Ford SVT Raptor
February 7, 2010
“DNA of a Factory Perrunner” This thing is a BEAST! It started its life as a regular F-150, then the engineers at SVT basically cut the thing down the middle and added 7 inches to make it wider than the standard F-150, pretty extreme huh? But that was just the beginning. SVT stands for Special Vehicle Team which means this thing in no way compares to the regular F-150. Remember the SVT Lightning?
The Raptor is currently only available in four colors: orange, black, white and blue with different trim packages of course. With the 5.4-liter, three-valve SOHC engine puts out 320 hp and 390 lb-ft and will start at $38,995. Later in the year they will release the SOHC 6.2-liter V8 that is supposed to have 400 hp and 400 lb-ft which will start $41,995. I talked to some of my hard core off road buddies and they told me that if I was to build a truck to the specs of the Raptor it would cost considerably more, then its also a matter of making everything work together correctly
Equipped with Fox Racing Triple Bypass Shocks, these type shocks are used extensively in racing by pre-runners, 
Ford states that the Raptor has just over 12 inches of travel in the rear suspension and over 11 inches in the front. That’s actual useable travel. With the 17 inches wheels wrapped in 35-inch custom made to SVT specs, BF Goodrich
All Terrain, the Raptor rides 9.8 inches high and is quite the Extreme off road vehicle.
This thing sports aluminum cast control rods, rear axle tube shafts that are thicker and better than their Super Duty trucks, upgraded hydro-mounts for the engine, hi-tech jounce bumper stops, high-strength steel for the rear lower shock mounts and additional heat shields. A unique skid plate package with full-sized spare and the running boards are cast aluminum and coated in a Rhinoliner-like material, that Ford claims flex instead of bending.
Even though this truck is designed to excel off-road, it will still has the on-road comfort one would expect from a regular F-150. Opening the door the first thing you notice is this thing is huge! The seats are considerable larger and beefier than the standard F-150. There are switches included in the interior that are there for
when you want to add off road lights.
While the BassnMan is a Chevy man I’m considering getting one of these because I don’t really consider an SVT a Ford. Yes, the grill says FORD very loudly but I could always do something about that. I would however have to wait until they release the version with the 6.2 liter motor just because I like POWER, but then again, those of you who know what I have lurking under the hood of my Silverado probably understand.
The SVT Raptor has proven itself by running the 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. This is a grueling 631 mile course and the Raptor compled it in an impressive time of 25:28:10. In October 2009 it was awarded 4×4 of the year by Petersons 4-Wheel & Off Road Magazine. Quite impressive indeed!
Enjoy the video below
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Supercharger vs Turbo Charger
September 18, 2009
Recently I’ve been hearing people going back and forth between which is better, the Supercharger or the Turbo charger. I can honestly say that I did a bunch of research, the little woman says that I research the heck out of everything I do, befiore going with the Magnacharger Radix Supercharger system instead of a turbo. For my needs I found the Supercharger more efficent for my appkication. I wanted to be able to use my Silverado as a daily driver, increase my mileage while hauling my bass boat and from time to time smoke the Rice burners with their loud “fart cans” and all the while NOT voiding my warranty as well as keeping my vehicle within CARB standards seeing how I live in the wonderful state of California.
After determining that the Supercharger was the right one for me I once again did major research before I went with the MagnaCharger System. Its a complete bolt on system right down to new injectors that is basically plug and play. As a matter of fact if you have basic mechanical skills and basic habd tools you can install the system by yourself in an afternoon. The only time you would need help is setting the new assembly onto the block, its kind of heavy and you want to be sure everything lines up correctl
To help clear up all the confusion between the 2 I copied the following was from Superchargersonline, its a good read if your thinking about adding some major boost to your rig.
It’s one of the most common questions we are asked – the answer to which is almost impossible to find “What is better – a supercharger or a turbo?”
We only wish the answer were that simple, but unfortunately it is not. The simple answer is: “It depends.” But don’t worry, we’ll go into more depth than that here. Both superchargers and turbos have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Selecting the right kind of forced induction for your vehicle will depend upon your particular vehicle, your driving habits, your power preferences, and your needs.
Clearing Up Confusion
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, a supercharger is defined as:
“a device (as a blower or compressor) for pressurizing the cabin of an airplane or for increasing the volume air charge of an internal combustion engine over that which would normally be drawn in through the pumping action of the pistons”.
A turbocharger is defined as:
“A centrifugal blower driven by exhaust gas turbines and used to supercharge an engine”.
According to Webster’s, a turbocharger is included in the definition for superchargers – it is in fact a very specific type of supercharger – one that is driven by exhaust gasses. Other superchargers that do not fall into this category – the kind that we are all used to hearing about – are normally driven directly from the engine’s crankshaft via a crank pulley. So in reality, it is not fair to compare all superchargers to turbochargers, because all turbochargers are also superchargers. For the purpose of this discussion, however, a supercharger will be considered all superchargers that are not driven directly by the engine, while turbochargers will be considered all superchargers that are driven by engine exhaust gasses.
Similarities
Both superchargers and turbochargers are forced induction systems and thus have the same objective – to compress air and force more air molecules into the engine’s combustion chambers than would normally be allowed at atmospheric pressure here on Earth (14.7 psi at sea level). The benefit of forcing more air molecules into the combustion chambers is that it allows your engine to burn more fuel per power stroke. With an internal combustion engine, burning more fuel means that you convert more fuel into energy and power. For this reason, supercharged and turbocharged engines normally produce 40% to 100%+ more power (depending on the amount of boost – check out our horespower calculator) than normally aspirated engines.
