Wild Bill

Hi folks...I'm new to this site/forum.

I live in west central Ohio, and own a completely stock '97 K1500 Suburban with the 5.7 Vortec, and a '89 G20 conversion van.

The burban has right at 153,000 miles on it. We have owned it for a little over 6 years, and have put 54,000 of those miles on the odometer
It gets family transport duties, along with pulling trailers that arehauling building supplies, tractors, scrap metal, etc...and is the 'go to' vehicle for hunting trips, and in the winter.

I always take good care of it...premium tune up parts, filters, Mobil1 oil, etc..and it usually gets about 17mpg average.

It is about time to put new tires and shocks on the 'burban, and I'm also looking at a different air intake/filter set up...possibly start playing with the exhaust too. However, since this truck is a 'family' vehicle, I can't/don't want to, get too radical. It seems like there isn't too many aftermarket parts for the Vortec 350s...

I was wondering what other '97 K1500 Suburban owners have done to their rides, what it cost them, where they got their parts, did it help performance, mpg, etc.

Here is a picture of it with the little trailer, and one of my Cub Cadets at a tractor show this past spring
[IMG]local://upfiles/14412/DE2591680D8846E3A70BF0A60AE7D3BD.jpg[/IMG]


Thanks!

engine2

Welcome to the Forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like your burban has been a great workhorse

Wild Bill

Thanks for the Welcome [sm=smiley20.gif]

Yes sir, that has Suburban has worked hard...of course it has 'had it's moments'.....water pump, alternator, and intake gaskets.....but, we have gotten a lot of use out of it too!

And, it sure is a sweet ride [sm=smiley16.gif]

Gryphon

Nice ride! Looks just like my '99!
We just got ours a couple months ago, and we love it. Ours is a retired fleet rig with about 95k miles on it.

As far as mods, my research shows intakes and exhausts to be the first step. I'm planing on an Airaid or AEM intake soon. I like K&N filters, but the AEM filter is rated slightly beter for filtration, and it gets REALY dusty down here in SE Arizona.

A cat-back system would be next, a good mandrel-bent dual tube is my first choice, but they seem really hard to find..I've only found one, but Gibson. Banks makes a nice single-tube cat-back I may try...I like and trust the Banks name.

With these two simple upgrades, most of the power programmers I have looked at suggest a stage 2 programmer for a modified vehicle. The ECU handles a lot of the engine management, like valve timing and such, so that really streamlines the 'rodding process.

Like I stated, this is all based on research. My 5700 Vortec is stock for now...until tax time! Then I'll have first-hand info on at least the intake. Tho the K&N system I had on my old Toyota 4Runer made a lot of noticable difference in both power and economy.