Thanks Hammer! I actually looked back at the picture to check for holes though...

 

Very clean looking truck, on my personal thought though, gotta remove the chrome wheel well linings, makes it look like a Pep Boys preffered customer package, other than that, I likes.

 

I was strongly considering doing that, the dealer put those on before I got it. For some reason that dealer does that to ALL their used trucks...I just hope there aren't any scratch marks under them...

 

Isnt it funny that dealerships still think that people love chrome.. Chrome is OUT! Those chrome wheel well skins definitely need to go. Love the truck though. Congrats! What are your plans for it?

As for the 4.7L, big improvements are an intake, exhaust, and a programmer just like any other truck. If you are going to lift it at all or put any bigger tires on the truck then you will need to upgrade the differential gears. Hopefully with your Big Horn package you at least got the 3.92 gear set. I had 3.55's in my old 04 4.7L and they were horrible.

 

I honestly have no idea why they put them on. It wasn't like that when I initially wanted it...but I didn't really have a say in the matter because I didn't know they would do that...same with the pinstripe, but I can live with that. As for CAI I will be investing in a K&N soon but I don't know the difference between the 57, 63, and 77 series. Exhaust was already done for me so that's one thing off the list . As for programmers, I have absolutely no knowledge of how to use one and I don't want to mess anything up and ruin my dealer warranty, I may come around to the idea but for now I have no clue. As for the gears...I have no idea what is in there, all I know is that it is what it is. It seems to run pretty fast though, I love it

 

Yeah that's nice that the exhaust is done for you. A lot of guys don't like the Rustmasters, but that's what I went with because of the sound, and it has to flow better then the stock muffler. As for the intake, the different series' of the K&N usually differ in the materials used for the intake tube. The 57 and 63 are both made with a plastic tube, and the 77 is made with the metal tube. Of course the metal chrome tube looks flashier under the hood, but the metal tube holds the heat from the engine which kind of defeats the purpose of the cold air intake so go with one of the plastic tube intakes.

As for a programmer, they can be very tricky and dangerous if you change a lot of the settings and don't know what you are doing. However, for the average gearhead just about every programmer has what are called "canned tunes" which are tunes created by the company manufacturing the programmer to outperform the stock vehicle tune. These tunes are very easy to use and are not usually dangerous when you follow the directions and run the correct octane fuel in the tank.

Finally, if I recall correctly I have read that trucks which come factory with 20" wheels usually come stock with 3.92 gears. This may or may not be true but you can usually find the gearing stamped either on the passenger side axle tube or on a sticker in the glove box.

 

Are there any major differences between the K&N 57 and 63? I'd like to maybe eventually get the exhaust re-done to true dual with the pipes coming out before the rear wheels, but I don't know...I'm trying to not go crazy with this truck. Also, thanks for the info on the tuners, I'll definitely be doing my research on them. And as for the gears, I'll have to take a look and see what they are, if for nothing else but just having knowledge of what's in this truck.

 

I put the stainless steel wheel well protectors on my truck about six years ago because with my 12.5" wide tires I was kicking up stones, gravel, etc. and it was chipping the edges. It's offered good protection and in my case, the subtle stainless rings match my other stainless and diamond plate. I thought about full flares, but didn't want to deal with the expense of painting color match and black wouldn't do. Every 17 year old kid around me with a truck has it blacked out and I'm not a lemming, LOL.

Flowmaster 40 & 50 series flow at about the same cfm rate as the stock muffler, btw...

 

Yeah I would have opted to go with full flares and paint matched but that's just me. Chrome is fugly IMO which is why I have always bought the sport package to get the PTM bumpers.

Yeah the Flowmaster flows only slightly better than stock but lets face it no muffler is going to give any noticeable gain anyway so just go for the sound that you like.

 

My FM50s droned a good bit in the cab and wanted to do it right from about 1600-2000 rpm, making the interstate a b*tch! Other than the drone, they did sound real good.
The drone, coupled with the fact that the top turned to swiss cheese in less than 3 years really turned me off on them.

I agree with you though that the fact they are just average flow at best is a non-issue for most people. Now you start getting into headers, better Y, CAI, and a ported throttle body like I have and it starts to make a difference. Get into heads and a cam and they'll be a downright detriment...

I'm not big on chrome either and also prefer the color match for the bumpers and grill. I do like my stainless and diamond plate trim and accessories though. Very little care needed and rust is a non-factor...