How They Work
A supercharger is mounted to the engine and is driven by a pulley that is inline with the crank (or accessory) belt. Air is drawn into the supercharger and compressed by either an impeller (centrifugal-style supercharger), twin rotating screws (screw-type supercharger), or counter-rotating rotors (roots-type supercharger). The air is then discharged into the engine’s intake. Faster crank speed (more engine rpm) spins the supercharger faster and allows the supercharger to produce more boost (normally 6 to 9 psi for a street vehicle). Typical peak operating speeds for a supercharger are around 15,000 rpm (screw-type and roots style superchargers) and 40,000 rpm (centrifugal-style superchargers).
A turbocharger operates in much the same way as a centrifugal (internal impeller) supercharger, except it is not driven by pulleys and belts attached to the engine’s crank. A turbo is instead driven by exhaust gasses that have been expelled by the engine and are traveling through the exhaust manifold. The exhaust gas flows through one half of the turbocharger’s turbine, which drives the impeller that compresses the air. Typical operating speeds of a turbocharger are between 75,000 and 150,000 rpm.
Head to Head Comparison
Now it’s time to evaluate the turbocharger versus the supercharger according to several important factors.
Cost
The cost of supercharger and a turbocharger systems for the same engine are approximately the same, so cost is generally not a factor.
Lag
This is perhaps the biggest advantage that the supercharger enjoys over the turbo. Because a turbocharger is driven by exhaust gasses, the turbocharger’s turbine must first spool up before it even begins to turn the compressor’s impeller. This results in lag time which is the time needed for the turbine to reach its full throttle from an intermediate rotational speed state. During this lag time, the turbocharger is creating little to no boost, which means little to no power gains during this time. Smaller turbos spool up quicker, which eliminates some of this lag. Turbochargers thus utilize a wastegate, which allows the use of a smaller turbocharger to reduce lag while preventing it from spinning too quickly at high engine speeds. The wastegate is a valve that allows the exhaust to bypass the turbine blades. The wastegate senses boost pressure, and if it gets too high, it could be an indicator that the turbine is spinning too quickly, so the wastegate bypasses some of the exhaust around the turbine blades, allowing the blades to slow down..
A Supercharger, on the other hand, is connected directly to the crank, so there is no “lag”. Superchargers are able to produce boost at a very low rpm, especially screw-type and roots type blowers.
Efficiency
This is the turbo’s biggest advantage. The turbocharger is generally more economical to operate as it as it is driven primarily by potential energy in the exhaust gasses that would otherwise be lost out the exhaust, whereas a supercharger draws power from the crank, which can be used to turn the wheels. The turbocharger’s impeller is also powered only under boost conditions, so there is less parasitic drag while the impeller is not spinning. The turbocharger, however, is not free of inefficiency as it does create additional exhaust backpressure and exhaust flow interruption.
Heat
Because the turbocharger is mounted to the exhaust manifold (which is very hot), turbocharger boost is subject to additional heating via the turbo’s hot casing. Because hot air expands (the opposite goal of a turbo or supercharger), an intercooler becomes necessary on almost all turbocharged applications to cool the air charge before it is released into the engine. This increases the complexity of the installation. A centrifugal supercharger on the other hand creates a cooler air discharge, so an intercooler is often not necessary at boost levels below 10psi. That said, some superchargers (especially roots-type superchargers) create hotter discharge temperatures, which also make an intecooler necessary even on fairly low-boost applications.
Surge
Because a turbocharger first spools up before the boost is delivered to the engine, there is a surge of power that is delivered immediately when the wastegate opens (around 3000 rpm). This surge can be damaging to the engine and drivetrain, and can make the vehicle difficult to drive or lose traction.
Back Pressure
Because the supercharger eliminates the need to deal with the exhaust gas interruption created by inserting a turbocharger turbine into the exhaust flow, the supercharger creates no additional exhaust backpressure. The amount of power that is lost by a turbo’s turbine reduces it’s overall efficiency.
Noise
The turbocharger is generally quieter than the supercharger. Because the turbo’s turbine is in the exhaust, the turbo can substantially reduce exhaust noise, making the engine run quieter. Some centrifugal superchargers are known to be noisy and whistley which, annoys some drivers (we, however, love it!)
Reliability
In general, superchargers enjoy a substantial reliability advantage over the turbocharger. When a turbo is shut off (i.e. when the engine is turned off), residual oil inside the turbo’s bearings can be baked by stored engine heat. This, combined with the turbo’s extremely high rpms (up to 150,000rpm) can cause problems with the turbo’s internal bearings and can shorten the life of the turbocharger. In addition, many turbos require aftermarket exhaust manifolds, which are often far less reliable than stock manifolds.
Ease of Installation
Superchargers are substantially easier to install than a turbos because they have far fewer components and simpler devices. Turbos are complex and require manifold and exhaust modifications, intercoolers, extra oil lines, etc. – most of which is not needed with most superchargers. A novice home mechanic can easily install most supercharger systems, while a turbo installation should be left to a turbo expert.
Maximum Power Output
Turbos are known for their unique ability to spin to incredibly high rpms and make outrages peak boost figures (25psi+). While operating a turbocharger at very high levels of boost requires major modifications to the rest of the engine, the turbo is capable of producing more peak power than superchargers.
Tunability
Turbochargers, because they are so complex and rely on exhaust pressure, are notoriously difficult to tune. Superchargers, on the other hand, require few fuel and ignition upgrades and normally require little or no engine tuning.
Conclusion
While the supercharger is generally considered to be a better method of forced induction for most street and race vehicles, the turbo will always have its place in a more specialized market. Superchargers generally provide a much broader powerband that most drivers are looking for with no “turbo lag”. In addition, they are much easier to install and tune, making them more practical for a home or novice mechanic.
