may go crazier than thought...rate this setup

[White Whine]

I dont know whats gotten into me, but reality kinda hit when I thought about moving to texas, which has about a 90+% probability of happening within the next two years, and since their smog laws are nothing like those I live with in cali and because LFP is out there in the houston area, I thought what the crap, and I went through their site and made a list of all the stuff I'd do to this truck if I honestly didnt have to worry about smog and had a good shop to do the installations and tuning. heres what I came up with and I'd appreciate any and all critiques or refutes for crappy mods maybe I dont need and bear in mind I dont want to open the block, I wanna run on stock guts so if you think any of this is risky please let me know! I currently have a predator, so thats intentionally off the list, and I'm getting a jlp box and ram air hose soon so intake is off for the moment as well. Here goes:

Stuff I can probably add on my own:
Oil Seperator
NGK TR5 spark plugs
Fuel Filter
160* or 170* thermostat
Clunk Washers
Hotchkis Swaybars
FTVB w/ 4x4 pan

Stuff I’d get installed by LFP:
Ported eaton w/ stripped rotors and matched gaskets
Ported tb or accufab tb
Ported plenum or trueflow plenum
Trueflow inlet
High flow water pump
18” electric fan
Extreme heat exchanger
Pillar pod w/ boost gauge
4# lower
58” traction bars

I think that’s it…thoughts? Yes, this is from the guy who said id just do a port and smaller pulley and tune, whats it to ya? :thumbsup: this truck makes me think bad stuff...

 

[UVa SVT]

LFP doesn't install things. but sounds like a good list... similar to mine!

-Mike

 

[White Whine]

LFP doesn't install things. but sounds like a good list... similar to mine!

-Mike

they emailed me labor quotes... :shrug:

 

[Fade 2 Black]

What year is your truck? If it's 03 or newer don't bother with the water pump, the stock pump on 03-04 have the improved impeller disign. You will want to get a two cat high flow mid pipe and you MUST get a cat back, bassani or magnaflow, you won't regret it for the sounds. Lastly, you need a DRIVE SHAFT LOOP. It never ends, just when you make a list and get everything you realize oh I want that too. Along with your heat exchanger, replace the factory coolant with water wetter, it will lower the temp about 10 degrees.

Almost forgot the most important thing: DYNOTUNE.

 

[SVT F15O]

What year is your truck? If it's 03 or newer don't bother with the water pump, the stock pump on 03-04 have the improved impeller disign. You will want to get a two cat high flow mid pipe and you MUST get a cat back, bassani or magnaflow, you won't regret it for the sounds. Lastly, you need a DRIVE SHAFT LOOP. It never ends, just when you make a list and get everything you realize oh I want that too. Along with your heat exchanger, replace the factory coolant with water wetter, it will lower the temp about 10 degrees.

Almost forgot the most important thing: DYNOTUNE.

Why "MUST" he get a cat-back>??? I ran a 4lb lower to a 12.52 over 2yrs ago on Nittos. Stock cat-back is a nice piece for the average bolt on truck. Sure the sound isn't there..........
-Mat-

 

[DSG03LTNG]

LFP doesn't install, but they use another local shop that deals with alot of Ls, to install there parts!! Thats who Mark is quoting from!!

 

[sharkbite]

Sounds like a good list. You shouldn't have a problem running all that on your stock guts. I say go wild if you move to Tejas. Get headers, mid-pipes, and Bassani BX.

 

[White Whine]

Why "MUST" he get a cat-back>??? I ran a 4lb lower to a 12.52 over 2yrs ago on Nittos. Stock cat-back is a nice piece for the average bolt on truck. Sure the sound isn't there..........
-Mat-

yeah I read the stock exhaust is good up to like 500hp or so, I dont think Id be at that level, so if I got an exhaust itd be for the sound, but thats hella expensive...we'll see, guess I would be spending a lot as it is.

thanks for the water pump info, ill stick to the stocker then since I have an 03.

explain the drive shaft loop? never heard of it.

anyone think the upgraded pl and tb are worth the extra $350 total or should I stick with the port matched tb/pl? I know ive asked about this before, but maybe since I'll be going a little more aggressive itll be a good idea?

what kinda power/times do people run with similar setups? Dyno tuning will most certainly happen!!

 

[Scuba-Matt]

from your List you might consider having a shop install the clunk washers and they can realign the front end afterwards

 

[UVa SVT]

you're gonna look at about 435-440 rwhp and 535-540 rwtq.

I'd say at those power levels the tb and pl are more important. anything less and I'd say "no"

good luck and keep us updated!

