after owning nothing but Mustangs for 4years, i just traded in my 03gt and bought a 2004 white 1500 Z71, ext. cab. i love it but i got a few questions

1. FIRST MODS. whats the first few mods i should do to get a lil more power? Im very familiar with modifing cars so id imagine the usual stuff like intake, exhaust, maybe a programmer? would i be better off going to a dyno and having a flip-chip burned OR just gettin a diablosport predator?

2. TINTING WINDOWS. i want to get the front windows tinted to match the ones on the suicide doors, anyone know what % that is? how much should i "expect" to pay for the front 2?

3. TIRES/LIFT. i want to lift it up like 3-5 inches maybe and put some bigger tires on it, however im kinda on a tight budget... im thinkin body lift and bigger tires like 31s or 33s? idk much abuot truck tires so help me out here

thats all i can think of for now.. thanks

 

As far as tires go, the tires should be 31's already, at least mine are (265/70-17 equate to about 31.5x10x17). You can easily clear a 285 tire (285/75-16 or 285/70-17 - 33x11x16 and 33x11x17) without any modifications or just a few cranks on your torsion bars. Also you can install ford keys and then crank on your torsion bars. Yes the keys that the torsion bars crank into can be replaced by keys from the last body style F-150. I got mine through Ford parts for $50 total. Websites like www.offroadunlimited.com sell a leveling kit for much more than that. All it is is the ford keys and new shocks. I would suggest getting the keys from Ford and finding longer shocks on ebay or something. The reason these keys work is the hex hole is indexed in a different position, thus giving you more room to crank on your t-bars. You might even be able to clear 33x12.5x17 tires with a little rubbing to none at all. I personally am on a limited budget and will soon be doing the same thing to my 05 Z71. I am also adding a Performance Accessories body lift to be able to clear a 305/70-17 which measures about 34x12x17. The keys and body lift together are about $400. This is an inexpensive way to clear bigger tires. I hope this helps.

 

tell me about torsion bars, like i said im new to the 4wd thing.

and can i run 305/70's or is that too big?

 

The new body style 4wd trucks have an independent front suspension and thus do not have coil springs. Instead they have torsion bars. There is an adjuster that can be turned with a socket on the underneath side of your truck. If you crawl under your truck you will probably see them. I would suggest getting on the offroad forum on www.fullsizechevy.com. They have a thread at the top of the forum at all times discussing this issue. You could possibly get 305/70-16's under your truck depending on what wheel backspacing you use. As long as you are ok with the possiblity of trimming on that front air dam a bit, than you should be fine. I would check out the offroad forums on fullsizechevy.com and www.gm-trucks.com. There are tons of threads discussing this issue. I was in the same boat as you three months ago, and now I somewhat know what I'm talking about. Good luck with tricking out your new truck.