Keeping Your Cool. Summer Time Vehicle Tips
July 5, 2009
Well, summer has arrived and here in the desert the daytime temperatures are already getting into the 100’s. While going to the lake in the early morning hours are not all that bad, coming home in the heat of the day can take a toll on your tow vehicle, especially if you have to go up hills to get home. I’d like to take some time to share some things I do to assure a pleasant trip home.First off, my Chevy came with an external oil cooler so that helps keep the temp down. I also switched to Castrol 5-30 Full Synthetic, the one with the gold cap. I believe they call it their Extended version.
Now lets discuss the transmission. Towing a boat, especially up steep inclines, does make the transmission have to work harder and run hotter. Bottom line, heat can destroy your transmission, which we all know can be very costly. While my Silverado did come with the optional transmission cooler I still didn’t feel it was enough, especially seeing how small it was. After doing extensive research I went with the Tru Cool Max
47391 which has a 40,000 GVW rating, 45,000 BTU rating. Its dimensions are 8 1/2 x 22 3/4 x 1 1/4 and comes with 3/8 inverter flare. This model does not come with the external thermal bypass because where I live the winters are very mild. If you live in the cooler climate area you might want to get the one with the thermal bypass.
The installation was not a simple plug and play but it was still an easy install. I fabricated my own mounting brackets out of a couple pieces of angle iron because this thing is considerably larger than my stock optional one. I also had to cut my factory tubing and install the tubing that was supplied with the kit because the stock fittings would not just bolt up. After installing it I had to add about ½ quart of transmission fluid to top off the level. Prior to installing the Tru Cool Max the transmission temp would get up to 205 when climbing Walker Pass on my way home from the lake. Since the install I have never gotten above 185, even when the outdoor temp got as high as 125.
Prior to every trip, if I’m taking the Champion or not I always check all of my fluid levels, antifreeze, oil, transmission, and power steering, its cheap, easy and quick insurance, so be sure to take the few minutes to check these things before your next outing to help insure a happy, fun outing.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Fish Lately?
November 9, 2008
That is a common question I get asked so I thought why not ask it back in a slightly different way, it just took a little longer than I expected. Let me explain, it goes back a little.
My birthday is in mid June so sometime around March my wife said she wanted to purchase me a personalized license plate, also known as a vanity plate that would reflect the fact that I am a fisherman. Thus began a quest on what exactly I would like it to say.
Out here in California the plates can only have a maximum of 7 characters, at least as of the writing if this. Of course my first choice was BASSNMN so I logged onto the CA DMV site to see if it was available, of course not. I then tried every variation of it to no avail.
I then posted the question, Help me choose my vanity plate, on one of my favorite online forums, SilveradoSS.com. Everyone on the site knows that I am a bass fisherman as well as the fact that I drive a Silverado VHO, which is a Silverado SS without the body accents. The suggestions poured in but nothing really caught my eye.
I then thought of that popular saying Got Fish and thought of GOTBASS, so onto the CA DMV I went, yep you guessed it, already taken. Then I figured I’d try A different variation of it, GQT BASS, thinking it looked close and as long as the little tail in the Q was hidden by a license plate frame it would look close enough so I started looking for plates with a Q in them to see how they looked. I tried convincing myself that it looked close enough but I just was not happy with the way it would look.
Then I thought about GET BASS, I checked it online and it was available. At this point I figured I had found it. Before I actually placed my order a guy at work asked me it I had fished lately. Fished Lately? Of course I had fished lately, that was a silly question, then a bell went off in my head. FISH LATELY! Now how to narrow it down to the 7 characters maximum. After some thinking I came up with what turned out to be my final choice, FSH L8LY.
After almost a month I finally placed the order sometime around mid April thinking I would get my plate right around my birthday, boy howdy was I wrong. I also went with Lake Tahoe theme plates because they had a lake, mountains and cattails in the background and I figured it looked like a bassy spot. Anyhow, due to budget issues in our wonderful state there were delays in the processing of my plate, which I personally found as strange seeing how it is the prison system that makes our plates. I contacted the DMV and was told it would take at least 5 months, WOW! A little over 5 months passed and I once again contacted the DMV via their 800 number because I had to go into our local office the next day for other reasons and figured I’d take care of it all the same time but I was told that they had no update on the status of my plate.
The following day I arrive at our local DMV office, did I mention in the past that I live in a smaller town? Anyhow, I’m standing in line, which was not that long and its my turn. As I approach the counter, Angie an old friend who works there says that she was just about to call me because my plates had arrived and everyone thought it was great. I immediately took the plates outside, swapped them with my then current ones and surrendered my stock ones back to Angie.
I know this post really does not have anything at all to do with fishing but I just wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed reading it because I enjoyed sharing it. If your ever out in California and see an all black Silverado Extended Cab, black camper shell and the license plate FSH L8LY, oh yeah, it also says Bassnman.com on the rear window, be sure to say “HI.”
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Redline Technical Groups Jimmi Jammer
August 10, 2008
You arrive at the lake in the early morning hours. The anticipation inside you of that first bite is so intense you feel like your going to explode, like a kid at Christmas time, and just cant wait to get on the water. You launch the boat and blast off to your first spot or if your shore bound you park your truck, grab out the gear and hike down to the water.
That first bite comes very quickly with many more to follow and you proceed to have that fishing day everyone dreams of. Everything is perfect, the big fish are cooperating, the weather is beautiful and life is good. Nothing could possibly spoil the day.
You arrive back at the boat ramp and tie up your boat to the dock. The huge smile on your face tells the other fishermen what kind of day you had on the water. You proceed up to your truck, talking to fellow anglers along the way. Upon arrival at where you parked your truck you discover that something indeed has spoiled your day. Some low life has vandalized or even worse, stole your truck. What’s a fisherman to do?
