Suburban Upgrades

Has anyone tried the basic power upgrades for 2006 1500 4x4 Suburbans? I'm thinking about looking into options like an aftermarket air filter, chip, synthetic oil, cat-back, etc. Fuel economy improvemets (if any) and towing a trailer (~3500-4000 lbs.) with the truck loaded are the primary goals.

If you have have tried some of these, have they been worth it? Did they make a difference? Did you have any problems.

Thanx

Reply to
j
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This will likely lanuch a firery debate but a aftermartket air filter and cat back will not help your towing power the way you want. (a cat back will actually hurt lower RPM power and MPG in town). Air FIlters are more a state of mind than anything because if they really worked that good, they would come that way from factory as they search for HP and MPG. Your Burb likely has a 3.42 axle and on a loaded burb with a

4 k trailer on a hot day with A/C runningit is going to suck towing at times and no exhaust, chip or filter is going to fix that regardless of what anyone tries to tell you. That year had a optional 4.10 axle for towing and switch to that and you will see a big difference in perfomance and towing power and towing MPG as well. (you will think you had a engine transplant) City MPG will likely improve and solo highway MPG will stay about the same or may increase. OD is ,70 so a 4.10 looks like about a 2.8 axle in OD which is pretty tall for that combo (weight, tire and engine size). If you follow GM tow ratings with a 3.42 axle blindly you will be disapointed. A Burb is a heavy vehicle when loaded and add a trailer with 3.42 gears and it will be a slug at times. Also, 4.10 gears will greatly improve OD performance which is pretty sad at times with 3.42 gears. GM uses a higher stall converter with 5.3 and a deeper first gear in the 4L60 to make it feel stronger on takeoff at times than it really is. THis effect is lost once you get up to speed and in drive and a deeper rear axle helps it a lot.

----------------- The SnoMan

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Reply to
SnoMan

I have used the K&N air filter and synthetic oil, gear lube, and transmission fluid and have had noticably better mileage and power from all of them on every vehicle I have had for the last 15 years. The tranny fluid also eliminated the slow shift in the winter. I actually would like to get a chip to soften the cold weather shift! Can't comment on the chip or cat-back. I did a cat-back on only one vehicle and it helped in performance and gas mileage. I haven't blown any other mufflers out so that was the only one.

Mike D.

Reply to
Mike Dobony

The syn oil can help MPG some but the K&N is a waste of money and it can shorten your engine service life in dusty climates because it does filter less. Check out lnk below.

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The SnoMan
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Reply to
SnoMan

synthetic oil, gear lube, and MANUAL transmission only not auto fluid ,will help power and MPG.

Reply to
Dafey

The SnoMan

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Reply to
SnoMan

Then why is it so popular in the dusty, silty Baja race? Why don't they worry about blown engines and loosing the race due to all that engine-destroyign silt entering the engine? Why have I experienced a noticable increase in both mileage and power as soon as I changed over to the K&N on EVERY vehicle I have owned? Why is my Toyota still going strong after 170,000 miles, of which about 140,000 miles were on the K&N?

Reply to
Mike Dobony

For one SPONSORSHIP duh..... It has been well proven by several other independant ISO tests that they do indeed filter less. The only test that ever show or claims them to filter as well or better is one by K&N and I never take a manuafactures word over independant labs. You can believe what you want but there is on one real truth and that is they get a very marginal increase in airflow by reduced filtration but people such as yourself want yo beilve in magic bullets and buy the BS it hook line and sinker.

----------------- The SnoMan

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Reply to
SnoMan

Repeatable increases and noticable/measureable increases in mileage and power is not BS. Your blind condemnation of a proven product is. In case you haven't figured it out yet, many racers in the Baja race are self-supporting. They still run the K&N filter. I found your Bob site quite interesting in it's contradiction. First it said there is not a great reduction in air flow with paper filters and then running 2 filters for the filtration test tremendously reduced performance. So which is it? The filters do not have much restriction or they do.

Reply to
Mike Dobony

you are wasting your breath trying to show them that all the expensive addons are not always effective except in making the supplier richer. old john their eagerness to feel more power overshadows the facts. j

Reply to
<ajeeperman

Even the fact of noticably, measurable, significantly improved gas mileage? That is a fact for every vehicle I have used it on. With gas hitting $3/gal. it is now simple wisdom to put one on my truck. Until now I wasn't putting enough miles on it to justify the cost. I still have the original '99 filter on it and is just now coming to the first recommended filter change. Also, feeling more power IS a fact. Improved acceleration is a fact. Less downshifting is a fact. How do facts overshadow facts?

Reply to
Mike Dobony

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