01 Chevy Silverado tow vehicle mild build

Picking up where my last thread left off where I was asking questions about these trucks. Figured I'd start a build thread to document mild, low budget mods and maintenance. I typically don't mod vehicles of this nature but this truck is actually kinda fun to drive compared to my 2000 3/4 ton Ford Powerstrokes that I owned previously. The 5.3 LS V8 is a really nice, fun motor - even in truck form.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/questions-about-gmt800-2000-silverados/116692/page1/

Specs: 2001, 170k miles, rear wheel drive, extended cab, short bed, LS
Usage: Tow my Spec Miata and house truck
Pic:

I was rather excited when I bought the truck since it was really clean. It drove well and the front end felt better than the other 3 trucks that I test drove but the brakes felt a bit soft. I later discovered that I overlooked a couple of things...

The first thing I noticed that I overlooked was the rear tires. They are dry rotted and cracking. Apparently, that is a common thing with BFGs. The front tires are in great shape. I thought about getting some matching rear tires but I learned that you could easily swap the GMT900 big front brakes while researching brake jobs. However, you need to use 17" or larger wheels to do the brake swap... Hmmm....

Long story short, I found some OEM 18" wheels with good tires off a 2013 Silverado LTZ on craigslist and brought them home over the weekend. They look like this. I'm not too fond of the chrome but the price was right.

I also noticed that the driver side inner tie rod has play, front shocks are tired and the stock exhaust had a Flowmaster muffler added and dual pipes run but it was done by a local muffler shop so crappy bends and mismatched pipe sizes. I'm not digging the sound either - too much drone on the highway. Looks like I'll be hitting the junk yard for a stock exhaust soon...

That's it for now. Feel free to share maintenance tips. First tow is in late May for the next SCCA race. I'll be using it for Home Depot, Lowes and dump runs til then. :)

Nice find on the wheels.

I have the Dynomax single Ultra Flow Cat Back - 39311 - on my 99 4.8. It sounds good but isn't loud and is easy to install.

Spectre makes a reasonable priced cold air intake that fits nice on these trucks also.

Towing is where you'll notice the intake/exhaust combo help

I had a 2008 with the 5.3 and a single to dual magnaflow. Cost me 100 bucks for the muffler, 200 to have it welded in.

had the grumble of a v8 when you started it up but would settle down. No drone on the highway. woke up the truck just enough for me.

Thanks for the tip on the Dynomax. I had noticed that on Summit Racing. They are the most affordable cat back exhausts. Hoping I can find a cheaper solution via the junkyard. A local dismantler quoted me $120 for an exhaust. Might give that a try and then list the Flowmaster on CL for $120.

For intake, I'll probably just do the Airaid MIT Jr intake tube based on the results in this test: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/145676-bbp-independent-intake-test-results/

Most of this is just talk right now as I don't plan to spend $ on mods just yet. I want to check spark plugs and replace if necessary. Do spark plug wires make a difference on these?

AFter that, I want to change the trans oil and filter and figure out how to get trans temps via the Scangauge I already have. Then rear diff oil.

Multi tasking between yard work and maintenance, I managed to change the oil and spark plugs.

Drove the truck up onto my race ramps and removed the drain plug and oil filter and let the 3,000 mile old Valvoline Max Life that the PO had used drain for a couple of hours while I was cleaning up the yard. Noticed some varnish up in the oil filter attachment thing on the block. Refilled with Pennzoil Platinum 10-30 since this stuff is supposed to have a lot of cleaners and screwed in a new Wix filter. Will do a short run on this oil of 2-3k miles and then probably switch to Castrol 10-30 synthetic.

Still have some ticking when the truck first starts. Need to research that.

Also decided to check the spark plugs since I was dirty and still had some time. Apparently, the PO used Autolites gapped to around .060". The plugs looked like this:

Got some new spark plugs at the laps. Had intended to get the AC Delco Iridiums but somehow wound up taking home Platinums #41-962 that were pre-gapped to .040. Hope that is OK as the OE spec is .060 but the Iridiums are spec'ed to a .040 gap... Anyone have any knowledge on this?

Comparing old and new:

The spark plugs wires looked OK so I left them for now. Are there any improvements to be had in fancy spark plug wires?

Since the next race is rapidly approaching, next projects are going to be:
1. install my Prodigy brake controller from my last tow rig and
2. swap out the crusty, dry-rotted rear tires for the new-to-me used wheels and tires I picked up last week. Will probably bleed the rear brakes while I'm there.
I'm thinking of waiting on the front wheels and tires until I can do the inner tie rod and probably other front end parts.

Any ls based motor ticks like an a sewing machine on cold start up.

Look up piston slap.

LS motor piston slap is the cooing of a cute baby compared to a Subaru engine. Emissions guy kept asking if it was a diesel :)