Plug Wires

05tahoe · April 6, 2007

I went to my dealer & ordered a set of GM performance plug wires last week. They came in, I was thrilled, tried to install them, they were about an inch & a half to short.

I called the dealer & after a long conversation between myself, him, & the GM performance folks, I found out that a 4.8 with a non delphi distributor setup takes a longer wire than normal.

The dealership was great, & took them back for a full refund, but I was still bummed out when I found out that GM doesn't make a set to fit my setup.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a set of low resistance plug wires that will custom fit a 2005 4.8 with non delphi distributor setup?

Factory performance wires list about 300 ohms per foot. Anything in that range or lower is what I'm looking for.

They need to be about 11" long versus 9.5" on a 5.3 with delphi.

I don't want to spend a ton of money, the factory performance wires are only about $65

Indy · April 7, 2007

Honestly, I wouldn't change them yet on a 2 year old truck. What are you hoping to gain? I changed my stock wires after 6 years and 80,000+ miles and did not notice much of a change. I put on Accel high performance wires, I don't remember which ones.

Nytemare · April 7, 2007

MSD or Taylor maybe....

Taylor makes universal kits where you make your own plug wires. they're around 50-100Ohm per foot

MSD is around 60 ohm/ft

There are also some with inline capacitors which are suppose to store a charge and deliver more voltage to the plug, don't know how good they are and don't really want to find out, but if your so inclined....

But pretty much any aftermarket brand that are 8mm or larger wires are good, as long as they have good RF protection and heat shielding.

99Silver6.0 · April 7, 2007

I was given some Granatellis at work. I wouldnt have bought them because they are so expensive. Things ohmed out at an honest 0!!!!!

05tahoe · April 8, 2007

Honestly, I wouldn't change them yet on a 2 year old truck. What are you hoping to gain? I changed my stock wires after 6 years and 80,000+ miles and did not notice much of a change. I put on Accel high performance wires, I don't remember which ones.

Actually, nothing other than it's one of those things that I "Just Gotta Have"

I'll keep looking on line for a set of custom wires, but I'll probably end up cutting a set to length.

Thanks to all of you for the input.

mikystyle · April 9, 2007

Honestly, what do aftermarket wire get you? I can see if maybe you have a different ignition or something. On my truck i have an exhaust an intake and tune, what would aftermarket wires get me? Ive heard of people putting different wires on and after they could hear that annoying alternater noise through thier speakers. Dont mean to hijack the thread, just wondering.

C & A s Dad · April 9, 2007

Paul, I was preparing to replace my plugs and new my 5 year old wires would come apart as I pulled them off. I really wanted some better wires than OE and I wanted RED, just a personal pref. I researched this probably too much. I decided the Taylor 8.2 Powervolts were the way to go. Nothing wrong with the MSD s but when I contacted them via e mail and by tel, they were very vague almost to the point of being rude. The folks at Taylor were super nice and answered all of my questions. Also the Taylors are made right here in the USA.

Did they help? I can only tell you my Yukon XL idles as smooth as warm butter and my Interceptor Scan Gauge indicated that I picked up 9 HP. Of course, the Interceptor is not a Dyno and I cannot say how accurate this test was. Also the day I tested it after installing the Taylors, it was about 20 degrees cooler than my previous run. The cooler air could have made the difference. However, they appear to be excellent quality and they look great under the hood, for what ever that is worth.

Nytemare · April 18, 2007

Changed mine out for MSD's today. I notice it idles smoother too. I will meter them some time soon and see if they were on they're way out or not...and yeah...I wanted red ones too. For 15 bucks more than stock wires you cant go wrong.

I'll give the ECM a tank of fuel to relearn and see what I will get as far as economy goes if any.

Schmids5.3l · April 18, 2007

Paul, I was preparing to replace my plugs and new my 5 year old wires would come apart as I pulled them off. I really wanted some better wires than OE and I wanted RED, just a personal pref. I researched this probably too much. I decided the Taylor 8.2 Powervolts were the way to go. Nothing wrong with the MSD s but when I contacted them via e mail and by tel, they were very vague almost to the point of being rude. The folks at Taylor were super nice and answered all of my questions. Also the Taylors are made right here in the USA.

