Need recommendation..

[minendrews68]

My son has a 2005 Crew cab Chevrolet Silverado 5.3 2wd, automatic, with 250k miles. The truck is bone stock and he is wanting a little more umph to it. The question is where does he start? If anyone has any ideas were open to suggestions. He's thinking a different cam, maybe headers, full exhaust, and cold air intake. But what else is going to be needed? For example, if he changes cams, would changing lifters and springs be needed? Is there a necessity to change cam bearings etc. When changing the cam I'm thinking changing the oil pump etc. Just need some ideas from people that have done this before.
Thanks for the help..

Carl

[WSSix]

Hi Carl,

If his engine is at 250k miles now, I wouldn't do anything internal. I'd be saving my money for a new engine. The problem is that if you put a new cam in the engine and it doesn't like it, you've lost the engine and the money you spent on the cam. This is money that would be better saved towards the replacement engine.

You can do bolt on parts that don't care if the engine has 250k miles on it. I would focus on these parts. Headers, exhaust, and air intake will help this engine. Do not spend money on a tune. It's not needed at this stage and would be money wasted that could go towards the replacement engine. Find out what rear gear the truck has. You may want to go with a lower gear. 3.73 gears feel good behind a 5.3. I had that in my 01 Sierra.

As for internal work you can do to a 5.3 in general, an LS6 cam works well in the engine. LS6 heads work well, too. You can keep your factory intake with these heads. The oil pump is driven off the crank. You can leave the factory unit in place. You don't need to upgrade lifters typically. A cam as small as the LS6 cam doesn't need upgraded valve springs, but LS6 valve springs are cheap and come in LS6 heads. Do all the supporting/bolt on mods first before going into the engine.

Good luck.

performancetrucks.net is a good resource too.