-Mike

 

[White Whine]

from your List you might consider having a shop install the clunk washers and they can realign the front end afterwards

good idea, I was actually thinking about doing the washers on my own though...guess ill see. it may be too much to do all at once so I may get a few things here and there and install them myself along the way. we'll see. what gauge besides boost should I get? do I need anything else? do they sell simple boost gauges?

 

[White Whine]

you're gonna look at about 435-440 rwhp and 535-540 rwtq.

I'd say at those power levels the tb and pl are more important. anything less and I'd say "no"

good luck and keep us updated!

-Mike

I was reading the stock pl is pretty damn efficient, maybe ill just port that and get the single blade tb...save me about a hundred.

 

[Fade 2 Black]

At your soon to be power level, the d/s loop is a real good idea. It mounts under the truck right behind the transmission tailshaft, it's a ring or bar that encircles the d/s. In case the d/s breaks at the front, it is contained in the "ring" and won't flail around and damage anything, or worse, plant into the ground and pole vault you and your truck into the air. LFP has them for about 60 bucks.

I would go with the c & l plenum before the elbow, I have the stock rubber elbow with the c and l plenum. When I installed mine I gained about a pound of boost. They are much larger inside than the stock plenum. An extrude honed stock plenum goes for like 300, a c and l is 260 all day long. Once you start it's very hard to keep making power gaines without spending the dough. Just make a plan and follow it, takes time and money. Only LL has a ton of both!

 

[White Whine]

At your soon to be power level, the d/s loop is a real good idea. It mounts under the truck right behind the transmission tailshaft, it's a ring or bar that encircles the d/s. In case the d/s breaks at the front, it is contained in the "ring" and won't flail around and damage anything, or worse, plant into the ground and pole vault you and your truck into the air. LFP has them for about 60 bucks.

I would go with the c & l plenum before the elbow, I have the stock rubber elbow with the c and l plenum. When I installed mine I gained about a pound of boost. They are much larger inside than the stock plenum. An extrude honed stock plenum goes for like 300, a c and l is 260 all day long. Once you start it's very hard to keep making power gaines without spending the dough. Just make a plan and follow it, takes time and money. Only LL has a ton of both!

ok, so maybe a drive shaft loop is a good idea. who sells a c& l plenum? I'm assuming c & l is a brand?

 

[Fade 2 Black]

LFP has it all my friend, call and talk to Mark he is great help. Or go to lfp website, on the bottom of the page click the gen II symbol and you will see a great list of all he has for the Gen 2 L. Yes C & L is the company that makes the plenum and elbow of which I spake.

 

[White Whine]

ok, so c&l and true flow are the same thing? ok, well I originally had that on my list. I have pleanty of time to critique the setup, just wanna get as much info now as I can!

 

[Fade 2 Black]

That's the thing to do, make well informed educated decisions.

 

[LightningFast00]

don't port the throttle body or plenum... won't make enough difference for you...

ported eaton
4# lower
ftvb
clunk washers
fuel filter
tr-6's
170 degree stat
e-fan
pillar with boost guage and fuel pressure
wide band commander
traction bars
hotchkis sway bars
2" drop shackles
Drive shaft loop
tune

That should be a very good starting point

skip the water pump too

 

[dirtchicken]

Do not waste your money on a plenum, throttle body, or heat exchanger. Use it elsewhere.

 

[White Whine]

don't port the throttle body or plenum... won't make enough difference for you...

ported eaton
4# lower
ftvb
clunk washers
fuel filter
tr-6's
170 degree stat
e-fan
pillar with boost guage and fuel pressure
wide band commander
traction bars
hotchkis sway bars
2" drop shackles
Drive shaft loop
tune

That should be a very good starting point

skip the water pump too

ok, i did a little searching and this is why I said 160 or 170* tstat, so now, why 170? most of the reading I did suggested the 160 makes a bigger difference, but some were opposed to it. I really didnt know what to think.

so we go through it again, the tb and plenum really wont matter? ive done a lot of reading to suggest the stock plenum is fine, but that the main restriction comes from the tb. I dunno, I agree though that your list is a good starting point, I just feel like the throttle response isn't all that great on this thing and my previous experiences with tbs would lead me to think adding one would really wake up the right pedal. I forgot about the wideband. also you took off the elbow after the tb, does that not do much either? The truck already has a drop but I dont know what or how much, will the hotchkis' fit fine with a 2" drop? I think the drop is minimal, possibly 2" drop shackles like you suggested, is there any way I can tell?