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10 WHEELS May 23 2008 One would think it was easy to find a General Motors pickup to do a project on. Thats what I thought, but it was harder to find than you think. So, I enticed one of my employees to loan us his truck for the project, promising to only do minor upgrades. Reluctantly, Chris handed over the keys to his daily driver. The truck in question is a 2004 Chevrolet 1500, crew cab, short box. It is equipped with an automatic transmission and a 5.3l engine. The truck is also 4- wheel drive. The purpose of this project will be again to somehow improve on the already great power and possibly improve fuel mileage while doing so. As usual we begin with breathing upgrades. Making anything breath better will always help its perfor- mance. And this truck is no different from any other. Factory air intakes and exhaust systems are designed to keep interior noise levels to an acceptable limit while trying to inhale and exhale at the same time. While these systems seem to do their jobs well, the after-market provides us with many ways to easily improve on them. For Chriss truck we opted for the more simple of air intake upgrades. We chose to use a K&N replace- ment style air filter. The K&N air filter is a direct replacement for the factory filter, making this install very easy and economical. The K&N filter is washable and re-usable and carries a lifetime warranty, so it should be the last filter you ever buy. Now that we have completed the air in, we need to deal with the air out. For this we will have to do some type exhaust upgrade. We were given specific instructions before Chris handed us the keys. If we were to do any exhaust upgrades, the truck must remain quiet inside and out, and nothing too flashy. Little did he know we already had a plan for the exhaust, so we just listened and nodded like his words meant something. Like I said we already had a plan, and that plan once again involved MBRP exhaust. We love to use MBRP exhaust for three main reasons: The fit is always perfect, the 304 stainless steel construction and polished finish is unbeatable and lastly it s Canadian-made. We chose MBRPs cool duals for this truck; this is a cat back exhaust system, meaning that the factory cat- alytic converter stays on the truck, keeping all emis- sions warranties intact. Installing this system is as easy as removing the old and installing the new. The only hard part is position- ing the beautiful dual walled polished, three-inch tips. This is only hard because the owner of this truck was overly picky and wanted them just so. This would not prove true for most people. We also needed to upgrade the power. For this we chose to try something new choosing a Superchips Flashpac tuner. This tuner installs in about 15 min- utes and allows us to change shift points, rev limits and speed limiter as well as allowing for larger tires or changed gear ratios. To install the Flashpac tuner you simply plug into the vehicles diagnostic port and follow the on screen instructions. Once finished, you remove the tuner and youre done. Basically the tuner downloads your facto- ry programming and uploads the performance and mileage programs. So dont throw the tuner away as you may need your factory program one day and its stored on the tuner. Lastly, we decided to change the plugs in the truck as it has approximately 100,000kms on the factory plugs. Although this may seem like a simple upgrade, it is probably one of the easiest and simplest to do wrong. The type of plug you choose and the gap you install them with dictates how well the vehicle will perform. We chose to use NGK iridium spark plugs. NGK have been around for many years and manu- facture many of the spark plugs found in new vehicles today. Not only did we choose an NGK plug but we also chose plugs that were one heat range cooler. In choosing a colder plug we allow the fuel in the cylin- der to burn just that little bit longer resulting in improved power and mileage. This is not a trick, as most of the fuels today contain 6-12per cent methanol and methanol burns faster and hotter, so this results in poor fuel mileage and your check engine light com- ing on for no reason. By installing a colder spark plug, and slowing down the burn you correct for this condition and should see a 3-5 per cent gain in fuel economy. This will only hold true if all other sensors and maintenance items are in good working order. So there, we did it one mild power and perfor- mance upgrade for a GM truck. And we are happy to report that Chris is very happy with his truck. He says that the exhaust is quiet in the cab but has a nice throaty sound when putting the pedal to the metal. He also has noticed that the truck stays in over- drive longer, especially on hills and while towing. As far as fuel mileage is concerned, Chris reports a 3-MPG increase, but admits he has been enjoying the power a little more than he should. So once the novel- ty of the extra power wears off we will give you a report on exactly how good his mileage has gotten. Article supplied by Jason Turner owner, Turner Automotive in Georgetown Improving mileage and power with a few simple steps This newspaper can be recycled