Making the Truck Work

[clightfoot]

I have a 2003 Silverado Z71 1500 towing a '99 Jayco Light..it pulls fine and stops fine...I would just like to hear what other people have done on their trucks to make pulling better, such as electric fans, cold air intake, stuff like that...does it work and if so is it worth the time and money to do...Thanks for any input

[ajlcal]

IMO, don't waste your money trying to improve a gas truck. I spent a considerable amount of money on my last gasser and only got a very slight improvement in gas mileage and no real improvement in power. It really wasn't worth the cost.

[99-Am.Star]

My feeling has always been, if the truck needs more power, it's better to get a truck that has more power. Using power adding electronics puts more wear on the engine, and ends up being more expensive in the long run. Just my $0.02 but your mileage may vary...........

[Dick Noble]

It's not the towing I worry about, it is the stoping. I always buy the biggest truck I can afford and it has to be a diesel.

[Radargilb]

I have a 2002 Dodge 1500 with the 360. I use the superchip tow mode and I also changed out my rear end from 392's to 456's. It helped the towing and the gas milage a little.

[Stevea1956]

Save your money. There's not a lot you can do to raise your truck's towing capacity beyond what it is when it leaves the factory. Besides, it looks like you have plenty of truck for your current trailer.

[Mr_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevea1956 Save your money. There's not a lot you can do to raise your truck's towing capacity beyond what it is when it leaves the factory. Besides, it looks like you have plenty of truck for your current trailer.

Legally there is nothing you can do to raise the capacity of the a vehicle, only the manufacturer can certify or re-certify changes.

[Arch Hoagland]

I bought a new 99 GMC Z71 1500 with the 5.3 engine. After I had it about 6 months I decided to "Upgrade" it just like you are thinking about doing. In one week I added Flowmaster muffler, K&N Air Filter and switched to a synthetic engine oil, Mobil One. Guess what. Mileage stayed the same as did the power. The noise level went way up in the cab. We did a 5,000 mile trip right after the upgrade pulling a 22' TT through Canada. When I got home I took my original muffler back to the muffler shop and had it reinstalled.
In 2003 I bought a GMC 2500HD with the 8.1 and Allison 1000 Xmission. Now that's an upgrade.
So save your money and buy a bigger truck

[richardcoxid]

X2 on the value/cost of HP/mileage improvements!
Think of it like this- more HP/Torque equals more heat, the engine is designed to reliably produce xxxx HP, the transmission is designed to reliably transfer that power to the rear end and on and on. Increase the engine HP what have you accomplished? I.E. potential cooling problems, potential engine wear, potential transmission wear etc.
A lot of RVers and others do modify their engines, depending degree of modification some get away with it and some don’t. Look on this and some other RV/Truck sites. Somebody modifies their engine then complains about this #$##% truck, “I have installed 2 clutches in 40,000 miles”, or they “have replaced their auto transmission at 50,000 miles and now it is slipping again” etc. I would never purchase another brand #%$%% again.
Like some of the previous posters have said, if you really think that you need more power, just go out and buy new truck that will do the job.
On the other hand there a lot of specialty manufactures out there with impressive claims that are more than happy to separate you from your money.
Lets see now- Mod A increases HP by 10%, Mod B increases HP by 15%, Mod C (this is a GOOD Mod) increases HP by 25%. By doing all 3 Mods together, that would increase HP by 50% RIGHT? Yah RIGHT and ALL this without causing other problems. Right?
Just my $0.02 cents

[Grumpyyyy]

Ditto on don't waste your hard earned cash on the mods... Spend it on synthetic oils and clean air filters and keep your tranny serviced .... Slow and easy and enjoy the ride

[chief02]

I have made moderate mods to make the truck work easier not to look for power. You can protect an automatic tranny (the weakest link in towing) by adding auxilary cooling and syn oil. Improving air intake and exhaust out helps the truck breath better and run cooler but dont really expect to see more MPG or power. it simply make the trucks life a bit easier and hopfully longer. If your rear suspension is squating a leveler ride is safer and more secure on the road. But as said, modifiying your suspension should not be done with the expectaion of adding GVRW.