Well it's finally done. I have my truck back and it runs better than it did. Seems alot smoother for sure! Still not enough power like i want it though, but i guess a truck is a truck. Especially a 5.2l.

The high flow cat and headers i put on definitley made it sound alot better!

The only bad thing is that i have to take it back because there is a ticking noise when i hit the gas around the driver side. We think it's the lifters needing some readjusting or the header gasket but we're leaning more towards the lifters.

It's always something.

 

Header gasket, because "lifters" are not adjustable.

 

More power? 360 time

+1 on Zman's post, most likely is header gasket causing tick.

 

Or maybe some gears to match those 33's if it's geared with 3.55's.

 

^+1 to that.

 

Ah yeah, i forgot them are non adjustable.

But i would like a 360. Maybe when this engine is shot. But it has awhile to go since it's only at 116,700.

I know remflexes are one of the best gaskets to get but whats some other good ones? I wanna get the remflex gaskets but don't have that money right at the moment. I forgot about buying better header gaskets, so he just put the crappy ebay ones that i had in the truck.

And yeah, i still have crappy 3.55s. I plan on going to 4.10s sometime around spring because i want to put 35s under the thing.

 

3.92's or 4.10's work out good with 33's. If you're going to 35's, you'd probably be happier with 4.56 gears. 4.10 with 35's will be a bit on the high side.

 

Personally, I agree. But he wants them for "gas mileage"

Whatever that means.

 

I was mostly teasin sayin swap :-P I wouldnt do 4.10 + 35's again, my truck drove like a dog with that set-up and gas mileage still sucked. Then again my plenum wasnt fixed at that point so i could be biased.

 

Higher gear ratios don't = better mileage. You have to consider the overall gear ratio. Too high of a ratio and you're lugging the engine resulting in increased fuel consumption. Lowering the gear ratio with oversize tires gets the engine back in the power band where it belongs for better performance and fuel mileage.