truck. I was looking at tuners. Any opinions.

I installed a tbs and liked it, and also a Hypertech, thats where I seen the real gain, also install a MAF in time. Put iridum plugs in and some very low ohm wires, 45-50 is good, just did that with my 8.1L, nice and the mpg helped too.

kuhl_530 · February 19, 2009

My apologies nova, you are absolutely right. I was also assuming that he would be doing the cam job himself, but for one that's not mechanically inclined, a tuner is a great way to go, and a custom tuner is even better. That price is for long tube, but for a 98 it is a little more. They're made by dynomax, full length, come as a pair, and are made to custom fit a 96-99 sierra 1/2, 3/4, or 1 ton part number 88738 for black painted ($325) and 87738 for ceramic coated ($500, and you were right on that price). For a truck though, painted would be just fine.

I work at a parts store, if you wanna know where I got the numbers

66nova · February 19, 2009

My apologies nova, you are absolutely right. I was also assuming that he would be doing the cam job himself, but for one that's not mechanically inclined, a tuner is a great way to go, and a custom tuner is even better. That price is for long tube, but for a 98 it is a little more. They're made by dynomax, full length, come as a pair, and are made to custom fit a 96-99 sierra 1/2, 3/4, or 1 ton part number 88738 for black painted ($325) and 87738 for ceramic coated ($500, and you were right on that price). For a truck though, painted would be just fine.

I work at a parts store, if you wanna know where I got the numbers

No apologies needed. This is a forum for healthy debate. I don't take anything personally, I just like to argue points and sometimes play devils advocate for the OP's sake and often times I learn something or have my mind changed too.

kuhl_530 · February 19, 2009

good stuff! I'll drink to that! lol

dannyboy20 · February 19, 2009

Well I E-mailed black bear but he is out till next week. Not sure if it matters but i have a 305 not a 350. Im leaning more towards the tune because Im not to confident in working on the motor itself. As this is a daily driver any down time wouldn be good.