07 Tahoe performance upgrade

[Burnswil]

Hi all! New to the forum. About to pick up my 07 tahoe with 195,000 miles on it. Got a great price, $23 for title transfer!

I think its got plenty of years left on it, so looking to get a little performance boost. Plan is:

Airaid jr kit (intake tube + oiled filter due to living on a gravel road.

Either a cat back exhaust or long tube headers.

BB autotune.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on the cat back vs LT headers!

Thanks in advance and cant wait for the discussion. I've spent most of the day browsing the forum!

 

[992dr]

Welcome aboard.

My 07 just turned over 200k miles, plenty to go

Cant go wrong with an Airaid Jr. No need to waist money on a cat back, just get an aftermarket muffler.
Check out speed engineering for there line of LT headers. Great guys awesome products and amazing prices.
They have quite the selection to, you may just go with them for a full exhaust

There's a ton you can do. It all depends on your budget.

 

[sumo]

If you live on a dirt road I'd recommend a enclosed intake like volant.

Lt headers are the only way to go. Shorts waste of money

Bb tune is also a must

As far as exhaust, you can replace the muffler and cut out the resonator portion and it will still sound mean. I currently am running this setup and Have no plans on changing it.

 

[Burnswil]

Awesome! Thanks for the replies. I'm definitely going with the AirAid Jr kit as, from what I've read, the stock box is already enclosed and will be fine.

For the exhaust, I would like to keep the noise level down as this may end up my wife's vehicle. I just want to let the engine breath.

Hopefully these two things along with a tune will wake the Tahoe up.

I would like to do a little more but also need to do some interior work

 

[MickeySHOE]

Following....

 

[Jason_S]

An Air Raid or other intake may make better sound. However, on your gravel roads, your engine will thank you for sticking to a paper filter. If you must go aftermarket, a dry filter with foam prefilter will do you much better than those oiled filters.

If you go with an oiled filter, the first time that you service the filter and end up having to clean/replace the MAF, swab the intake tube and clean your throttle body, you will have an idea of how much of that gritty, oily gunk was sucked into your engine. Then, you will understand why a dry filter is being recommended.

I am a fan of sticking with the stock air box, going with an aftermarket tube from the air box to the TB, and going with the aFe dry filter drop-in (AFE31-10).

 

[Burnswil]

Jason,

Thanks for the recommendation! I will go with the Airaid jr kit with the dry filter! I've read mixed reviews on the oiled anyways.

 

[992dr]

Awesome! Thanks for the replies. I'm definitely going with the AirAid Jr kit as, from what I've read, the stock box is already enclosed and will be fine.

For the exhaust, I would like to keep the noise level down as this may end up my wife's vehicle. I just want to let the engine breath.

Hopefully these two things along with a tune will wake the Tahoe up.

I would like to do a little more but also need to do some interior work

Cant go wrong with the airaid, removing that maze of plastic tubing does wonders. Factory box is fine and I believe there is info about modifying it to help with more flow.

Long tubes may not be too bad as long as you keep the factory catted Y pipe. LTs seem to give the best HP gains though

An Air Raid or other intake may make better sound. However, on your gravel roads, your engine will thank you for sticking to a paper filter. If you must go aftermarket, a dry filter with foam prefilter will do you much better than those oiled filters.

If you go with an oiled filter, the first time that you service the filter and end up having to clean/replace the MAF, swab the intake tube and clean your throttle body, you will have an idea of how much of that gritty, oily gunk was sucked into your engine. Then, you will understand why a dry filter is being recommended.

I am a fan of sticking with the stock air box, going with an aftermarket tube from the air box to the TB, and going with the aFe dry filter drop-in (AFE31-10).

Oiled filters have a bad rep because of people who do not prep them correctly.
I have used them for years with zero issues. I also know quite a few people who use them who have had no issues.
Its the jacklegs who get them, oil the sh*t out of them install them and go.
I wouldn't consider one better than the other. Its all what you prefer.

 

[Burnswil]

Cant go wrong with the airaid, removing that maze of plastic tubing does wonders. Factory box is fine and I believe there is info about modifying it to help with more flow.

Long tubes may not be too bad as long as you keep the factory catted Y pipe. LTs seem to give the best HP gains though




Oiled filters have a bad rep because of people who do not prep them correctly.
I have used them for years with zero issues. I also know quite a few people who use them who have had no issues.
Its the jacklegs who get them, oil the sh*t out of them install them and go.
I wouldn't consider one better than the other. Its all what you prefer.

Still trying to decide on the LTs. From what I've seen and my application, LTs may not be worth the money. Just the intake tube and the tune. Talked to a tuner today and he was even skeptical about tuning at such high mileage.

Any thoughs?

 

[dreww2001]

I agree the black oily stuff all in the throttle body and intake manifold is bad. I clean my throttle body and MAF every 3 months, wipe out the intake manifold and air tube from my K&N 57. That being said the Jet throttle body was a great upgrade for me, somewhat noticeable difference in power!

If you go with an oiled filter, the first time that you service the filter and end up having to clean/replace the MAF, swab the intake tube and clean your throttle body, you will have an idea of how much of that gritty, oily gunk was sucked into your engine. Then, you will understand why a dry filter is being recommended.