Statistics show that on average, if a car thief has to spend much time trying to steal or vandalize a vehicle they will just find an easier target because they don’t want to draw attention to themselves.
Lets see, short of tying Spike and Rex, your pair of crazy 120 pound Dobermans, to your front and rear bumper’s there is not much we can do to guarantee nothing will happen to your truck.
While most of us have some sort of alarm systems on our trucks if a professional car thief really wants to steal your truck nothing can stop it from happening. While you can get the latest state of the art alarm system if the installation job is sub par then the system can be easily circumvented. Of course if you forget to arm your system then it cant do any good but we wont go there.
Do you realize that the most common tool used in vehicle burglary and theft is a screwdriver? It’s fast, easy and doesn’t attract as much attention as breaking a window. The scum bags have figured out exactly where to jam the screwdriver under the door handle and pop the locking mechanism open. Or they can just pop the lock into the door cavity, reach into the hole and unlock the door.
They’ve also figured out how to pop open the hoods on vehicles to cut the power to alarm systems thereby disabling them. With the hood open they can also steal items from under your hood. If you have HID headlights they are very easily removed as well as other items under your hood and can be sold for good money.
Another item thief’s are stealing are tail gates because they can be very quickly removed and sold for hundreds of dollars. I can promise that if you have to replace your tailgate it will cost you well over $500.00 because you cannot buy just the tailgate from a dealer, you must buy the entire assembly.
Enter the fine folks at Redline Technical Group, Inc. located in Mesa, Arizona makers of the Jimmi’ Jammer. Huh? What is this Jimmi’ Jammer? Its a custom formed steel plate that bolts to the backside of your door handle, preventing thieves from prying into the handle seam or punching the lock cylinder into the door. They also have the Hood Latch Jimmi’ Jammer which is made from sturdy black coated metal that protects the hood release cable, and the Gate Keeper which keeps your tailgate with your truck as well as other truck security items.
Installation of these items is very straight forward and easy with very detailed instructions. No cutting or drilling required. Even the mechanically challenged individual can install them with ease. Here are pictures of the Hood Latch Guard and Gate Keeper installed. I didnt take any pictures of my installation of the Jimmi Jammer but it was very easy.
Redline Technical Groups does have very detailed instructions with pictures online here, http://www.jimmijammer.com/JJ%20Installation.htm that make removing your door panel quick and easy to allow the installation of the Jimmi Jammer.
I highly recommend these products for the extra piece of mind they will give you when your away from your vehicle, be it at the lake, the mall, the movies or even out to dinner. Yes, in a perfect world stuff like this is not needed but there is always someone out there who does not believe in hard work and honesty and has no respect for other peoples property.
All of these items as well as other fine security items are available for several car, truck and van makes and models. For more information on all of these fine products and to check for specific applications go to http://www.jimmijammer.com To order them at the best price go to their online store at http://www.trucksecurity.com/
Like I said before, if a thief really wants your vehicle, sadly there is nothing that can prevent it happening. However if you can make it more difficult to get into your vehicle it just might deter them enough to pass on your stealing your ride.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
New Suspension Upgrade Part 2. Belltech 2/2 Lowering kit.
July 13, 2008
First off, a big Thank you to my sponsor Belltech for providing me with the suspension components to upgrade the ride quality and performance of my suspension, with that lets proceed.
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In my last vehicle upgrade post I replaced my shocks with the new Belltech Street Performance shocks, I did not have all the components for the entire suspension upgrade at the time so I just did the shocks. The Street Performance shocks alone made a noticeable difference in the ride quality and handling characteristics of my truck.
Now for part 2 of my Belltech suspension upgrade. When I inked my sponsorship from Belltech I was asked how low I wanted to go. In the past I had considered lowering my truck but seeing how I go fishing while hauling a bass boat as well as driving down dirt roads I needed the ground clearance when I went off road. While I’m sure I could have gone lower I opted the 2/2 kit to lower my center of gravity a little to improve the handling. The fact that the lower stance looks nice is an added benefit.
For my system I got the Spindles, part number 2508 for the front end and shackles, part 6400 for the rear as well as the Sway Bar set part number 5405. These part number listed are for my 2005 ECSB with the Silverado Performance Package. It is basically a 2wd SS without the SS accents. Also known as the VHO, for the motor which is the Vortec High Output 6.0 LQ9.
For my installation I contacted Guy at AV Sport Truck & Off Road Center in Lancaster CA to arrange the installation. Lancaster is about 90 miles to the south of me and the wife wanted to do some shopping so we decided to make a day out of it.
Here is a picture of my truck sitting in front of his shop prior to the installation of my Belltech 2/2 drop.
The installation is pretty straight forward and the directions that are provided make it very simple so I won’t go into too much detail on the specifics.
Lets start with the front spindles. First of course you must remove the stock spindles. This will include the brake caliper and rotor as well as the hub to 
get to the spindle. The extra bracket you see is the caliper relocation bracket for my Baer Eradispeed Plus 1 braking system.
Here we have a side by side view of the stock spindle and the Belltech 2508 spindle. You can see the difference between the 2.
The only issue we ran into was the splash shield needed to be slightly trimmed, this was not because of the Belltech Spindles, it was due to the caliper relocation bracket’s lower bolt not being able to go in. Not a problem, a dremel with a cut off wheel and about 1 minute and the installation process went on.
Here is a picture of the completed 
spindle install, for those that noticed, yes I installed some stainless steel brake lines while I was at it.
On to the rear shackle install. This process was very simple, swap out the stock shackles with the Belltech ones. If you have a tow hitch removing it makes the removal and install of the shackles much easier.
Here is the stock shackle being removed.
