Suggestions for power mods

[Speedz06]

I've been into LS1/6 engines in a camaro and my vette but not sure if the 5.3 is worth trying to get some power from in my '00 GMC Sierra ext cab--What are the basic mods for the 5.3?I have an intake already,I got gibson headers,1.8 rockers-sitting in the garage.How would a ls6 cam work and I was thinking about the Crane tuner--since it comes with a few cam programs already.Does anyone know if that tuner can eliminate the torque management? What kind of power have you guys been getting to the wheels with the 5.3s'?

[04Grill]

I had the crane tuner and it was ok.. better than hypertech if you ask me. But I had to get nelsons tune to get my fans to work. Nelsons tune feels around better cause im sure he edits more than the crane tuner does. But the crane is still a OK hand held though.

these motors respond the same to mods as our cars do:-P But I wouldnt go huge with cams.. ls6 cam or anything below 216/220 is nice

they love some stall 2600-3200 roughly.. ls1 fans are a nice mod also

i doubt you see more than 3-5hp from those headers.. you might wanna look for some used LT's which would beneifit the cam and everything else more..

shorties 3-6hp
LT's 15-25hp

[Sheep]

I have an L33 5.3 (see sig) and the entire performance of the truck has drastically changed with just the mods I have. The 4.10's of course, other than the tune, are huge. Had an ARE Stg 3 head/cams pkg with 4.10's (6spd) in my '00 SS Camaro... this is basically the same engine minus 21 cu in.

As per above regarding the shorties... If I had to do it again, I'd forget the shorties as they showed basically very little gain (they look pretty&#33 and I'd do the tuned long tubes instead. At the time I was considering going with an STS turbo so longtubes didn't really factor in, but now that I've decided against that, the longtubes are probably something I'm going to do next year. If I added a cam, I'd personally not do it without serious headwork, but not so much as to severely kill torque on this little motor.

I kind of altered my thinking in making this utility vehicle into some semi-drag one... man, 5,000+lb is just a lot to get movin'! I also want a good tow vehicle so I'm staying conservative.

Now an STS on the 3.5L Canyon/Colorado is much more interesting since I heard preliminary results on that. Want to go downsized in future vehicles.

[Speedz06]

tHANKS guys,well getting 5000 lbs to move is pretty tough--I modded my Imp-alla SS back in 96--had the LT4 setup heeads/cam etc--Losing low end torque on a truck is definately not the way to go on a heavy vehicle--even if you add 100 peak horse and take a sec off the quarter mile the fun factor is gone around town with poor low end torque...That said I am thinking of going to a 99 mm bore wich gives close to 350 cubes.I have read that you can bore the 5.3 to that size.It also gives the opp. to put in forged in case I will afford some forced induction some day! Well Iplan to keep this discussion going,I'll let y'all know what I come up with as things progress.I am going to price out az new motor too--scoggin Dickey has the new lq9 complete without a computer but with WP,injectors etc for about 4K thats rated at 345 horse.That motor with a cam (ls6) and long tubes and stiffer valve spring to turn up to 6500rpm should make a solid 350 hp at the wheels.If I can get the cash,thats the way I may go too----Thanks again for your input.BTW,How can I put a pic of this thing up on here?

[BlenderWizard]

If you are thinking of altering the internals of your 5.3, instead of doing an overbore, you might think of getting a crank with a longer stroke. Of course, that would prolly get you into some serious $$