thinking about a new gear. suggestions?
 

i have a 99 silverado z71 5.3 v8 and im considering getting a 4.10 gear or bigger for it to make it launch. im not worried about fuel mileage im just concerned it may cause damage to the rest of the truck in some way. if it does, what else will i need to do to prevent any damage from occurring? thanks

I don't know more about silverado but first of you must consider you silverado engine horsepower. Normally you need 300 horsepower engine for this..

It "may" cause some problems with your tranny if you punch it a lot, but then it is not good to stomp on any vehicle on a normal basis. But we have all been known to do so time and again I am sure..:D
I think you will be a few horses short of 300 on that year 5.3 motor, but its not light by a whole lot. You may want to get some beefed up U-joints for it, but it should work anyway. I dont remember anymore if that was avilable back then as an option with that motor or not?:confused: I know you have to go to the 6L now to get it, but things have changed a lot over the years.
Good luck to you with your project.

thanks for the info. i have put some extras on the truck recently. programmer, cold air intake, tb spacer, and flowmaster exhaust. definitely a difference in power and acceleration but i want in to really launch when stomp it. i plan on getting headers, heads, and a cam at some point but that cost money which im lacking right now. lol i was thinking about going to a junk yard and pricing differentials from silverado 2500 with 4:10 gears but not sure if they will work on my truck. i dont know much about mechanics so any info i can get would be much appreciated. T.I.A

Goin 4:10 is pretty much normal on 4x4 these days, especially if you are towing. But I gotta ask if you are looking for more power to be fast or you just want it for towing? And dont worry bout the transmission for now what you have done to it so far, the power bolt ons I mean. When you go cam, heads, bigger intake, etc, then you will need a well built tranny. If you can find a used drive shaft out of a HD 2500, they are 5 inch and can take more torque then the 2 piece drive shafts. Now a great bolt on you could do is a step up cam. I found a stock used LS1 cam out of a 2000 T/A and put it in my 01 5.3. Big difference! Especially after I retuned it. It gave me about 35 hp to the wheels. The cam has more lift and duration. It even lopes a little. Now Im gonna try and find a LS6 cam, but I also need stronger valve springs, otherwise the valves will float. Just something you should look into. When I changed my cam out, it only took me bout 3 hours. Very easy, you dont even have to take the lifters out.

thanks a lot ruffneck im definitively going to check into the step up cam and i wanted the gear for acceleration mostly but i do tow heavy trailers sometimes. i pulled a bobcat that weighed 10,000lbs a couple weeks ago and it was all she could handle lol. thank god i got a new tranny last year and new differential 6 months ago. today i descreened and cleaned the maf, bypassed AND cleand the throttle body and i was very impressed with the results. about the same increase in power, response, and acceleration as when i added the superchips flashpaq.

When I decreened my truck when I first got it, it burned up my transmission. That sensor measures air, and that screen is to flow air evenly over the hot wire sensors. If it becomes dirty, it will cause the tranny to shift wierd sometimes. So doing that will run risk of problems, sometimes it won't. I learned mine the hard way. So keep an eye on it. If it starts to run wierd, put it back in and see if gets better(unless you tore it up taking it out lol).

i did tear up the screen when i took it out lol but it is running fine for now and i plan on cleaning the sensor wires regularly. but the day after i did the descreen and tb bypass my vents started blowing REALLY HOT air when i had the dial turned to cold. it did that for an hour and then the next day it started blowing cold air when the dial was on hot and its been like that since. so now i have no heat in my truck and it really sucks when i make the 45 min drive to work in the mornings. lol i un-did the tb bypass hoping it may had been the cause but it still is messed up. any ideas on what the problem could be?