99 k1500 suburban 5.7 vortec upgrades

[El Tigre]

One can have a decent performance tune with premium fuel ,adjusted shift points ,delayed torque converter lock up. Adjust for tire size ,headers ,cold-air intake. I sure wouldn't delete EGR without a compelling reason like a installed cam with a lot of overlap. Yes,PCM's are easily switched out.

 

[El Tigre]

I don't believe pcmperformance.com accepts customer supplied PCM's anymore.

 

[Supercharged111]

One can have a decent performance tune with premium fuel ,adjusted shift points ,delayed torque converter lock up. Adjust for tire size ,headers ,cold-air intake. I sure wouldn't delete EGR without a compelling reason like a installed cam with a lot of overlap. Yes,PCM's are easily switched out.

How about the fact that it has no bearing on fuel economy and gunks up the intake?

 

[El Tigre]

Suit yourself ,but may want to study up on the many benefits offered by the PCM managed EGR system before ripping it all out because, "Some guy said"....

 

[BB454SUB]

Look into 411 pcm swap you'll benefit in long run

 

[Silverado1994]

I have longtubes in my K1500, tell me more about how they don't fit. Full exhaust and a tune is the extent of the easy stuff and from what I understand, the factory head gasket is pretty thin to begin with. There is obviously a good bit to be gained with a bigger cam if you're willing to go that far. The Volant airbox is the one to get from what I understand.

Which ones are you running ? This would be some good info to know for the future.

 

[Supercharged111]

Suit yourself ,but may want to study up on the many benefits offered by the PCM managed EGR system before ripping it all out because, "Some guy said"....

Nobody told me, those are MY first hand observations. I'm well aware of why the EGR exists and its second hand effects.

Which ones are you running ? This would be some good info to know for the future.

I have Hedman Elites on my K1500. They fit my 4x4 better than my 2wd (long gone).

 

[Silverado1994]

I have Hedman Elites on my K1500. They fit my 4x4 better than my 2wd (long gone).

Now that's interesting that they fit a K truck better than a C truck but am glad it worked out that well for you. Can you remember the part #? I've got a fella here at work that's looking for a set of headers for his 97 K1500. I spent a little time looking for them this morning but I'm at work and can't dedicate just a whole lot of time to searching here.

As a dealer tech I hated working on K trucks just because I worked on powerplant issues. The ones that always kicked my tail were the 6.5 litre diesel oil pans on the K's and they didn't pay for Jack. God I hated those things. lol

 

[Superchargeme]

Has anyone tried to install these on a k series vehicle? https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...rolet/model/k1500-suburban/year/1999#overview

 

[Superchargeme]

This is only my opinion but shorty's will put you where you want to be in regards to mild mods and will work with a 4WD setup. Just make sure they are a true 2.5" outlet. I'm with Erik on keeping the 1.5 ratio rockers and just going with a larger cam. Make sure you don't go above .450 lift or you'll have to machine the valve guide tips for spring retainer to valve seal clearances. I've seen where the use of beehive style valve springs along with different retainers to get around this but it still involves some money. I dunno about the thinner head gaskets and am again with Erik on skipping out on that one. Stock compression ratio for these engines is already at the 9.5:1 ratio. Any thinner than that will definitely put you in the more expensive fuel cost ranges. If you're lookin' for power, you're headed in the right direction with the valvetrain/ cam mods and exhaust. In any case it sounds like you are doing your homework which will all pay off in the end. Stock horsepower for these engines is somewhere around the 225hp range and with these heads 300hp is easily attainable and shouldn't cost you a fortune. Do keep in mind that if this engine hasn't already been rebuilt or replaced that with the mileage you've got you may have to do something there because these mods will increase cylinder pressures on an already worn engine.

I was just wondering about the rockers because I figured it would be an easy 7-10% gain for not much money or effort, and without digging into the engine very far. I figured with a larger cam and the thinner gaskets I could get away with still maintaining lower octane, but definitely could be off in my thinking. I wanted to do the exhaust in a full 2.5 inch, and just figured headers would be a better way to get there, versus what I was guessing would be stepping up in size from the manifolds. If the rockers would be an easy 7-10% when tuned, what are the recommended rockers to run?