what parts to get?

[03whitez71]

i am looking to mod my truck a little bit, and i want to put a cam in, and put gears in . what cam should i get and where could i get some good front and rear gears? i have a 03 ext. z71 with the 5.3. and how do i tell what gears i have stock in it at them moment? also would a throttle body spacer make that much difference, i have not got a tune or programmer yet. i also have true flowmaster dual exhaust, i am thinking about going to a single inlet and double outlet magnaflow exhaust. should that help out on some torque since i have 33" tires?. I am also thinking about getting some firestone air bags on the rear, is it gonna matter since i have a 4" rancho lift?

[03whitez71]

anyone help me?

[ecld_07]

Both Nelson performace or Texas speed and performance can get you a cam kit of your choice or grind you a custom cam. they both offer the pushrods and springs of your choice. I am unsure of what gears you have. Be sure to throw a good locker in while you have it apart. Save alot of money and headache down the road. I would guess 3:73s. Check you glove compartment. it will give you a code to tell you what you have. Forget the TB spacer unless is a nitrous plate. Get a tune from NP. dont waste your money on a handheld. Flowmaster is restrictive. Go magnaflow they flow much better.

[Show&Go]

+1
If you opt to get a custom grind cam which I think is a good idea I would seriously let them know you are starting out so unless you PLAN in the near future to run a stall converter they need to know that and that you have a 4x4 so you need a good bit of torque. A custom grind cam will let you pick and choose what your truck does. I seriously wish I would have done this in the first place.

[03whitez71]

ok, i have all the numbers from my glove box, which code is my differential?

[05z71]

Dont bother with the TB spacer, put that money elswhere. Ditch the Flowmaster and get a Magnaflow. Might as well do some headers if you are going to do your esxaust and a cam. Lots of people like the Pacesetters for the price and collector size, but I think its a little too much for a mild 5.3.
the primaries are too big, look to get some Thorley tri-y's or OBX long tubes.

For the rest of the performance crap, talk to Mellissa @ Nelson Performance, they can fix you up with a cam package, info on stalls and whatever else you can afford to stuff in your truck.

[03whitez71]

well i ran into a problem, i am having to go get all 4 of my wisdom teeth cut out, and i don't have insurance and everything is coming out of my pocket, so that is going to dip into my funds, i know i am getting gears, what is the next best thing?

[Sleaper]

A tune is one of the best mods you can do IMO. The next question would be what are your long term goals for the truck? You don't want to put a cam in that's good for an N/A motor and then have to change later when you add a turbo.

[05z71]

IMO, if you can swing a gear swap and get allen to tune the crap out of your truck, do that and then start saving again.

you should see a nice little jump in power with that.

[05z71]

oh and what gears are you thinking of getting, are you ever going to go bigger than 33's.