hey all, newbie here. I have spent hours searching these forums and alot of them tap dance around what i really need, so i am going to just tell you what i want and see what you think. Have an 08 1500, 5.3 2 wheel drive. 500 miles on it, just bought. looking to spend 500 or less (preferrable) to do the following,

1. most important: increase my fuel economy. i unsterstand that my getting another car would better, but not an option, so i want to get the best out of the truck i have and love. i drive pretty responsible. i have a tonneaucover already.i get about 20 mpg consitently.

2. increase horsepower: along with the fuel economy, a little horsepower never hurts, but i would trade a few of my 315 horse for better gas mileage, since i dont really use all the ponies anyways, yet.

3. dont want a loud truck, i love deep bass sounding vehicles, but i do lot of highway traveling and my wife likes to sleep on trips, but want to get an exhuast.

so here is what i was thinking and questions i have.

gonna get an airraid CAI, 200 bucks on autoanything. little horse increase and MPG i have read.

want a cheap exhaust, dont need namebrand, just somehting to help get rid of the gasses and sound a little deeper than stock, but not loud. dont care about looks all that much, so not sure if single or dual is the way to go with the above discussion in mind.

read alot about $100 chips, some good some bad, havent decided if they are worth it. not sure what a tune is? i think i am over thinking it and it is confussing me.

i read the "free mods" post and im ignorant about wether any of that would void the warranty so im hesitant.

knowing all that, i am pretty mechanically inclined, can do just about anything with my bike and my older truck so im sure i can handle most benign mods. please give me somefellow'rado driver advice.

sorry this is soo long, just need some help and would aprreciate all i can get.

 

If I were you I would get the cold air intake. Dont get any chip they dont do much if anything. Get a tune wait for me is a awesome place to get a tune from. CLICK HERE Ive been there with a friend that got a tune and the guy was real helpful. I think his name was Justin. Anyway its the cheapest that I have even seen and the results were very impressive. They do mail order tunes also. As far as exhaust a cat back is a good start. I like Corsa CLICK THIS. Allot of people go with Flowmaster I got a Magnaflow muffler. But a tune is the best thing you can do.

 

one of the best bang for the buck MPG/HP mods ive seen is using premium gas. even though its more expensive, at least on my truck, i end up saving money due to the better MPG and it makes a little more power

 

I think that you have a very good start. The intake, exhaust, and tune are by far the best mods to do for your money. Other than that I dont really have much to add on what has already been said, so Welcome!!!

 

for one thing. your vehicle will get better gas mileage when it hits about 5 to 10,000 miles.
You have to do the math, when it comes to mods.
If spend 500 bucks and increase you mileage by 1 mile per gallon ( which ain't gonna happen).
See where this is going?
Your better off increasing your tire pressures and driving conservatively.

 

My buddy got 7 highway MPGs just from his 75 dollar tune.

 

WOAH 7?!!! Thats insane!!!

 

Well he did a tune up and a K/N CIA on the same day he got his tune. So I guess it wasnt all his tune.

 

This is what I did to my truck. Good for 20 MPG on average. (25% city 75% highway)

* Air intake TUBE (only)
* K&N airfilter
* Cut some holes in the stock airbox - forward facing
* Descreen the MAF
* Predator Tuner
* 180 degree thermostat
* TB spacer

You can also do:
* Simple cat back exhaust like Maganflow, Flowmaster. Or just buy the muffler you want and take to a muffler shop and have them throw on some duals.
* Nelson or Wheatley Tune


Notes: The stock airbox works better than a standard CAI. Only CAI that better then the stock airbox is Volant. On the exhaust, don't go nuts with pipe diameter. Try to go 2 to 2.25 with duals. Single you can go 2.5 to 3 tops.

 

the airaid intake is 200 on autoanything??? i checked and it said 277?