Where is my torque?

rmart · July 30, 2021

2014 Sierra SLT, CC, std. bed, 4x4 with the 6.2, 6-speed, 3.71 diff, and 34" tires

The engine is supposed to have 420hp and 460ft/lbs of torque but I just don't feel it.

I have the Diablew tune with TM turned off and I know the upsized tires will change the final gear ratio a bit but it just seems to me that I should feel much more of a kick in the pants when I hit the gas. There's at least a 1-2 second delay when flooring it and while the truck runs out strong it just doesn't have the responsiveness or the kick my old 2000 Silverado with the 5.3 had.

Am I the only one? I have to say I'm probably the only one who's underwhelmed with the diablo and diablew tunes, I knew I wasn't going to get a 100hp boost but I expected more. Been running the tunes since probably 2015 so I'm late to the complaint dept. I know, but as the warranty winds down I'm wondering if there are any other mods I can do that will give me a significantly better driving experience. I'm not expecting to beat mustangs or chirp in second gear but I would like more responsiveness. I'm looking for reasonable mods, not $10,000 supercharger addons or anything.

Am I expecting too much?

M1ck3y · July 31, 2021

Take it in for a top engine clean and/or have the valves put through a parts cleaner $$. Your tires are impacting your output, especially if they're LT rated. Mileage can be a factor. Don't use seafoam or any other carbon removal product that isn't approved by gm. Unless you don't care about your cylinder walls.

My truck was a slug compared to when it was new. I made a big enough scene about lifter tick they caved and opened it up. Replaced the bad lifter's, replaced the afm oil manifold. Cleaned everything. Boom, beast was back. Unfortunately this only lasts about a year. I don't have any proof to back this up but winter here just kick's the ****** out of it. I think because it's using so much more fuel carbon buildup skyrocket's.

I have no experience with Lew's tuning. Personally I always got the impression he was a basement tuner. I mean, doesn't he just use diablo intune? I never could understand why so many people get tuning from him, and that I must be missing something..

JimCost2014 · July 31, 2021

I thought my 14 was pretty quick for a full size truck, 6.2 CC short box with 6 speed and 3.42 rear end.

Took off with a lot more "urgency" than the 16 and now my 18 with the same body and engine set up, except these have the 8 speed and 3.23 rear ends. Which acts like an "anchor" off the line to achieve better MPG.

Edited July 31, 2021 by JimCost2014

Grumpy Bear · July 31, 2021

3 hours ago, rmart said:

2014 Sierra SLT, CC, std. bed, 4x4 with the 6.2, 6-speed, 3.71 diff, and 34" tires

That tire weighs more than the OEM WT1 tire and rim weighed together.

4 X that is over 120 lbs. more rotating weight.

Spin a ping pong ball on 17" of rope then try it with 120 lbs.

You will find your missing torque.

diyer2 · July 31, 2021

Nice avatar Grumpy.

Grumpy Bear · July 31, 2021

1 hour ago, diyer2 said:

Nice avatar Grumpy.

Kyra is her name and she's my girl. (shhhhhhhh. Rex isn't around LOL )

Pearl2017 · August 1, 2021

I bet it would wake up if you went to 4.10 gears. If you get the top end cleaned get a catch can to cut down on future buildup. IMO a heavier oil will help especially that motor is heavy loaded with those steamroller wheels. Run a bottle of Gumout PEA every oil change it does help also.

My 17 6.2 max tow is really snappy with just CAI, Soler TB and Borla cat back with AFM disabled.

rmart · August 1, 2021

I didn't think of the wheel weight, I should weigh them just to see what it is. They are factory rims which are already quite substantial but I know the tires are much bigger and heavier than the stock rubber bands it came with.

What is involved in a top end cleaning? I don't know if it's really bad or not, I turned off AFM early on in my ownership and I understand it's the V4-V8 thing that contributes more to gunk buildup than anything else.

I still think there's something else though. The delay in responsiveness is not just sluggishness, it's not sluggish, just not as impressive as I would like. The delay between pressing the pedal and the truck waking up is what bothers me most.

Edited August 1, 2021 by rmart

M1ck3y · August 2, 2021

12 hours ago, rmart said:

I didn't think of the wheel weight, I should weigh them just to see what it is. They are factory rims which are already quite substantial but I know the tires are much bigger and heavier than the stock rubber bands it came with.

What is involved in a top end cleaning? I don't know if it's really bad or not, I turned off AFM early on in my ownership and I understand it's the V4-V8 thing that contributes more to gunk buildup than anything else.

I still think there's something else though. The delay in responsiveness is not just sluggishness, it's not sluggish, just not as impressive as I would like. The delay between pressing the pedal and the truck waking up is what bothers me most.

Factory rims should actually be lighter then aftermarket, unless you buy a wheel labeled as being light weight (like eneki). My 18" wheels are 35lbs, Goodyear duratrac 265/65's are 43lbs. An lt rated 34" of the same tire is at least 60lbs.

