i want to upgrade my 01 5.3 but i am concerned because it has 152000 miles on it it runs good right now it had a little chatter in the lifters but i cleared up and on a cold start it knocks a little but once it warms up it smooths out i think thats just from carbon deposits i read my year has that problem with the deposits i just dont want to put to much into the motor that it cant handle a new tune, intake manifold and long tube headers. any advice?

 

you should be fine my truck has 250k miles on it and i just started to do upgrades but nothing crazy or way out there

 

if taken care of, these trucks can go. I would be more concerned on how far & often your right foot pushes the skinny pedal towards the floor board.

I'd do external bolt-ons and wait til something fails then use that as an opportunity (or excuse) to upgrade internal engine parts. I think you're on the right track with you're examples. Keep maintenance #1.

 

what type of upgrades were you looking at doing? I have an 03 with the 5.3L and had the same ideas and concerns.

 

i think the first thing i want to do is a new tune then the long tube header and not the shorties because there wouldn't be much of an improvement over the stock exhaust manifolds i have a whole list of things i want to do but one at a time so i can track the progress and if something goes wrong i have a general idea what caused it