throttle body spacer

meadowgrn99 · April 27, 2004

doesn any one on here have one of these? im looking for more power out of my truck 5.3 99 xcab 410s 4wd. what are some good low buck mods

my truck is basicaly a tow hog so i need the extra power down low. it tows good but the power dont comone untill 2500.. i will be putting exhaust on it 2.5 y off the cat no muffs. and plan on doing an ecm tune n the future hopefully they will be cheaper then.

what else can i do low buck.. i already kut up the stock intake box and that helped a little bit.

thanks to all

karl

meadowgrn99 · May 16, 2004

well after getting no responce to this question!!!!

i bought a spacer offn ebay for like 36 bucks shipped (complete kit with everything needed to install on my truck) just installed it yesterday it took me about 45 min to install (cause im slow) ease of installation ist great i rate it on a 8 (10 being easiest)) as far as performance goes it did definately wake the engine up more i can definately feel more pull after 2500 rpms and the throttle respoce is better..

a couple of notes my truck is a bone stock 99 silverado 4x4 with 410s and 285/75/16 tires. oh i did open up the air box some (drilled some big holes in it an busted out he front part where the small oval hole is (hehe more air much better )(*&(*&^ gm choking our trucks )

while installing the t body spacer youll also want to bypass the coolant line that runs throu the t body. its really easy to do onece its off ( i just cut the lines bent up a piece of brake line and slipped it in and secured witha couple of worm clamps also just use some channel locks to get the old tbody studs out. and be carefull when puttin the bolts in make sure to run them in and out a couple of time. the go in at a littl bit of an angle not straight!

also youll want to take off the bottom part of air intake the box silencer. i plugged mine with a rattle can paint cap. it will fit with some effort use a little wd40 to help it go in. then tighten the clamp.

your air intake tube will now hit the fan shroud but will not hit the fan as you can position it perfectly. if youwant to get craative you can clearance the fan shroud to fit the intake tube however this is not necessarry..

so to all you new guys out there i would recommend this as a simple yet effective addon for a little more power any fool with a tool can do it

karl

02denali · May 28, 2004

um sorry we lost 1 hp and the dyno with a spacer.

03TRAILEXT · May 28, 2004

Spacers do nothing for a FI car, they only work on CARB cars, this have been proven time and time again

maroonsilverado · May 28, 2004

my dad has a 5.3 with the following:

k&n CAI

3" single flowmaster exhaust

underdrive pulleys

hypertech programmer

and got some bigger plug wires and little stuff like that.

i would say the best single mod you could do is the programmer.....makes a drastic difference.

Perry · May 28, 2004

Spacers do nothing for a FI car, they only work on CARB cars, this have been proven time and time again

Spacers will work on TBI vehicles as well. TBI's are setup like Carbs with the fuel being mixed with air before going into the intake manifold. But on non TBI fuel injected vehicles (MPFI, SEFI, TPI) where fuel is injected into the intake manifold, spacers are pretty much useless.

Whitebowtie · May 29, 2004

I have a Poweraid throttle body spacer. I can't say for sure if there was any change as far as a Dyno is concerned. But, my "seat of the pants dyno" feels a difference from about 2500rpm. I wouldn't say it added very much as far as peak HP goes, but definitely feels more in the midrange.

lotzafun · July 24, 2004

I can say they work if you open the intake side withe K&N airfilter, and open the exhuast up, this will give you the best results. How do I know? Well I believe in raw hard facts. This is what I have done. Before installing my Poweraid TB Spacer I installed a column pod with a Autometer Vacuum gauge. Before the spacer was installed the engine would draw 18 inches of vacuum at idle. After the install of the spacer, the engine now draws 20 inches of vacuum at a much smoother idle I might add. You will not notice much increase in the launch off the line, but midrange to higher rpm I could feel the truck pull harder. So for those that have noticed a difference, you did not imagine it.

PairOJugs · July 27, 2004

my dad has a 5.3 with the following:

k&n CAI

3" single flowmaster exhaust

underdrive pulleys

hypertech programmer

and got some bigger plug wires and little stuff like that.

i would say the best single mod you could do is the programmer.....makes a drastic difference.

i've looked and looked for bigger plug wires for my 5.3.... where did he get them?

SoylentGreen · August 12, 2004

I can say they work if you open the intake side withe K&N airfilter, and open the exhuast up, this will give you the best results. How do I know? Well I believe in raw hard facts. This is what I have done. Before installing my Poweraid TB Spacer I installed a column pod with a Autometer Vacuum gauge. Before the spacer was installed the engine would draw 18 inches of vacuum at idle. After the install of the spacer, the engine now draws 20 inches of vacuum at a much smoother idle I might add. You will not notice much increase in the launch off the line, but midrange to higher rpm I could feel the truck pull harder. So for those that have noticed a difference, you did not imagine it.

Did you have to cut or modify the fan shroud to fit the intake tube? Seems like a tight fit in between there.

MyBigToy · August 12, 2004

You don't absolutely have to notch the shroud but if you don't, it's difficult to get the intake tube on & off the throttle body. I took a small hand saw and notched mine out, it only took a few minutes.

I don't think the spacer gained me a whole lot but I do believe the throttle response is better and the mid-range and up power is a tiny bit better.

Would I do it again? I'd spend the money on a different mod.

lotzafun · August 13, 2004

Soylentgreen........... I did not have to notch my fan shroud but it is a tight fit. The end of the air tube is right up against the fan shroud though. In the future I will be adding electric fans, so that I can put a cold air induction system on my truck. If I was to put one on now, it would take some major hacking on the shroud to get the cold air tube in there. Find one cheap and go for it, that way if you don't like it, you did not spend alot of money. So far I like the response of mine. Hope this helps ya.