Here is a comparison of the Belltech and stock shackle
About the only thing I suggest you watch for is to be sure to follow the directions as to the shackle install orientation. While it may appear wrong, look like they are backwards, it is not. This was something that Doug, the installer, told me was a common made mistake. Bottom line, put the new shackles in the same way the old shackles were before you removed them. Here we have the Belltech shackle installed.
That’s pretty much it. The total time for install was not quite 2 hours total, then again AV Sport Truck specializes in the type of install so they knew all of the little issues they might encounter along the way. The included install instructions are very well laid out and make the install pretty simple. I believe that if a person were to tackle this job it would probably take maybe 4 hours, as long as they have the correct tools.
Another thing worth mentioning is when you install any new spindles it will alter your front end alignment so be sure to have a front end alignment done as soon as possible to avoid the front end wobble and uneven tire wear.
While I was at it I had my TA Performance Rear End Girdle and ARP Bearing Cap stud kit to help strengthen and cool the rear end. The added benefit of looking great is also a big plus.
Once again, for the observent people out there viewing this picture, this picture was taken before its installation was complete. Thats why the brake line is just kind of hanging there as well as the cover missing 2 bolts.
Where is the write up and pictures of the sway bar’s being installed you may ask. Due to the fact that a certain delivery company did not get them to me in time to have them installed at the same time as the lowering kit, the installation of them will be delayed until sometime in the near future.
Here is an after picture of my truck in pretty close to the same location as my before picture.
On to my impressions. First off, I believe that it does look nicer with its slightly lower stance, not to low for functionality yet still slightly noticeable. Onto performance. Now remember I went out of town for the install. Between the town that I live in and Lancaster there is a short cut road that has some nice tight turns. On the way there I once again put the Belltech Street Performance shocks to the test and they continued to impress me over my 2 year old Edelbrocks. I purposely drove hard into the turns to really evaluate how the suspension felt prior to installing the drop.
Now the ride home after the install. On I-14 the ride was still just as smooth as it was on the way down, which was to be expected. Then we came to the Garlock short cut. Again I drove hard into the curves to see if it felt better and to my surprise it did. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it was like night and day but I honestly did notice less body roll due to the lower center of gravity. Does it now handle better than my Monte Carlo SS? Umm, sorry to say but no it does not. It does however handle fantastic for a full sized extended cab truck with a camper shell.
On a side note, I don’t know if the drop had anything to do with it but I did get better gas mileage coming home than I did going down. Has anyone that has already lowered their truck experienced this? I know I drove just as fast as I did on the way down as well as hard into the corners. I’ll have to post this question on an on line forum I frequent, SilveradoSS.com and see what kind of response I get from the guys there. More than likely it was just a fluke but who knows. I’ll be sure to do a follow up with my findings.
As of this posting I have not hooked up the Champion bass boat to see how the suspension handles it but like I said before in my shock install post, I truly don’t believe there will be any issues. Here again, I’ll post a follow up a little later down the line.
I would highly recommend this suspension upgrade to anyone wanting to improve their performance and ride capabilities of their truck, trust me when I say that you will not be disappointed.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
New Suspension Upgrade Part 1. Belltech Street Performance Shocks.
July 8, 2008
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I recently swapped out my 2 year old Edelbrock IAS shocks with Belltechs new Street Performance shocks. Part numbers for my 2005 Extended cab Short bed with torsion bar front suspension are as follows, for the rear the number was 2212FF and for the front the number was 310400.
I took mine to my friend Matt’s shop, AAS Tuning located in Ridgecrest California, that’s where I live, for installation because I figured it was much easier and quicker to do it on a lift but as it turned out it would have been just as easy to do on the ground with a couple of floor jacks and a creeper.
The installation was very simple and straight forward. For the rear shocks there are just 4 nuts and 
bolts, 13/16 or 21mm that you have to deal with. Remove the nuts and bolts, remove the old shocks and reinstall the Belltech Street Performance shocks. Piece of cake.
The fronts were not quite as quick and easy, but still was no dig deal. By the way, you don’t really have to remove the front wheel to swap out the shocks but it does give you more room to work if you do so the choice is yours. Use a 5/8 open end wrench to hold the bottom of the upper collar so it does not spin and a 17mm deep socket to remove the top nut of the Edelbrocks. On a side note, if you are replacing your stock shocks the top nut will be a 15mm. Bobby at AAS attached the wrench from inside the wheel well and I held it in place as he went in from under the hood with the deep socket with a long extension on an impact wrench so this went very quickly. The bottom nuts and bolts were just like the rear ones were, both a 13/16 or 21mm will work fine.
Installing the Street performance shocks up front was just a reversal of the removal with a couple of exceptions. First off, the new supplied top nut is not a 15mm like the stock nut would have been, it is a 17mm. just like the ones removed from my IAS shocks. Secondly there is a second nut that is used to lock the main nut in place, like I said, nothing tough at all. I read on an online forum where someone said to install the bottom part first and this will automatically cause the shock to compress when you tighten up the top nuts, great advice!
As far as tightening the nuts to the torque specifications go, there is not enough room to get a torque 
wrench in so Bobby just tightened the nut down until the bushing squashed to approximately the same size as the washer then he installed the secondary nut to lock the nuts in place to avoid them backing off.
Total install time was just a little over 30 minutes for all 4 corners. Mind you this was in a shop, with an experienced mechanic with power tools. In my opinion I figure if a person who knows absolutely nothing about suspensions but they had the ability to follow instructions, they could do the complete swap in their drive way with regular hand tools and a floor jack in no longer than 2 hours total. That would include finding the right tools, going to the restroom, answering the phone and helping the wife unload the groceries if she came home while they were in the middle of the install.
