Adding power/torque to the 5.3 means either adding a supercharger or turbo. Not a cheap thing to do (like $5K for a complete setup). And then you may be setting your trans up for failure without a performance rebuild (another $1-2K). A tuner can only tweak things so far and in the long run you'd probably be breaking something. I have a duramax in my 2005 truck (crew cab, long bed, 4x4). It's one loooong beast. They're a very good engine and I pull my 31' camper with all my family's stuff in it and have no problems. I have a tuner on mine also. With it set on level one, once my truck hits about 48 mph and gets into high gear, the truck almost never shifts down. It just hunkers down and goes, even on fairly steep grades. I get about 12 mpg towing the camper which is about 11000 lbs. loaded down. Overall fuel economy is about 18 mpg combined not towing. Good luck.
never did a 53 kit but the basic system was bolt on in the 57 could do it in a weekend they ran around 2500 3000
I say trade it in before it dies.... Cason makes a good point about either going to a 2500 or a D-max... The problem is that I am guessing you do not want a 6.0 gas gussler, or a diesel for daily driving.
Exactly what I was thinking. Why spend thousands modifiying it when for those same thousands you can trade up to something that will do the job? I'd either do that or find on older truck or Suburban with a 454 just for towing the camper. I had an `88 454/TH400 Suburban that would tow a house up and down hills without breaking a sweat. The downside is it didn't pass many gas stations but if you were only using it for camping, who cares?
My 95 Suburban 350 4x4 hauled my wagon without much trouble. I expect that my 04 Denali XL will do better. While I know that a diesel would be a better tow vehicle I don't like the nasty smell of a deisel. Tim
I pulled my car with my 4.8 chevy in eastern ky many times like I said wasnt a issue. I wouldnt recommend a dmax after owning one. Pulls good but damn does it have a junk front end and brakes in it. If I bought another it be a dodge. ---------- Post added at 11:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:08 AM ---------- Just cant afford another car payment. So I still have it.
Well after many months of crawling craigslist I bought a 2004 F250 XLT 2x4 Crewcab Short bed- was cheap because of a no start issue. I went ahead and did a full clean up on the high pressure system and some other stuff. For those familiar with PSD 6.0L: New oil cooler New oil cooler cover New IPR screen (old broken) New starter New batteries New water pump New HPOP oil rail seals (nipple cup seals) New injector o-rings Injectors disassembled & cleaned Stuff done prior to purchase: EGR delete New Turbo ARP Head studs New Front shocks New upper bushings New complete exhuast Ready for maiden voyage pulling a trailer after all this work. :beers2:
