I've had this truck for about 8 months now and have done some minor things to it. It has the stock air cleaner with a K&N filter. New plugs, wires, rotor, and cap. I recently got a new plenum gasket and all new intake gaskets with it too. I'm looking into getting a 52mm throttle body from a friend, and not too sure what else to get. I want to wait on getting a chip for awhile until I get some good engine mods done. What suggestions do you all have? I'm on a budget until the summer when my summer job kicks in.

 

96 is OBDII, so, no chip for you. (and if you are talking about those aftermarket chips that claim 60 horsepower, and 3-8mpg, don't waste you money.) Hemifever is the only aftermarket tuner I am aware of that supports the 96 model year trucks. His tuners are popularly consider the best bang for the buck mod going here.

52mm might be too big...... but, if the price is right....

Aside from that..... Do some more maintenance. Timing chain and gears. Water Pump.

Then,

Harland Sharp 1.7 roller rockers.

Free flowing exhaust and headers.

New O2 sensors.....

Check out some of the other threads of this nature as well. There is a long list of things you can do to increase performance.

 

One thing you could try is to adjust your t.v. cable. It changes the shift points just slightly and it got my truck to rev higher before shifting and pull stronger.

 

I'm also finding that my lower end power has decreased since I bought the truck. It hasn't been a significant amount, but my takeoff's seem like they are bogged down a bit. What could be causing this and how could I fix it?

 

Sounds like a clogged cat.
Pull the front 02 sensor and see if it runs better. If it does, you need a new cat.
Just make sure you have fixed your plenum properly, aka hughes kit.
Then go with a magnaflow hi-flow cat.
Make the truck a little louder too.

Welcome to DF!

 

Well when I bought the truck, the previous owner had it straight piped with the O2 sensors in the pipes. But living in a residential with complaining neighbors, I put a Thrush Welded muffler on it and it gave it a very nice sound. The O2 sensors were bad when I bought the truck, so I replaced them and the codes went away on the truck.

As for the Plenum plate fix, I might do the Hughes down the road. I just cleaned the intake and plate up real good and put all new gaskets around it, and it seems fine to me and my mechanic.

 

Well I got the plenum fixed, along with a new cap and rotor, and it runs a lot better. Still missing some low end power, but it could be in my mind. I'm looking at either 4.10 or 4.56 gears in the next few months, any opinions there?

 

Many. With the 35's, go with 4.56 gears.