Power enhancement

[patbarton]

Sometimes I've been disappointed with my Chevy's performance when pulling uphill and want to know more about engine performance enhancement. I've read some comments here about "systems" but they've been pretty general. Tried to search the MOC for info but frankly the forum has a pretty sorry-*** search feature. Beat my head against the desk after a while.

Saw some comments about chipped engines. What do you use to fix a chipped engine? JB Weld? Sorry, I'm tempted to quote Larry the Cable Guy here...

Went to Banks web site and was overwhelmed by all... the... STUFF on that web site. Made me feel even blonder... Stuck my head in the microwave for a few minutes to cool down.

I've requested some performance reports from Banks, but somehow I think it's going to make my head hurt worse.

Can anyone here point me to a resource that would help me understand engine add-ons and give me a sporting chance at selecting the best one for my engine?

[stiles watson]

What you need is a gear head friend who can guide you without breaking your bank. You can spend a lot of money and not get what you want. You also might need to reset your expectations. My new Ford F350 has 400 horsepower and 800 foot pound of torque. It does well in the mountains, but it will slow on steep inclines. I still pass the big tractor/trailer rigs who are crawling up the slope. I did the same to a lesser degree with my old 2002 F250 even after I put a re-programmer on it to increase power and torque.

One issue to be concerned about is "what will chip do to other parts of the drive train." After towing in the mountains with my chipped 2002, the torque converter blew its seal and I had to be towed about 40 miles to the nearest dealer to replace it. Granted I was running it on a higher setting than I should have.

You are wise to try to gather enough information to make an informed decision.

[racerjoe]

you don't say if you have a gas or diesel engine. With gas your limited to what you can do. With a diesel there is quite a few options. You can "chip it" as they say with a programer like a banks kit or a bully dog brand. But,there is a but, they all have different settings the lower ones will add maybe 30 horsepower which should be alright, but when you turn them up to the high end thats when problems could happen. Motors have failed,etc. As I say it could happen because I am sure some have boosted it up and have not had a problem. A friend of ours just finished paying 7000 dollars for repairs to his diesel. So, do your research,talk to people that have them and get opinions. But as I said up front,if you have a gas motor I just did a lot of two finger typeing for nothing :-)

[Bruce.B]

quote:Originally posted by patbarton

...

I've requested some performance reports from Banks, but somehow I think it's going to make my head hurt worse.

Can anyone here point me to a resource that would help me understand engine add-ons and give me a sporting chance at selecting the best one for my engine?

As one blond to another, Google is your friend. At least as far as finding references to all the various options. As far as Banks goes, what I can offer is info for a truck with a diesel engine. If you have a gas engine, ignore the reference below to the diesel particulate filter (DPF)...

If you have warranty left and you add Banks equipment, you'll run into an issue if you need to have repairs done on the engine & drive-line. When they see the modifications they're going to throw up their hands and say they can't work on a modified truck. So something that can be easily removed/replaced may help *if it doesn't generate fault codes*. If the "chip" (the engine control module) has been changed, there's really no way to fool the on-board computer which checks and records anything it sees that isn't what it expects. That info gets recorded in memory as a fault code. Apparently Banks doesn't cause a fault to be generated (at least with a Ford 6.4L diesel). That said...

We went with Banks because it left all our original Ford (and possibly the same for GMC/Chevy or Dodge) electronics untouched. Our Ford diesel already had plenty of torque so adding power wasn't our concern. We were after fuel economy. We were in Benson, AZ at the time I'd finally had enough, so it was an easy drive from there to Azusa, CA and the Banks Eng'g facility to have them install everything. The bottom line is we squeezed out over 15% improvement in fuel consumption. Another 10 years and the system ought to pay for itself.

Warranty and the potential for future inspections on diesel pickups pushed us toward Banks. If our truck had been out of warranty, especially one older than our 2008, I would likely have chosen one of the conversion modules ("chips") and gotten rid of the DPF at the same time. Friends with Cummins/Dodge rigs have had *very* significant improvement in fuel economy. The biggest culprit for high fuel consumption (low mileage) on a diesel is the cleaning cycle for the DPF. In particular a friend from Alaska with a 2006 Dodge who managed about 12.5 mpg from Oregon to Sterling, AK using a route with grades as steep as 8%. Don't recall the brand of 4" stainless exhaust, but he used A&E cold air intake, H&S EGR-delete kit and the H&S Mini/Maxx downloader/tuner with 4 power settings (stock/+60hp/+100hp/+215 HP). Dunno what setting he drives with. His Cummins is the high-output (6.5L?).