On to the important stuff, how do ya like them Mike? If I had to describe in one word how I feel about the Belltech Street Performance shocks that word would have to be NICE. The ride is a little more firm than my Edelbrock IAS were, then again they were over 2 years old so that might not be a really fair comparison. I would however like to believe that seeing how they were just 2 years old they would be at least close to what they were originally but who is to say for sure.
The town that I live in does not really take very good care of their streets, lots of bumps and pretty rough roads. I thought the ride I had previously was not bad but in comparison there is really no comparison. The Street Performance shocks handle the roads very nicely making the ride pretty darn smooth. They take pot holes very well making them less jolting when you cant help but hit them from time to time.
On to how it handles while cornering. I believe this is where the engineers at Belltech did their home 
work. The Street performance shocks excel in this department. I have yet to really put them to the test but I did take a drive, in spite of the high fuel prices, on a semi windy road to try them out and I was very surprised with them. Slow turns at 55 are not any issue at all, very, very little body roll at all. While it is true that I currently have a Hellwig rear sway bar, which by the way I will be swapping out with a Belltech one, I do notice a difference in comparison to the IAS shocks I had on previously.
Does it handle and corner as well as my 2005 Monte Carlo SS? I know, wish full thinking huh? I can however honestly say that for a full sized Extended Cab truck with a camper shell it handles exceptionally well. Allot better than I would have ever imagined a truck could handle. As of this writing I have not yet hooked up the bass boat to see how they handle hauling it but I feel very assured that there will not be any issues.
I highly recommend the Belltech Street Performance shocks to anyone out there that is wanting to upgrade their stock suspension to achieve a smoother ride and much improved handling performance. Not only do these shocks perform fantastic they look great while doing thier job.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
MORE POWER! Magna Charger’s Radix Supercharger.
June 1, 2008
Magna Charger Supercharger Systems is my final answer.
We all have experienced the lack of power and torque from a stock vehicle, especially those of us that haul a tournament ready bass boat. The long steep grades are taxing on our tow vehicles. Constantly down shifting to maintain a decent speed makes the engine work harder as well as the transmission because of the down shifting.
We have all tried the basic power modifications, Cold Air Intake, Cat Back Exhaust and Hand Held Programmers in an attempt to increase horse power and torque as well as gas mileage without having to get into things like heads and camshaft swaps because then we start talking about voiding the vehicle manufactures warranty. Enter the Radix system. 
First off, the Magna Charger Supercharger System is not just a super charger, it is a complete system. The most complete bolt on system available, at least as of the writing of this. Everything from the blower to a replacement K&N drop in Air filter to the CARB approved sticker is included in the system.
The entire system installs in less than 1 day with just a few basic hand tools. The instructions are very detailed along with color pictures making the install pretty much fool proof. Me personally, I choose to have it professionally installed because when it comes to stuff like this, I have the worst luck. If something could go wrong, chances are for me it will.
The fuel system includes new injectors, extruded aluminum fuel rails, factory “push-lock” connectors and fuel regulator adaptor.
Computer programmer re-flashes factory ECU, spark and fuel calibration, transmission shift points, line pressure and torque converter strategies are optimized to manage increased torque, horsepower and mileage. All you do is provide Magna Charger your VIN when you place your order, they download all of the factory settings for your vehicle and any updates directly from your vehicle manufacturer. They then ship you a hand held programmer with all this information which you just plug into your OBD2 port and push a couple buttons to flash your computer. Yes, it’s just that simple.
It comes with a Standard 3-year limited warranty and an optional 3-yr. /36,000 power train warranty is available for a few more dollars. Of course if you modify the system, if you tweak the PCM tune or go to a smaller pulley for more than the 6 PSI of boost, from the configuration it was shipped to you from them, you void the warranty.
I personally did make a couple modifications to the stock configuration but neither voided my warranty. First, I stuck with my Volant Cold Air Intake. I’m not sure if doing this actually gave me any gains but in my opinion it sure does look allot nicer than the stock GM air box.
My next modification was to relocate the Heat Exchanger. The reason behind this mod was 2 fold for me. First off my truck came with the optional transmission cooler. With the stock heat exchanger mounting brackets this would have sandwiched my transmission cooler. While this probably is not an issue at all in most areas of the country, I felt because of my geographical location this could cause some heating issues. For those who don’t know, I live in the middle of the Mojave Desert close to Death Valley California. During the summer months 125 degree days are pretty common so it was just a chance I didn’t want to take.
I called Magna Charger, explained my concerns and was able to purchase a set of the heat exchanger brackets they used on the Joe Gibbs Silverado, which placed the heat exchanger below the bumper. The Gibbs Silverado is no longer in production so these brackets are very limited as of this posting. I would imagine a person could have a metal shop fabricate some custom made brackets if they are no longer available and this was something you wanted to do.
The Magnuson Magna Charger Intercooled Radix system uses Eaton components. Anyone that knows anything about automotive power recognizes the Eaton name. They have been the number 1 company for years when it comes to super chargers as well as performance differentials.
Magnuson is the OEM certified supplier to GM, Ford, Toyota, Cosworth and Lotus so obviously these 
companies have allot of trust in the Magnuson products. I give major props to the customer service at Magnuson. The employees there are beyond exceptional, they are very friendly as well as extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of their products.
The Radix system has been featured in some very respectable nation wide publications, Popular Hot Rodding, Chevy High Performance, Truckin and Super Chevy just to name a few and they all gave the product rave reviews. Legendary engine builder Kenny Duttweiler of Duttweiler Performance also praises the system stating, “Nothing Out Performs Magna Charger On The Street, Just Install It And Forget It”
Radix Intercooled supercharger system adds up to 120 hp/120 ft. lbs. torque, the system is also available in a non Intercooled version but it produces less hp and torque. The low end torque is nothing short of amazing as well as power through out the entire power band. Power and torque on demand makes passing while towing effortless.
