what serious upgrade would you do first?

inmypassatlife said:

depending where gas is headed, I am wondering about my 2001 lifted on 33x12.50r20's, your ride looks solid.

Click to expand...

Yeah I get horrible mpg's. I do all in town driving so I rarely get above 50mph and I get about 10-11 mpg

First you need to figure out what your goals for the truck are then you need to figure out a budget. Doesn't matter what you WANT to do, without that $$$ you aint got nuttin homie.

As other folks have said you need some stated goals. For me I enjoy driving long distances and cruising the beautiful mountain roads around me. For that I don't want a lifted truck on bigger heavier tires. I'm happy with stock sizes. I want better fuel economy, a quieter cruise, and better range.

Mine is a NNBS - 2009. It came with the 5.3 and a 6 speed auto that gets me around 20 mpg average per tankful. That serves my purposes nicely. If I had your year I might be looking into how to retrofit something like that. Someone has hinted that the 6.0 or 6.2 might be able to achieve the same kind of economy with more power on tap.

For me, since I have the engine and trans I'm happy with I'm looking to upgrade the stereo so that I can stream audio. It's kinda frustrating that I'd have to wait for the next generation for that with a stock radio. I'll eventually upgrade my head unit to get what I want. It looks like I have to bail on OnStar if I want all the things I want.

A simple but very noticeable upgrade for any older vehicle would be a set of Bilstein shocks. They difference is amazing and it really has a ripple effect on the vehicle. You get fewer rattles, better tire contact with the road for better handling, and better tire wear. Bilsteins really are a cut above the rest. You can convince yourself that some other brand is the same but I bought a beat up 2001 Sierra 2500 HD back in 2005. I put the Bilsteins on it and found a full set of brand new take-off tires and wheels on Ebay from the "Texas Take Off King" that made it drive like new. I sold that truck this past year with those shocks still working quite well.

If I had the doe to throw around I would start with built engine turbo charged with all the bolt on upgrades, CAI, throttle body ect. ect. Then onto full off road exhaust w/ push button open header flanges. Then into a built trans for engine. A set rear gear ratio set to tires then to the suspension w/ a full 6" lift w/ 35/12.5/20 wheels and tires, along with full set of a Wilwood brake kit. Then into the interior, full roll cage, replace interior clothe/leather with Katzkin swade and leather seats. Double din stereo fully loaded. Custom built sub and amp box. After market door speakers with added mids and high range speakers all on separate amp than sub. Then last would be a new paint job prolly a simple two tone at the upper body line and replaced or repair any of the body parts as needed.


You know those are just the basics but you get the point.

02_Tahoe said:

Yeah I get horrible mpg's. I do all in town driving so I rarely get above 50mph and I get about 10-11 mpg

Click to expand...

When I was runnin 35's and stock gears my mpg's were crap! Runnin 37 13.50's with 5.13 gears and I swear it's back to factory mpg's! I absolutely love it!

M1Gunner said:

When I was runnin 35's and stock gears my mpg's were crap! Runnin 37 13.50's with 5.13 gears and I swear it's back to factory mpg's! I absolutely love it!

Click to expand...

I found 4.30s on car Id that I think would be good with 33s. I'm going to try to do it myself this fall

I want to change the tan interior to black but don't want to spend the money...i know some of it can be done myself but still cost $$$.

02_Tahoe said:

I found 4.30s on car Id that I think would be good with 33s. I'm going to try to do it myself this fall

Click to expand...

Yeah you should be plenty good with that set up. It's not a difficult task to do. The hardest part is getting the old bearing off the pinion and differential carrier but all that is is just a lil work with a cuttin and a tap with a chisel. Pops them right off.
Once you do it, you'll be kickin yourself for not doin it sooner! Ha.

M1Gunner said:

Yeah you should be plenty good with that set up. It's not a difficult task to do. The hardest part is getting the old bearing off the pinion and differential carrier but all that is is just a lil work with a cuttin and a tap with a chisel. Pops them right off.
Once you do it, you'll be kickin yourself for not doin it sooner! Ha.

Click to expand...

The only thing stopping me is backlash and pinion depth since special tools are needed and I don't want to buy them for a one time use. Reason I want to wait till the fall is because I graduate from highschool this year and I'm going to a 2 year technical college for diesel technology and I figure the school has the special tools. I'll also be learning more about this stuff obviously so it should be easier for me, and I could get help from my teacher if I need it

02_Tahoe said:

The only thing stopping me is backlash and pinion depth since special tools are needed and I don't want to buy them for a one time use. Reason I want to wait till the fall is because I graduate from highschool this year and I'm going to a 2 year technical college for diesel technology and I figure the school has the special tools. I'll also be learning more about this stuff obviously so it should be easier for me, and I could get help from my teacher if I need it

Click to expand...

Completely understand man. The pinion shims on your stock pinion will be the shims you want to match new shims to. The shims on the pinion are for that specific differential housing not the actual pinion. Example, if we were to swap pinions, the shims that are with my setup have to stay with my setup. I would put my current pinion shims on the pinion I was getting from you. Same with the differential carrier shims. So technically, in theory, you can regear your rear end without a pinion depth gauge or dial indicator but it's good practice to double check and reverify that everything is still within the specs. I hope I wrote that in a way that makes sense.

Hell yeah to becomin a diesel tech!