New guy looking for help with mods

[DaUsedMCR]

i accidentally posted this in the '07 plus section, so im re-posting here. apologies again. here is my original post.

hi everyone. i just got an '01 Tahoe LT. i bought it off my grandfather, and it has 209k miles. he got it when it was new and he has taken excellent care of it and it runs like the day it was bought. all schedules maintenance, always full synthetic oil, the works...

but now, it is in my hands, and im looking to make it a beast. it already has a good deal of power, but it could use some more ive been driving my '94 firebird formula (turbocharged and too many other mods to list) and im used to that power now, so i want the tahoe to be fast as well (and maybe get some better mpg?).

the first thing i was planning was an intake, i like K&N a lot, so itll probably be that. then i like the sound of the Flowmaster Super 44 muffler and id like a custom dual exhaust out the back setup, with headers, which ive read good thing about the Thorley Tri-Y's, so ill probably get those. later, less important, mods would be lowering, sway bars etc. would sway bars be worth it without the car being lowered? if so, any recommended brands? the only one ive seen is Eibach.

Id like to know what people more experienced with Tahoes think, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. On the other hand, its crossed my mind that rebuilding or swapping the engine and transmission first would be for the best, but the car really does drive like new, and everyone whos inspected it say it should last to 300k if maintained, which i believe. thanks everyone!!!! let me know about other brands that work well!

some people asked for pics of my Tahoe and Firebird, so here are those, and i put a couple pics of my girlfriend's Dodge Caliber.








Firebird engine bay


STS system











Caliber engine bay

 

[Vincesrg03]

Nice Hoe, and welcome. Search around and you will find alot of great ideas. Get ready to be addicted to this forum

 

[07Burb]

Never can get too much maroon! As Vince said just look around and you'll get more ideas than the bank account can handle just by seeing what others are diong. If it was mine, though, the first thing I'd do is debadge and demold

 

[2005yukonxl]

For god's sake dont let whoever stuck those ghetto people autozone fake fender vents on the caliber do it to the tahoe. tahoes are too high of class for that. and yank those dam things off teh caliber...it looks like its got some decent mods that don't warrant the " i drive with my seat laid down leaning to the side with seventeen tv's on when im alone rolling on plus 18 size rims going boom boom boom" style.


but the hoe is nice. if its as tight as it sounds lke it is, i'd say keep the motor as is and just drive it. IMO on something with that mileage, its been doing fine for that long, dont break it. once u start forcing more air and fuel into it and driving it accordingly it might decide to start showing its age. let the F body be the fast ride and just improve here and there on the tahoe and go with it. unless u want to do a motor swap of course but thats a whole nother can of worms haha

 

[DaUsedMCR]

its the only autozone stuff we have lol. my girl likes them, so dont be hatin' anyway, i dont really have a heavy foot these days with the gas prices, so id like to do just the intake at least, and later on, some headers and the exhaust just for some extra mpg's, more power when needed, and ithe V8 rumble! nothing more than that unless i decide to rebuild the engine and tranny in the future.

 

[NorCal Nali]

Hotchkis makes some quality sway bar kits!

 

[DaUsedMCR]

i was looking at sway bars as well, but i was concerned about what effects theyll have on the car without it being lowered first... i know it will stiffen the chassis, and create incredibly less body roll, but is it vastly beneficial to handling overall with the car's center of gravity that high? i was looking at the eibach pro kit 3887.880, which comes with springs as well with 3" drop, with which i was looking at the Bilstein HD shocks. i was also wondering about how badly the ride quality will be effected with the lowering springs?

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/...el=Tahoe+2wd+(New)&autoYear=2001&autoModClar=

so that the older shocks wouldnt get worn out even faster, and so i can kill 2 birds with one stone and get the new shocks installed at the same time. i keep hearing that eibach swaybars arent all that great and that hotchkis is much better, but at the same time, hotchkis is much more expensive... ideally, id go with hotchkis, but i dont wanna cause too much harm to my bank account lol

ive been thinking about what 2005yukonxl said about the engine being a bit older, and adding a lot of power might be too ******* it, so i asked my friend's dad, who has been a mechanic his whole life, and has always owned and worked on GM vehicles, and he says that an intake should be ok, and perhaps the header to help the engine breathe a bit easier... and like i said, i drive a bit fast, but i keep the RPMs low, so that i cruise up to speed instead of flooring it around, which i seldom do. cruising on the highway, i keep the RPMs below 2500 and can still do 90 and pass people just fine...

 

[THE YETI]

holy cow, how do u see over that cowl hood!

 

[DaUsedMCR]

holy cow, how do u see over that cowl hood!

im 6'5" lol

 

[sumo]

i was just thinking the same thing lol