Did they help? I can only tell you my Yukon XL idles as smooth as warm butter and my Interceptor Scan Gauge indicated that I picked up 9 HP. Of course, the Interceptor is not a Dyno and I cannot say how accurate this test was. Also the day I tested it after installing the Taylors, it was about 20 degrees cooler than my previous run. The cooler air could have made the difference. However, they appear to be excellent quality and they look great under the hood, for what ever that is worth.

Trey, you couldnt help me with the part # or website for those wires could you? Im thinking about some plugs/wires and maybe some other ignition stuff.

C & A s Dad · April 18, 2007

Sam, I bought the wires locally from a friend I have that manages a speed shop. He had both the MSD and Taylors in stock but he highly recommended the Taylors. They were actually cheaper than I could find them online. Taylor does have a good website and if remember correctly it is taylorwires.com but you can google them also.

My 8.2 Powervolts are part # 82205 and are red. I think they were avail in Blue and Black as well. Taylor also offers some other choices but they were either universal or they were really geared more for racing. I was really impressed with the quality and as I said before, they were very nice to me on the tel and answered all my questions.

Our (CARQUEST) wires are supplied to us by Prestolite and they are great quality and we never have any issues with them. If it had not been for me wanting Red wires, I would have used ours.

Schmids5.3l · April 18, 2007

Thanks Trey! I'll look into them asap.

mikystyle · April 19, 2007

So throwing on some aftermarket wires on pretty much a stock motor will help? Any reprecusions like stereo interference?

clm7214 · April 19, 2007

Sam, I bought the wires locally from a friend I have that manages a speed shop. He had both the MSD and Taylors in stock but he highly recommended the Taylors. They were actually cheaper than I could find them online. Taylor does have a good website and if remember correctly it is taylorwires.com but you can google them also.

My 8.2 Powervolts are part # 82205 and are red. I think they were avail in Blue and Black as well. Taylor also offers some other choices but they were either universal or they were really geared more for racing. I was really impressed with the quality and as I said before, they were very nice to me on the tel and answered all my questions.

Our (CARQUEST) wires are supplied to us by Prestolite and they are great quality and we never have any issues with them. If it had not been for me wanting Red wires, I would have used ours.

Ive tried just about every brand at one time or another and Taylor is the only one for me now. It is much higher quality product. They do have model specific kits for the LS base engines. Ive had sets of taylors that came out of engine fires and they still worked perfectly.

Nytemare · April 19, 2007

So throwing on some aftermarket wires on pretty much a stock motor will help? Any reprecusions like stereo interference?

The resistance in most after market wires is lower, so more spark energy gets to the plug. This may increase fuel economy by a couple miles per tank. 8mm+ plug wires have as good or better than stock RF insulation so they wont effect the stereo.

You will however see a big improvement in power and economy if you replace your plugs and wires, and they happen to be at the end of their life, or damaged in some way.

I am a little old school in that plugs and wires cannot last 100K Mi, maybe 20K Mi max I replaced my plugs with 75K Km on them and they were burnt up, they were covered in white powder and were pitting on the electrode. Looked like a too lean condition. Weather it was bad fuel or just the end of they're life who knows, but they were screwed none the less.

C & A s Dad · April 19, 2007

Aiden, I would agree with your 100K theory. Although I changed mine just under 50K and they looked new.

Mike, I cannot swear you will feel the difference and you read about my 9HP gain. This was measured on my Interceptor scan gauge and the temp was about 20 degrees lower on the pass with the hp gain. However, they are super quality wires and they look great. Remember, the Taylor recommendation from me is coming from a guy who works for CARQUEST and we do not even sell Taylor wires. Our wires are great but just are not High Perf wires and are not avail in red for our trucks.