giving up my 1993 toyo 4RNR for my neighbors 2005 1500 silverado LS extd cab 4X4, 4.8l motor. He was leasing it thru his company. Pretty basic truck.

So I come from theworld of german cars having spent 7 years tuning the **** out of Audi twin turbo motors and upgraded about everything there is to upgrade on it and now trying my hand at improving the '05 silverado. truck has 73K miles, I have 3 months or 3K mile warranty provided by the leasing company I am buying the truck from. I am shopping right now for rims/tires and so far nothing trips my fancy short of the Pro Comp wheel line, the 8179's are nice and are a steal at 180.00/rim. I don't plan on towing right now but down the road in a yr or two I plan to haul an ATV or two.
What tires do you guys recommend ?
Which rims are suited well for silverado ? Pro Comp ?
List of basic mods I can ? Airbox ? Cold Air Intake ? Exaust ? Chips ?
Would be nice down the road to upgrade to a supercharger, right now cash is king.
looking at going with a topper, I believe it is has the 6.5f bed so need help there as well.
Not looking to do a suspension upgrade just yet, but I hear chevy went back to the rear drum brakes so is there a conversion kit to go to rear disc brakes?
Any known recalls or TSB's for this model and year ?

I know, a lot of newbie questions. I appreciate the help you guys/gals can give me. Looking to do some mods at low expense, 7 years modifying the Audi S4 killed my bank account.

TIA for the help! Norseman.

 

K&N, Airaid, and Volant make nice intakes.... Autoanything has some really good prices on them right now, other than that anywhere has them. Alot of people have benefited from the Airaid system and I notice that Volant intakes have an extra ram intake you can add to it. I has an intake tube that runs downto behind the bumper. There is a list of free mods on the posts if you go back a couple of pages.

 

Tires - I like to check tirerack.com before purchasing tires even though I haven't purchased any in about 6 months. They test every tire they carry.
Topper or tonue?
I'm sure there is a conversion kit even if it's robbing a rear end from an older model. There is a fellow on here who has a lot of knowledge with different suspension/drivetrain knowledge. If he checks this post I'm sure he'll chime in.
Call a local dealership with your VIN. They will tell you about any recalls.
Supercharger? Surely, after the S4, you are familiar with the benefits of a turbo over a belt driven system. Heat is not an issue with STS.

Hope this helps.

 

Not sure what STS is, wild guess is that it is a turbo driven off the exhaust located in the rear of the vehicle or am I way off ?

Tires, leaning toward either the BFG A/T KO or possbily Bridgestone. I see Pro Comp has a nice A/T tire as well.

I called the service dept of my local Chevy dealer, twice and was told by an automated attendant they were too busy. WOW ! I'll keep trying.

Moto Metal seems to have some decent rims, decent price as well.

Rims size I am thinking of is 17X9, tire size I am leaning towards is either a 265/75/17 or a 275/70/17. It's tough to find a decent aftermarket rim in 17X8, almost all of them are sized in a 17X9.

 

Aren't tires for 17's more expensive than 16 or 18?
STS - you are right on the money.

 

I got the BFG all terrains and I love them. They are a smooth ride and last a long time. For me its the best A/T tire out there. They do sale conversion kits for your rear axel, try 4wheelparts.com or call them.

 

I did some checking and as expected, 17's are > in cost vs 16's but < than 18's.

I also like the BFG's, I ran them on my 4RNR and liked them a lot, they aren;t as good in snow per se but slightly less tire pressure should help with that i suppose. I see the Bridgestone Revo looks to be a very tire as well.

Now I am tring to settle on rims, that's always a tough one, very subjective.

As for Mods, what are some of the basic mods one can do, right out of the box that will help. I hear things like trans dapt TB, TB coolant line adapter. Where do I go for more info on cheap DIY mods list ? Again this is for the 2005 4.8l vortec 4800 motor. thanks.

 

You've checked out the "Free Mods List" on this forum I assume.

 

sts makes more than just rearmount turbo kits. the rear mounts just let you keep all of your amenities such as ac and all that good stuff. as far as reliability, a routes style blower is the best way to go. i say go magnacharger.

 

I finally found it. thanks.