ChevyHighPerformance Posted October 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2004 - Lowering kit from McGaughys I have been in contact with them, but I was concerned when some people were mentioning about "clicks" from the front end after the install. I didn't know the root cause, and I haven't done any more research. - I put Bilsteins on mine but they are generic K series shocks and I couldn't tell that much difference. A comparison between QA1/Edelbrock/Bilsteins would be cool. My guess is that if the suspension is changed - I will only do one suspension and test the change in laterial G's and braking distance. - Lighter wheels - How much do they improve performance over the heavy stock wheels. From part 2: 13.99 sec 95.07 MPH - Radix with 3.3 inch pulley, Flowmaster muffler, stock wheels, stock air box 13.88 sec 96.23 MPH - Radix with 3.3 inch pulley, Flowmaster muffler, Centerline wheels, stock air box We improved by 0.11 seconds and over 1 MPH from Centerline's lighter forged aluminum wheels. - i would love to see a cam change and maybe a rev kit ,but one that idles well and pulls good vacuum. ive read about cam swaps on 5.3 motors good for 100hp that sing to 6800 rpm w\rev kit. the radix might make more horse at higher rpm? If I did a cam it would be coupled with heads as a set. I'd like to max out HP without breaking any "seals" right now. I may have a different opinion in a month or so. - Meizerre(sp?) has an electric wp out for the F-body LS1, and I think that it might work with our trucks as long as you didn't have to run a clutch fan off of it. I have to check into this more (unless some of you have already). For part 4, a study was completed of optimal intercooler pump speed, and we were able to improve the intercooler efficiency (measured by how fast the intake air was cooled) by about a factor of two. My initial though is that an optimal electric water pump study needs done (if the manufacturer hasn't already done one). On a side note: A spoke to Volant (we lost power with their air box in Part 2), and their main design engineer thanked me even though our test results of their air box were not positive. This forced them to re-look at the current design and design a completely new air box that was shown to be an improvement in Part 3. (This box is currently shipping.) Our testing forced VaraRam to do the same. I think in the end - you win by forcing the product manufacturers to stay on their toes. I just thought that was pretty cool, and I have to congratulate Volant and VaraRam for their foresight and open minded approach to improve their product. Keep in mind that our SS is breathing pretty heavy (it has maxed out the g/sec in the PCM) and manufactures design products for a stock to mildly modified vehicle. So, our test results may not be typical of yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted October 13, 2004 Report Share Posted October 13, 2004 Hey Hannibal, Are you asking if the valving or compression or rebound dampening would have to be changed, or are you just getting at installing a shorter lenght shock or installing mount extensions and using the old shocks? My knowledge of suspension is fairly limited, but the above mentioned attributes are based on vehicle weight and suspension travel and ride comfort level. Lowering the vehicle lowers the center of gravity and improves cornering response and general handling, bigger sway bars reduce sway at the expense of suspension articulation, and stiffer springs and shocks will increase responsiveness at the expense of ride comfort. I would think it would be tough to count on a 5600 pound truck to carve corners like a Porsche, but I'm sure it could be done.... but it is bound to ride like a buckboard! The host of Trucks tv show on TNN, Stacey David, is very knowledgable about truck suspensions, you may want to visit that website and shoot a few questions his way. They've done several radical projects, and all worked out very well from what I could see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevyHighPerformance Posted October 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 "The host of Trucks tv show on TNN, Stacey David, is very knowledgable about truck suspensions, you may want to visit that website and shoot a few questions his way. They've done several radical projects, and all worked out very well from what I could see." Stacey made some comments about the performance of the Silverado SS, and I used their web page e-mail to explain to him what we are doing with our magazine truck. I didn't get a reply or even a phone call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellbents10 Posted October 14, 2004 Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 Any sign of traction problems yet? or in the near future? I say QA1's with caltracs. Stay close to stock hieght and only lower to the point were everything is still in complete harmony.i.e driveline angles and such. How about some sway bars and better tires. Tires alone would greatly improve every single dynamic of the truck. Also did i mention I am a nitrous junkie, It makes for a great second intercooler!!! Oh and I think the thought of 05' fans sounds like a winner to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted October 14, 2004 Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 how about some of those fancy electric cutouts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allballz57 Posted October 14, 2004 Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 if you do the electric water pump and 05 fans maybe you should try a little NPG+ to help increase its thermal efficiency. :chillpill:with a cooler engine you might be able to go a little more radical w\tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrow Posted October 14, 2004 Report Share Posted October 14, 2004 I can't stand Stacey on 'Trucks'. He might be able to fabricate stuff