Banks claims a small improvement in performance on 6.4L Ford engines using their Babnks RAMAir intake system. But if you replace your GMC/Chevy or Dodge air intake with Banks you should see a larger improvement. Apparently Ford did pretty good with the 6.4L intake so there's less improvement. From what I saw of the charts on the Banks site, the same goes for the Ford exhaust: it's pretty good *after the DPF* and out to the exhaust tip... not much improvement compared to Chevy/GMC or Dodge. So if you had a 6.4L Ford diesel I'd tell you that you should consider just having the intercooler (a big radiator-like thing that cools the air from the turbo before it gets to the intake) and the controller + iQ display installed. Since you have a Chevy, you'd have to talk to Banks about what would give you the best net gain.

And if you have a gas engine, similar mods are available, but my experience with the Ford diesel isn't applicable.

Keep in mind that, once you decide what you want to do, you still have to find someone that can do the work of installing the equipment. Your Chevy dealer is probably out... it's a no-no for them to modify your truck from stock. So you need to find a shop that does this sort of thing. Banks can help finding a dealer and I suspect the other suppliers can help as well.

[patbarton]

Thanks to all, but it looks as though I won't be able to afford any mods until after I get my truck fixed.

See my latest post here.

I can't believe all this has happened in the span of four hours!!!!!!

[racerjoe]

On edit, should have read your signature line better, would have known what engine... DA!!

[patbarton]

Oh, Joe, I changed my sig after your post! So don't feel bad!!!

[noneck]

JMHO, I would not buy after market computer programmer w/o first investing in engine modifications to support the reprogramming. Your 06 Chevy Diesel is a good truck when pulling mountains its best to just stay the coarse in the right lane and where we going anyway...camping is a leisure activity so why not get there leisurely?

[mlh]

Pat be careful with your Chevy, All the power your Allison will take and hold up is about 60 to maybe about 100 HP. After that you will need to beef up your Allison. Your transmission will last near a lifetime stock. I think you have the best stock pulling truck ever built. I'm sure you would like a little extra power down in your neck of the woods. Those mountains are the hardest to pull in that I have ever been in. They are harder to pull in than ours here in western Va and harder than any I have been in in the Rockies.
Lynwood

[SlickWillie]

quote:Originally posted by mlh

Pat be careful with your Chevy, All the power your Allison will take and hold up is about 60 to maybe about 100 HP. After that you will need to beef up your Allison. Your transmission will last near a lifetime stock. I think you have the best stock pulling truck ever built. I'm sure you would like a little extra power down in your neck of the woods. Those mountains are the hardest to pull in that I have ever been in. They are harder to pull in than ours here in western Va and harder than any I have been in in the Rockies.
Lynwood

Agreed. I ran a Diablo Predator for a while on the 04 GMC, and ran the 40 HP tune. I did like the diagnostics and ability to adjust speedo to tire size the Predator offered. They are easy to install, merely plugging into the OBDII port. My son tried an Edge module, but had trouble with the truck stalling. Edge, or the one he had, plugged in under the hood. I'm suspecting the heat got to it. He sent it back, and supposedly they repaired the unit, but it still gave problems. He is now running a Predator, light tune. The high tunes will limp the tranny. One can be had on Ebay for around $100.

[ragdoll]

1st, Thanks for the other info. I have a o3 6.0L ford I'm not one for putting on a lot of extras on a truck because they did a pretty good job with my 2nd engine built by CAT. however after a lot of looking I found 3 things that $ reasonable for what it did. I purchased a DRY A&E air intake about $300 (stock filters are $75 to$100 plus they were hard to replace no more changing stock filters)I had my local muffler shop install a 4 inch stainless pipe and muffler from the Cat back don't go any closer to turbo than the Cat it becomes very noisey $650, and last I purchased a Superchip $300 that has 3 settings Tow Safe tow any weight, 2nd tow rating for 6000 lbs or less, Preformance mode is for high speed no tow anything. I was surprise with the power mpg was only 0ne mpg per gal.but the towing was greatly improved I thought and after buying our Pheaton MH I put it in Performance Mode from MS. to NM. to get the title to our Monty driving at 70 to 75 we got 18mpg for 1100 mi. now that showed me what I did worked. hope this helps after you get your problems solved the rusted fuse box or short there in would be my bet. Good Luck Jack

[Waynem]

Stay stock. Less headaches with everything. Changing the hp can change the torque and the Allison is programed for a specific torque for your engine. My Allison is the 2500 and it is programmed for 340 hP. My engine is the ISB 340 Cummins and can be programmed for 340, 350, or 360 HP but the transmission will not take it at 350 and 360 hp - so I've been told.

When you start making modifications, you may have to dig deep into the pocket book to continue modifications and repairs to bring everything up to snuff.

Here is the hard part. If you feel unsafe with the 2500, or you feel it is not enough power or any other consideration, then it may be time to look for a more powerful "newer" truck. Now that really hits the pocket book.

Most important thing is, staff safe.

[Red939]

I agree with the "stay stock" crowd. You have a good combination of Duramax and Allison...I'd leave it alone.