Hi all, new to the board, just picked up a 2000 escalade with 57K for $17200. I think i did pretty good with the price. Anyways, first thing that bothers me about the truck is the engine. I need to get a couple of more ponies out of her. 255 is stock, i'd like to get close to 300. First thing i would like to do is a different cold air intake system. Seemed like through my net searching the valant is the best. Any opinions. Also, has anyone tried putting a chip upgrade in, and any opinions on that. Thanks for the help buds. I need a little more pull for the 4500lb. baja.

ryan

Welcome to the Forum, and congrats on your new truck. :) There are programmers out there like the Preditor that work well, you can also have your computer reprogrammed by sending it out. I have a Volant intake and I am very happy with it, Vararam also makes a nice unit.

Welcome to the board firecat.

I also have a 2000. I've changed the filter in the stock box to a K&N filter. But that won't add any significant hp. The stock set-up flows reasonably well at lower RPM. Getting a real 50 hp gain will take more than add-ons. I don't think that Peditor makes a programer for the 2000 5.7 engine. There are other programers like Superchips that do. The programers will probably give you 10 to 15 more hp and will require 91 to 93 octane gas. They may also improve the shift points, which gives better acceleration. You Lade should do well pulling 4500 lbs. Probably the weakest part will be the '00 brakes and rear suspension. Add-ons will help the suspension and trailer brakes will make the towing easy for you. But to get 300 honest hp you might want to go to a good speed shop and talk to them about your options. An intake, exhaust system, and a programer can easily cost $1,000. Make sure that you will get some real hp before you start opening your wallet.

do you think the rear will sag on me with 500lbs tongue weight, if so, what r my options there, air bags?

FF

firecat,

Airbags are probably the easiest to put on and can probably have the least affect on ride when the pressure is taken off. 500 lbs is probably manageable unless you have 300 lbs in the back of the Lade, then the rear end gets a little squirrelly. Sudden lane changes become dangerous. I'd try pulling the trailer first and see how comfortable you are with it. The rear tires need to be at 35 to 37 psi (if you still have the stock tires). If the rear end sags too much or the lateral stability isn't there, add the air bags.

I don't want you to think that the Lade isn't capable of pulling a trailer. The suspension isn't set up like a pick-up suspension. Ride quality is the primary goal. That's what makes the Lade so wonderful to drive. But if you want to use it as a work vehicle from time to time, the suspension can use a little help. So the air bags are a good option if you need them. I've hauled 3,000 to 4,000 lbs without doing anything other than making sure that the rear tires were inflated and you almost couldn't tell that you were pulling anything. But hauling 4,500 lbs & up needs a little more caution.

255 hp isnt bad for the truck the navigator has 300 and can pull 8,000lbs. But it has the same ammount of tq that the lade has so i dont know how they got that #?
Anyway, to gain 50hp your going to need two words "bolt ons" I would try the forum gmfullsize.com or other gm full size truck forums. Most off them add headers, X-pipe and catback, that will put you close to 300 fly wheel hp. Prob around 275 at most depending on the header size and what catback is used. I think weind makes an intake for the 5.7 GEN II? Motor thats in the lade. Add a better throttle body, a good tune up would help, If that doesnt make you happy then we can go with heads/cam route but that will require a tune and it may or may not be the most streetable option. Look on sites like Summit and Jeggs and see what they have as well. In my camaro i have a GEN III motor and i use strictly speed shops so i have been out of the loop on the Summit and jeggs for awhile

i'm thinking about just going with the air intake system and/or a different mass air sensor. Any other opinions on these two items. Still thinking about doing the chip as well, but i'd like to stick with the 87 octane with the gas prices lately.

FF

Fircat,

I had a '97 F150 with the 4.6L engine that I wanted a little more hp. I got a Superchips tuner that was programmed for 87 octane. The tuner made a big difference on that engine as it modified the shift points for the tranny. It allowed the engine to rev higher before shiting, which got that engine into its hp range better than the stock shift points. However, the 5.7 isn't an overhead cam engine and develops its torque at lower rpm. So I don't know how much will be gained by modifying the shift points. I run 89 octane in my '00 as it pings with 87 octane. Much of the hp gain from a chip/tuner comes from advancing the timing, which requires the higher octane. So spending $350 on a tuner that only changes the shift points may not help much. Now if you've changed tire sizes, the tuner will correct the speedo and probably help the shifting. No doubt the tuner's shift points will probably make a trip pulling a trailer a little better and that alone is probably worth the expense.

Be careful installing a tuner on the '00. Make sure that the instructions are very clear on how to disable the On-Star system during the install. If you don't the anti-theif system will take over and disable your vehicle. I know, I learned the hard way.

oh boy, maybe i don't want to mess with a chip or programmer. Maybe i'll stick with the cold air intake system. So far, the best one i've seen is from volant. Maybe a cat back system would help, anyone put one on, and which one?

FF

Yeah i would def stay away from a chip. As far as chips go, they are usually meant to help suppliment other mods, such as heads cam, etc to help the Air to fuel ratio stuff like that. Shift points alone wont do anything. I would be worried about buring out the trans to be honest.


This is what i would do:
1) Intake- depends on the application but usually 5-10 hp can be gained here
2) MAF-depending on how restritive the stock one is
3) Exhaust- Catback, always helps dont go with flowmaster they tend to rob hp, go with magnaflow or an SLP exhaust.
3a) Headers, mid length headers should move the cats and just get one with emissions equiped and you should be smog legal.