and to the wrenching but SHUT THE HELL UP AND JUST DO IT!!!!! They spend 80% going over what they just did or him just talking about how excited he is about the damn trailing arm he's about to install. And finish Cooper head for crying out loud!!! Okay, I'm done venting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 Oklahoma City has that effect on me too! Seriously, they have to communicate with every moron and wanna-be hot rodder girl out there, so it comes off a little geeky sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEAR M UP Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 My suggestions, not necessary in this order..... Electric cut-outs Alky Injection 160 Stat Headers Heads/Cam combo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 i would love to see a cam change and maybe a rev kit ,but one that idles well and pulls good vacuum. ive read about cam swaps on 5.3 motors good for 100hp that sing to 6800 rpm w\rev kit. the radix might make more horse at higher rpm? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If someone told me they got 100hp from just a cam swap, I'd tell them to put the crack pipe down. Just isn't going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 The electric water pump would be cool if you could cover all the aspects of what needs to be modified to get it on. But, I wouldn't do it because it's not worth the 3-5hp you gain, IMO, considering the amount of work necessary to get it in and the cost. Alky-injection could be something worth looking into, or anything else that may lower IATs. Also, JLP makes a supercooler or powercooler that would be interesting to see what it can do. It's basically a box that provides a longer loop for your intercooler lines to run through that can be iced with regular ice, or dry ice. A lot of the Lightning guys use it. They claim a reduction in IATs of up to 45 degrees. that would be a huge power difference for a Radix. All for about $500. This was one of the things I had planned on doing if the Radix was going to work for my 408. It would be better if you had on the spot tuning so you could run a much more aggressive tune with the lowered IATs. A 4 degree timing increase just from lowering IATs, in addition to the power gained from the lowered temps, would be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
styleandspeed Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 i would love to see a cam change and maybe a rev kit ,but one that idles well and pulls good vacuum. ive read about cam swaps on 5.3 motors good for 100hp that sing to 6800 rpm w\rev kit. the radix might make more horse at higher rpm? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If someone told me they got 100hp from just a cam swap, I'd tell them to put the crack pipe down. Just isn't going to happen. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually you just need to look at the RPM that they are gaining 100 hp at. They will NOT gain 100 peak hp, but if you look at hp at 6500 rpm or so with a big cam, vs the stocker it is a different story. I have seen a 80 hp difference on peoples truck without even having that big of a cam at high rpm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 From what I understand the PCM has one "open" output line to control electric fans (please correct me if I am wrong). I'm working on a circuit that will permit the single control line to place the fans on high speed, low speed, or off. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think it's pin 42. Both Bryan and Allen have relay kits to hook up the flex-a-lite fans, so it should be nearly the same type of setup. Your PCM will require an update to tell it that there are fans there. You'll be able to set temps for them to come on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 i would love to see a cam change and maybe a rev kit ,but one that idles well and pulls good vacuum. ive read about cam swaps on 5.3 motors good for 100hp that sing to 6800 rpm w\rev kit. the radix might make more horse at higher rpm? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If someone told me they got 100hp from just a cam swap, I'd tell them to put the crack pipe down. Just isn't going to happen. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually you just need to look at the RPM that they are gaining 100 hp at. They will NOT gain 100 peak hp, but if you look at hp at 6500 rpm or so with a big cam, vs the stocker it is a different story. I have seen a 80 hp difference on peoples truck without even having that big of a cam at high rpm. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hook us up with a link to their dyno sheets. Would love to look at them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevyHighPerformance Posted October 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 From what I understand the PCM has one "open" output line to control electric fans (please correct me if I am wrong). I'm working on a circuit that will permit the single control line to place the fans on high speed, low speed, or off. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think it's pin 42. Both Bryan and Allen have relay kits to hook up the flex-a-lite fans, so it should be nearly the same type of setup. Your PCM will require an update to tell it that there are fans there. You'll be able to set temps for them to come on. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I thought one issue was to be able to operate the fans at a low or a high speed using only one control line (I may be wrong about this). The electric water pump coupled with electric fans and the electric intercooler pump presents a potential neat idea to help reduce heat soak after the engine is turned off. You could possibly run all three to pull out some heat out. The JLP cooler sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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