Top engine clean depends on the dealership. Some run gm's top engine cleaner (same process as seafoam), some take off the manifold and manually remove the carbon build up with a drill and chemicals. I'm not 100% sure on the ideal conditions for blow by,but I do know that wot is a big contributor. And when you let off the throttle, blow by (excess pressure) gets sucked into the manifold pcv system. I probably got that wrong... But anyways, I know that a gm spokesperson said catch cans weren't needed at all unless you ran a dedicated drag car. So that tell's me wot is the main culprit.

Responsiveness can be addressed in a tune, throttle response controller, or a soler performance throttle body (I hear good things)

https://tiresize.com/tires/BFGoodrich/All-Terrain-TA-KO2-285-65R20.htm

Edited August 2, 2021 by M1ck3y

Grumpy Bear · August 2, 2021

13 hours ago, rmart said:

I didn't think of the wheel weight, I should weigh them just to see what it is. They are factory rims which are already quite substantial but I know the tires are much bigger and heavier than the stock rubber bands it came with.

What is involved in a top end cleaning? I don't know if it's really bad or not, I turned off AFM early on in my ownership and I understand it's the V4-V8 thing that contributes more to gunk buildup than anything else.

I still think there's something else though. The delay in responsiveness is not just sluggishness, it's not sluggish, just not as impressive as I would like. The delay between pressing the pedal and the truck waking up is what bothers me most.

That part can be problematic. I'd like 50 mpg and a 5 second 0 to 60. I'll ask Pepper and see what she says.

To get what you want you have to make decisions that head in that direction.

Adding wheel weight is not in that direction.

Right?

TTT · August 4, 2021

go to to 4:10 gears? 34" inch tires? what? none of that makes any damn sense, my 15 Silverado CC with 33" tires, a 325 and 3:70 gears, Pedal Commander and AFM disabled lights em up all day long driving around, i can barely drive it in the rain in 2wd (i use 4wd auto) because it spins the tires too much trying to pull out into traffic. i have a 2004 Sierra shorty with 6" lift and 35" tires and 3:70 gears and a 325 and it does pretty much the same thing as well with factory rated 300hp, i can get that thing sideways in a half a second, so a 420hp/460ftlb truck, with 3:70 gears, and 34" tires should shred tires all day long without breaking a sweat, and that combo can handle even more tire than that. thats 30 years plus driving 4x4 trucks and off roading talking

" There's at least a 1-2 second delay when flooring it and while the truck runs out strong it just doesn't have the responsiveness" is to me the key here, does your tuner have a pedal/throttle adjustment? i cannot say enough about my

Pedal Commander, its a game changer, basically instant throttle response over the lazy factory setting. if your tuner doesnt support that get a Pedal Commander.

also one simple thing to check is the gas pedal flex issue, i believe some people call it the "paint stick fix", i have seen this issue first hand on several friends trucks, mine has adjustable pedals and had no play/flex at all, but the issue is the gas pedal has play or flex in the mounting plate that prevents the throttle from activating fully without a delay first, people have "fixed" it using a piece of a paint stick under the pedal mount assembly area,

these 2 items alone could very easily account for a huge part of your issue, the pedal flex and the factory pedal response lag is a major contributor to what you describe, you are giving it throttle but its slow to respond,

newdude · August 4, 2021

On 7/30/2021 at 7:29 PM, rmart said:

2014 Sierra SLT, CC, std. bed, 4x4 with the 6.2, 6-speed, 3.71 diff, and 34" tires

The engine is supposed to have 420hp and 460ft/lbs of torque but I just don't feel it.

I have the Diablew tune with TM turned off and I know the upsized tires will change the final gear ratio a bit but it just seems to me that I should feel much more of a kick in the pants when I hit the gas. There's at least a 1-2 second delay when flooring it and while the truck runs out strong it just doesn't have the responsiveness or the kick my old 2000 Silverado with the 5.3 had.

Am I the only one? I have to say I'm probably the only one who's underwhelmed with the diablo and diablew tunes, I knew I wasn't going to get a 100hp boost but I expected more. Been running the tunes since probably 2015 so I'm late to the complaint dept. I know, but as the warranty winds down I'm wondering if there are any other mods I can do that will give me a significantly better driving experience. I'm not expecting to beat mustangs or chirp in second gear but I would like more responsiveness. I'm looking for reasonable mods, not $10,000 supercharger addons or anything.

Am I expecting too much?

I would say expectations are a tad high.

Also...

The 34s and torque management being turned OFF are not gonna help (longetivity/durability on the last part).

I wonder if whoever wrote the tune put protection in on it seeing you wanted TM turned off.

Amcguy1970 · August 4, 2021

Between the tires and it is an NA V8 where the torque peaks at 4100, when you hit the gas off idle or down low you probably have anywhere from 250-300 rwtq pushing you until it starts to rev. These aren't down low torque monster diesels, you need to get it to rev some to get to it fully. Throttle response helps as some have done stuff to help with the throttle lag. Your engine is making the full bald eagles, it just isn't doing it way down low how you want or think it should. Take a look at any dyno graph for these motors and see how the torque responds. Plus the 6 speed isn't helping, it can be a little slow to respond and gearing is more spaced out than the newer 8 and 10 speeds so the gearing is a little behind which the tires compound (both the weight and height)

Tyler