The Internal bypass valve virtually eliminates parasitic loss and delivers a proven 30 to 66% increase in real world “under the curve” power. Best of all, it costs less than 1/3 of a horse at 60 mph. Now that my friends is what I consider real efficiency.
Also, the Intercooled Radix System won the SEMA Design Award for the Most. Innovative Product from GM at the Las Vegas SEMA show in 2002 and 2003
On a side note, yes you must run premium fuel, which by the way they provide little stickers that you place on your fuel door to remind you, but I can personally tell you that your truck will run much more effectively and if you drive your truck the same way you did prior to the install you will find that your gas mileage will actually increase. This is due to the fact that your truck won’t have to work nearly as hard to do the same job it used to and with the cost of gas every little bit helps.
Now of course if your like me, as well as allot of other people I know and still have that kid inside you then from time to time you feel the need to go a little fast. Let me make something perfectly clear. I am in NO WAY condoning street racing. It is not only VERY stupid and dangerous but innocent people can get hurt or even worse DIE. I don’t know about you but I know for a fact that there is no way I could live with myself if I took an innocent life because on my stupidity. So please, please for Gods sake, do not get involved in street racing!
If you get lucky and no one gets injured because you do something stupid you can still cause damage to your vehicle and other peoples property if you loose control. Besides the above mentioned drawbacks, STREET RACING IS ILLEGAL and you WILL get into all kinds of legal matters. You could end up in jail as well as loose your vehicle. At the very least you will receive a very hefty fine. Again, it’s just not worth it. What I like to do when I feel the need for speed is go to our local air strip, which from time to time doubles as a drag strip, and lay down a pass or 2 under controlled conditions.
The Radix system has far and away been the best power modification I have made. The ability to effortlessly ascend steep inclines while towing as well as passing that slow moving recreational vehicle is simply amazing! If you can afford this system then by all means get one. I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed with the towing performance increase you will experience.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
[tags]Magnuson Magna Charger,Supercharger, Radix System, Magna Charger’s Radix Supercharger[/tags]
Vehicle Upgrades: Part 3. Give Me A Brake! Baer Brake Upgrade
April 4, 2008
Once again lets talk about some performance issues with the stock configuration of your truck. This time lets examine the braking system.
Back to the cows in the road scenario. This time lets say you round that turn and the cows cover both lanes and your forced to slam on your brakes to avoid running into them. This is where a brake upgrade could save your life because we all know that the stock braking system is kind of lacking when it comes to handling this type of situation.
Enter Baer Brake System.These guys have some awesome products! From their Top of the line AlumaSport Systems to their new Sport-Touring brake pads . All of their products are top rate, high quality stuff. Baer has been very popular in the performance world for years but I have found that they excel for us guys in the outdoor market as well.
Their motto is “Performance You Can See” and let me tell you what, their products not only perform exceptionally but they look great doing it. The following is from their web site. “From the ultimate in complete performance brake systems to OE brake rotor and pad upgrades, Baer has the market covered! Track-tested and road-proven for virtually every type of automotive passion, including yours!”
After doing extensive research I went with Baer’s EradiSpeed system, part number 2301049 for the front of my Chevy. This particular system comes with 15 inch zinc-coated, cross-drilled, slotted rotors that are cast out of quality iron materials for improved performance. These rotors are 3 inches 
larger than the stock 12 inch rotors, more surface equals more stopping power. Also in the package are caliper relocation brackets While I was at it I also installed a set of stainless steel brake lines.
For the rear brakes I decided to stay with the stock drum setup because they work better for towing, according to all the research I did, due to the fact that there is more pad surface in the drum over the disc. I did however upgrade my stock pads.
The installation is very easy and straight forward and can be done with only a few basic hand tools. The total time it took me in my garage was just a little over 2 hours and this included stopping to have a quick bite to eat for lunch.
The instructions included are very well put together so I wont go into too much detail concerning the installation. I placed blocks at the rear wheels to avoid it rolling backwards then of course I jacked the truck’s front end up and placed it on jack stands, removed the wheels and then the calipers. One note of caution here. Do NOT let the calipers hang from the brake lines. Instead, tie them up with some wire or anything strong enough to support their weight. I used some 50 pound Maxima line myself.
It was at this point that I wanted to make my calipers look good so I removed them because I also installed new stainless steel brake hoses. I cleaned the calipers with a wire brush followed by brake cleaner. I taped things off to avoid over spray onto any of the fittings and applied 3 coats of Duplicolor Caliper paint in red.
Next I removed the anchor brackets that hold the caliper’s from the back of the spindle. FYI, the factory bolts have some kind of thread-locking compound on them, so it takes some pressure to crack them loose. I elected to use a breaker bar for more leverage. Make sure to keep the two little caliper sliders that align the brake pads as well as the factory hardware. You will be transferring these pieces to the new parts.
Now the rotor should slide off of the hub. with the exception of the little washers, shown in the instructions. If it is being a little stubborn just smack it with your hands a few times. The reason you don’t use a hammer is because you don’t want to bend any of the parts and chances are that its just some crud that is causing it to stick so it does not take much force.
To make room to install the new brake pads use one of your old brake pads and a C-clamp to retract the pistons back into the caliper. Be sure to tighten it slowly. I removed the master cylinder cap and paid close attention to it, making sure it didnt over flow.
The new 15-inch rotor just slid on the hub, like the factory rotors. Be sure to notice that the Baer rotors are directional, make sure to use the left for the driver side and the right for the passenger side. Baer marks the rotors with stickers as well as stamped arrows to make sure you install them correctly
Attach the caliper sliders on the new parts then install the pads. Once the clips and pads are securely in place, put a little bit of thread lock on the bolts then install the bracket. Use a torque wrench and tighten them to 148 lb-ft. Place the calipers on next and tighten them to 80 lb-ft.
