Imagine a big bodybuilder eating puny salads all day. Just sounds wrong, doesn’t it? The same principle of putting good stuff in to get good stuff out also applies to your truck or SUV. In this installment of Project Murdered-Out Mommy Mobile, or MOMM as we call it, we’re going to help the 5.3L receive some good stuff by way of adding an Airaid air intake, B&B exhaust system, and tune the new setup with Hypertech’s Max Energy tuner. The mods are tried and true and are easy to install. Much like a bodybuilder passing on the salad bar and heading straight for the steak buffet, feeding your engine fresh, cool air and helping the it exhale better will free up horsepower and help it perform at a higher level. Mix in some aggressive timing tables and transmission shift points via Hypertech’s latest tuner, and suddenly the trio can add some serious power to any daily driver.
1. Our first order of business for the Airaid intake install was to disconnect the electri
Airaid’s latest intake features a SynthaMax air filter that does not require oiling and the airbox bolts into the factory location using factory holes. The heat shield keeps the hot engine air from hitting the large filter and a large weatherstrip piece seals the box to the hood liner. With our engine receiving cooler, denser air, the 5.3L saw an increase of 12 rwhp and 10 lb-ft of torque. Happy with the improved power, we drove the Yukon to B&B Exhaust, in Phoenix, for the installation of a T-304 stainless after-cat exhaust system. With more than 25 years in the racing and exhaust world, B&B knows how to make an exhaust add power. For our Yukon, the single-inlet, dual-outlet muffler helped the 5.3L put down nine more rwhp and 14 more lb-ft of torque, for a combined gain of 21 rwhp and 24 lb-ft of torque. Completing the trifecta, we plugged in Hypertech’s latest tuner, the Max Energy, and quickly recalibrated the transmission shift points, corrected the speedometer for the new wheels and tires, and disabled the active fuel management for more responsive acceleration. Other perks included the ability to read and clear trouble codes and plugging the unit into a computer for instant Internet software updates. As a bonus, the Max Energy tuner came with two octane tunes for a big boost in power and torque when we need it for towing or hauling around all of the kid’s sports gear (or maybe we’ll just keep that tune for when dad is driving the Yukon). With gas prices being so high, we ran the Yukon with the 87 octane tune and spun the dyno rollers to the tune of 16 more rwhp and 13 lb-ft of torque, for a total of 36 rwhp and 37 lb-ft of torque. For less than two hours of work, those are impressive figures and the Yukon runs much better than it did before the mods. Check out the photos to see how we did it.
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2. With the silicone coupling secured to the throttle body, the new Airaid intake tube was
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3. We then moved on to the airbox, where the filter adapter was mounted and the factory ma
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4. The larger SynthaMax air filter was then attached to the filter adapter and the weather
5. In less than 30 minutes, our 5.3L looked better and was running better. How much better you ask? How about 12 rwhp and 10 lb-ft of torque according to Airaid’s dyno.
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6. Cruising over to B&B Exhaust in Phoenix, we drove our Yukon onto the lift and started t
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7. Using a Sawzall, the head pipe was cut at the marked length and then the tailpipe was c
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8. With the factory exhaust out of the way, we could then start the installation of B&B’s
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9. A unique mounting trick, the second tailpipe is bolted to the first exhaust pipe, which
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10. A worm’s-eye view shows you the exact fit of the B&B exhaust system.
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11. The look from outside the Yukon features subtle, yet classy slant-cut, dual 3.5-inch p
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12. Now for the install of Hypertech’s Max Energy programmer. A versatile programmer, the
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13. If the install got any easier, it would do it for you. All we had to do was plug the M
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14 . According to Hypertech, the 5.3L really responds to tuning as they managed to pull an
From The Driver Seat
This combo isn’t groundbreaking, but 36 additional horsepower is no joke and with a truck or SUV in excess of 5,700 pounds, every little bit helps. Also keep in mind the 26-inch wheels and tires we added last month weigh 86 pounds a piece and are more than 33 inches tall. Those extra-large wheels rob power and we’ve seen as much as 39 percent parasitic loss from bolting on big wheels. These bolt-ons basically restored our lost performance, so we now have the best of both worlds—show and go. When choosing mods for Project MOMM, we didn’t want to sacrifice anything. Drivability, fuel mileage, and warranty compliance were all on our list of demands. Thankfully, these simple solutions did what we asked of them and we didn’t have to compromise in any area.
| Your Questions Answered |
| Time Spent Working: |
Under 2 hours |
| Degree of Difficulty: |
Beginner |
| Tools Needed: |
| 5⁄16-inch nut driver, 10, 13, 15mm socket, Phillips screwdriver, prybar, Sawzall |
| Parts Used: |
| Airaid air intake kit 201-233 |
$389.99 |
| B&B Exhaust after-cat kit FTRU-0096 |
$1,098.00 |
| Hypertech Max Energy tuner 32004 |
$379.99 |
| Total: |
$1,867.98 |
| (prices are MSRP and do not include tax, shipping, or installation) |