TBSS Intake Manifold

[homedic3181]

Has anyone taken the plunge and swapped out the stock intake manifold on the 5.3 for the intake manifold off of the Trailblazer SS? If so is it worht the work and what are the gains/losses? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[blueflamed03]

IMHO, for these, the stock 5.3 intake works plenty good, spend the money on gears, converter, etc.

 

[KrautBurner]

IMHO, for these, the stock 5.3 intake works plenty good, spend the money on gears, converter, etc.

+1

or get your intake ported

I had Cory at LS2Portworks http://ls2portworks.com/ do mine on my GTO (he's local for me)

looks like he's got the TBSS manifolds (worked) available

-- The Trailblazer SS Intake mod is a killer. Completely reworked intake plenums with optimized runners combine for gains of 10 - 20 rwhp and rwtq. $405 with return shipping included. Core exchanges available for additional fee.

 

[gringoloco]

truck manifold flows plenty for a stock 5.3, better than an LS1 manifold, not as good as LS2/LS6

 

[Max]

Depending on which throttle body you use 20-40hp gains are quite common on the swap though I've heard the improvement in throttle response alone is worth the effort. Get the basics out the way first but it is definitely a worthwhile mod, check out performancetrucks.net classifieds as there are some smoking deals over there on these manifolds (ported and unported).

 

[hoe]

The bigger tb alone will be significant. Im with MAX on this one. 20-30 hp

 

[andrew383]

The gains of 10-20hp with the ported tbss intakes were on TBSS's not 5.3's..
There are 2 different tbss intakes out there,the early 06's and late 06-09..
The early 06 is the one that produced the most because it was more restrictive than the other years..

This intake mani is dub'd the tbss intake but all 07-newer 4.8-6.0 use this manifold,not just the tbss's..

There was a 6.0 on ptnet that made 15hp/18tq after tuning from just swapping an unported one..

Also its not just swapping the manifold..The 90mm throttle body requires a DR.X throttle body signal conversion harness which runs about $200~ new...
Along with that you still need to do some fab work on a few things to make it all work rite..

Gains of 20-40hp are just not correct...More like 10-20hp

 

[Max]

I think someone with a bolt on 6.0 could pick up 25-40hp with good tuning and a ported tbss mani + aftermarket throttle body, obviously a simple manifold swap won't produce that kind of power though I thought I made that clear in my previous post. With so much misinformation being posted on here about performance parts I'd strongly advise anyone interested to do extensive research before jumping into the mod, pretty good bang for the buck mod tho.

 

[andrew383]

What aftermarket TB do you keep referring to???


Here are a few links to gains that have been seen on the dyno..
lq4 with a few bolton's Runs were done 5 months apart and in 30* cooler weather ..
ls2 with boltons
FAST lsxrt on a stock 5.3 ($1000)

 

[hoe]

What aftermarket TB do you keep referring to???


Here are a few links to gains that have been seen on the dyno..
lq4 with a few bolton's Runs were done 5 months apart and in 30* cooler weather ..
ls2 with boltons
FAST lsxrt on a stock 5.3 ($1000)

That guy Alvin on the TBSS forum with that intake is my tuner, Kelly is his wife. He street tuned my Vortec Max Engine in person and loves it. But yes, those are rear wheel numbers so slightly lower, still 20rwhp equates to about 30 or so higher at the crank and thats estimated. Prob even more lost. Alvin is one of the best tuners IMO http://www.pcmforless.com/

The guy with the LQ4 with TB intake still used the truck 78mm tb and got those numbers, so more power to be made there as well. Also the Fast intake showed huge gains, stock tuning, and 90mm tb not the 102mm.