My truck came stock with 20’s, which I switched out to a set of lighter Centerline rims however I still did run into an issue. Because of the large 15 inch rotors and the calipers being re-located further out after putting my wheels on and spinning them my valve stems hit the calipers. There are 2 different ways to fix this issue. 1 is to buy wheel spacers and longer studs or find some shorted valve stems. I elected the stem route. I managed to find some trick metal stems that were short and had a 90 degree angle to them. My Centerlines have the valve stems on the inside of the rim so the 90 degree angle also made it easier to air up my tires.
After installing everything I wanted to see how the upgrade helped. My truck stopped much faster on the very first try, almost 3 feet less distance than before. The more times I tried it the better the stopping distance got. By the 5th time my stopping distance decreased by just under 18 feet from my stock configuration. Which I feel is a considerable amount.
Am I praising Baer Brake Systemjust because they are a sponsor?
No. I can honestly say that even if they were not a sponsor, especially knowing what I know now I would not hesitate to upgrade my stock braking system with the Baer products. I highly recommend anyone doing the same upgrade, especially if you tow a boat. I can promise that you will not be disappointed.
I’ve talked about suspension and braking upgrades as well as some minor performance gains. Next, how to REALLY INCREASE your POWER and TORQUE!
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
[tags]Baer Brakes, Baer Braking System, Braking Systems[/tags]
Vehicle Upgrades: Part 2. Bumping Up The Power
March 21, 2008
Have you ever been driving along, towing your boat and wished you had more power to pass that tractor trailer a little quicker? I’ve already talked about suspension upgrades to improve the stock handling of my truck, now I’ll go into some basic tips on increasing the power on your tow rig.
First off, There is no replacement for displacement. The more cubic inches you have the less your motor will have to work to do the same job, thereby a bigger motor can actually increase your gas mileage, unless of course you’ve got a heavy right foot.
You can make your vehicle run more efficiently by allowing more air flow. The stock intake is very restrictive as well as the exhaust system. There are some very simple modifications you can do to allow better air flow and increase efficiency which in turn will give you more power.
You can also increase the power by either using a hand held computer programmer, an aftermarket chip or getting a custom tuned PCM. This modification alone will give you the best results short of swapping out your heads and camshaft or adding forced induction.
Lets talk about increasing air flow. I’ll begin with the intake. The stock intake is a box type system. You can get the factory high flow drop in filter or there are plenty of after market ones available. If you decide to go with the washable ones that are oiled make sure you follow the directions when servicing them. If you over oil them they can get your MAFS, Mass Air Flow Sensor, dirty and possibly throw a code. You can clean your MAFS but you MUST be very careful because it is a delicate electronic instrument. Do NOT use a brush on it or try and rub it. Just use a spray can of electronic contact cleaner and then make sure its dry before re-installing it. Then if you don’t have a scan tool to reset your code you’ll have to go to a shop that can reset it for you. If you do it yourself be sure that the code thrown was indeed because of the MAFS. There are plenty on online sites that will have the OBD2 codes listed.
On the box itself there is usually an opening on the fender side of the box that allows air to enter from next to the headlight, not the most efficient system. I’ve heard of people cutting up their stock air box’s to free up the flow but I personally did not opt for that.
While there are plenty of after market systems I went with the Volant CAI, Cold Air Intake. While it maybe true that all after market systems produce basically the same results I think the Volant looks the best doing it. Another bonus about the Volant is they placed an opening on the bottom of their box. They also offer a kit that attaches to the bottom of the box and at the other end is a scoop that mounts to your front end. This collects air from in front of your vehicle instead of from under the hood and colder air is denser which in turn makes your motor more efficient, kind of like a RAM air system. Of course this setup only works when the vehicle is in motion, just like the RAM air systems of yester-year.
Next we have the exhaust. While most modern vehicles have big mandrel bent pipe the auto makers place a very restrictive muffler on them. Again, there is a wide selection of systems you can go with. I did allot of research on the various styles, cat back, fake duals, true duals etc. I personally went with just adding an aftermarket muffler and adding a tip to the end for eye appeal. The reason I didn’t go with a cat back system is because like I stated above, my Silverado came with 3 inch mandrel bent pipe so I figured why should I pay for an entire cat back system when with just a free flowing muffler I could get the same results. I went with a Magna Flow muffler and the Magna Flow tip.
Now onto the PCM or the brains of the system. While the hand held programmer and chips have their benefits they also has its draw backs. On the plus side, you can load and unload the programming or tweak it any way you desire. Some of the draw backs of these applications are they are for the most part a basic one tune fits all. Another down side, from my own personal experience is that they are very limited in harnessing the untapped power of your vehicle, unless of course you have a diesel motor. They have made leaps and bounds with those power plants. While the hand held units and chips are an improvement over stock programming it gets better.
Custom tunes. These are just as the name implies a custom tuned computer specific to your VIN, Vehicle Identification Number. With these tunes you provide the tuner with information about your vehicle, any performance modifications, if you’ve changed yore size, etc and what type of tune you want and they do the rest. Trust me, the custom tune will out perform a hand held programmer.
There are of course a couple different options when it comes to custom tunes. You can do a mail order tune or an in person dyno tune. Of course the dyno tune is the best you can get but it is also the most expensive.
I know on my truck with the CAI, Magna Flow muffler and custom tune I picked up 48 HP and 39 ft lbs of torque dyno verified of course, which did make quite a difference towing my boat.
Next time I’ll tell you how you can increase the Horse Power and Torque by leaps and bounds over stock and still retain your factory warranty so be sure to check back soon.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
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