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!
