5.3 performance mods?

tommydouglas · November 28, 2013

Hello. I just joined this site today. I traded my Ford F-150 on a Silverado yesterday. It is a regular cab short box Z71. Sounds like I can pick it up tomorrow. Very excited. I was just wondering about getting some more HP out of the 5.3 without voiding warranty. I had an Airaid cold air intake on my 5.0 and it seemed to help. Quite loud under full throttle tho. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If there is already another thread regarding this I apologize. Seems like a great community here. Thanks in advance.

dgrinnell · November 28, 2013

Autocal with a blackbear tune! No other way! Autocal lets you return it to stock when you take it to the dealer for work. I also have an Airaid tube that seems to let it breath a little better. Congrats and welcome to the GM fam.

MikeNH · November 29, 2013

You are buying the wrong truck if you are looking for more out of the 5.3L before you even take delivery of it. Just get a 6.2L for less than 2k more. Avoid the trade in hit in a few months.

Can't get a 6.2 with the regular cab. And how is looking for go fast stuff any different than someone looking at wheels or lifts before taking delivery?

tommydouglas · November 29, 2013

Can't get a 6.2 with the regular cab. And how is looking for go fast stuff any different than someone looking at wheels or lifts before taking delivery?

This. And if I can get 10 or 15 more HP with an easy bolt on air intake without voiding warranty why not? I like the looks of the regular cab short box and there doesn't seem to be very many around. 6.2 wasn't an option. The 5.3 seemed fine the day I drove it. But more power is always good.

crushNchowda · November 29, 2013

The 5.3 is a direct injected motor- they have much better tuning potential than non DI naturally aspirated motors. That being said, GM has historically underrated and restricted their small blocks via torque mgmt, pulled timing, conservative pig rich stock AF ratio etc.

A cold air intake and ECM/TCM 93 octane tune combined will really wake these trucks up. I would venture 25-40 rwhp added from these very basic mods alone. Add long tube headers and you'll get another 15 or so and the truck will be a different animal.

While the 6.2 is awesome in its own right, The 5.3 has great potential as well and I can't wait to tap into it myself.

TJay74 · November 29, 2013

Also FYI, you CANT tune the new trucks without GM knowing. The new global platform they use now has a flash counter that is turned on from the factory on all of the gas motors. I spoke with HP tuners about this and has already been verified on the Corvette and trucks that the ECM keeps count of flashes and GM will know.

So as the saying goes, got to pay to play. It is a quandary I am in as well, I went with the 6.2 truck but still would like to pep the tune up some but wont so I don't kill the warranty IF something does come up and GM asks for a snap shot of the calibration in the ECM. I plan on adding a CAI kit and a muffler and calling it good.

tommydouglas · November 29, 2013

Oh ok. Good to know. Lots of good tips here. Now if the dealer didn't need 2 days to put the steps on I would be driving it right now.

electricchiken7 · November 29, 2013

Also FYI, you CANT tune the new trucks without GM knowing. The new global platform they use now has a flash counter that is turned on from the factory on all of the gas motors. I spoke with HP tuners about this and has already been verified on the Corvette and trucks that the ECM keeps count of flashes and GM will know.

So as the saying goes, got to pay to play. It is a quandary I am in as well, I went with the 6.2 truck but still would like to pep the tune up some but wont so I don't kill the warranty IF something does come up and GM asks for a snap shot of the calibration in the ECM. I plan on adding a CAI kit and a muffler and calling it good.

Is this only for the 2014s or would my 2013 be included?

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novarox71 · November 30, 2013

I'm sure it won't be long before some genius comes up with a work around and is able to reset the flash counter.

TJay74 · December 1, 2013

If there was a way for a work around I would have thought HP Tuners would have found it years ago, the flash counter has been turned to the ON position on the diesel trucks for years now.

Crooks · December 1, 2013

How much does another pcm cost? Will the older pcm work with the new truck? You know in case yours goes bad.

Stupid triple post. This site works awesome on mobile

TJay74 · December 2, 2013

Cant really change out the ECM and get around it since they have to be flashed. Plus the TCM is located inside of the transmission now.

C25A1guy · December 3, 2013

So far just typical stuff. Intake, exhaust, ECU flash upgrades. I'm debating on sending my truck to Vortech so they can do R&D on it.

Dj0nes · January 4, 2014

This is a great thread! I'm trying to order a cold air intake tonight but not sure which to roll with. Anyone running Airaid? I'll prolly call it quite after that and a exhaust. Last thing that would make sense is voiding one of the best warranty's in the game. Also, does anyone have advise on the high flow cats? And if they're worth it.

Thanks!

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seamonster · January 4, 2014

You are buying the wrong truck if you are looking for more out of the 5.3L before you even take delivery of it. Just get a 6.2L for less than 2k more. Avoid the trade in hit in a few months.

Cant get a 6.2 for less than 2K more----you have to get an LTZ and you have to get the 20 inch wheels which is another 1200 .

I guess technically you can but they make you add on other stuff like the wheels that makes it over 3K and have to get at least a

LTZ