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1Gen-TundraGeneral discussion forum for the 2000 to 2006 Toyota Tundra.
This is a discussion thread titled "Recommended Mods", within the 1Gen-Tundra forum, part of the Truck Forums category.
I have a completely stock Tundra and had only expected to have a spray on liner put in. However, seeing all the cool mods that can be done has me wondering.
First off, I really like the look of the truck and wouldn't want to change it too much, don't want to spend a fortune, and don't want to void the warranty.
I have already inquired about spacers for lifting the front end, here's my other questions.
Exhaust: How much $, and what are the HP increases? Any effect on gas mileage?
Air box/filter: Cost? What to switch to? HP increases? Any effect on gas mileage?
Welcome to TS, the source for all your dubious reasons to spend money .
As far as intake mods go, freeing up your air intake will only help matters. The engine is the limiting factor, it will only take in as much air as it needs.
On the exhaust side, there is a fine line between too much backpressure (remember Beverely Hills Cop, and the banana?) and too little (ever have a car drop an exhaust pipe?), and nobody on this list seems to know where that line is, yet, but everyone sure has an opinion ! I will spare you from mine, particularly since it's still developing due to my current inability to find anyone with solid answers , and point you to the search function, where if you search on "exhaust" you will find more information than you could ever want !
Most folks report little or no increase in performance with exhaust changes. The sound level changes, and that seems to be the main benefit. Our Tundra's pipe is an alloy of stainless that gets some surface color but then doesn't rust. There's no good reason to change the pipe unless you want a polished exhaust system. The stock pipe size seems to be the best size. The Y-pipe appears to be restrictive, but it's needed for good low-end torque. It's carefully made and Toyota could have made it a lot cheaper is that's what they wanted.
There are 3 makers of headers, TRD, Downey, and JBA. JBA's are nowhere near equal length and too short with a really short collector, so they can't do much. They post a dyno chart that looks too good to be true, so it probably isn't true. I don't yet have the dimensions of Downey's or TRD's. Again, if they aren't close to equal length runners and close to 34" long runners with long tapered collectors, they won't do much good. A well designed header replacing a poorly designed manifold will give about 25% more hp at the rpm range for which the header is designed. TRD told me that their header gives about 7-8% more hp at mid range and 4% at top end. All this for about $1000 installed!...such a deal.
Aftermarket intake products are generally a waste of money. The best of the bunch add a couple of top-end hp and cost you low-end hp. Some folks have experimented with carving up the air box, and many have returned it to stock for best performance. Throttle body spacers, including Helix? Just throw your money down a rat hole--it saves time and effort.
The stock air filter does a very good job. There's an air filter test in progress and it's finding that an aftermarket filter element doesn't make much difference. Tundra Air Filter Test
So, you can spend a lot of money, change a lot of sounds, hurt the performance in a lot of ways, and maybe help performance a couple of ways at certain rpms. No, there's nothing you can do to improve gas mileage that'll pay for itself except air up your tires, don't carry hundreds of pounds of unnecessary stuff, and drive like it's you that's paying for the gas.
It's tough when you have a basically well designed piece of machinery. Some folks have problems with the brakes. Save your money for the brake mods that help. Several people are trying different things--we need to wait and see what works best.
I just wanted to find out a little info, but in all honesty it is very remote that I will change anything from stock. Unless the mods are going to offer good/great improvements in HP and/or mileage, I'll take a pass.
However, I am still considering puting in spacers in my front suspension to level the truck off a bit.
I have the daystar 2 1/2 inch lift kit put on my truck. Although I got the kit for free as well as the installation, the kit can be found on ebay for around 225 bucks. The ride is very smooth. I heard that they can be put on yourself also but it takes awhile. Just click photos below. The fourth picture is before my lift was put on.
I don't know where you get your info but I picked up about 23-25 hp with the Jb headers and Bassani exhaust, and the air box mod. You may not consider that much but for a few bolt on's thats not too bad.
did you have your truck dyno'd? Thats an awful lot of hp for exhaust mods! I dont think you can use the manufacturers numbers realistically. lets see the dyno chart.
I don't know where you get your info but I picked up about 23-25 hp with the Jb headers and Bassani exhaust, and the air box mod. You may not consider that much but for a few bolt on's thats not too bad.
Thanks for the info. At what rpm was the 23-25 hp increase? What was your increase at 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500 rpm, which is the useful range for most of us most of the time?
Since many of us, myself included, purchased the JBA headers,
wouldnt it be prudent to have our trucks Dyno'd?? Mine has no other mods except the JBA header. I haven't changed the exhaust yet. I would really like to know if we got duped on these JBA'S.
So much so I'm willing to have mine dyno'd and post the results here.
I did the bench seat mod today. Probably about the cheapest mod there is. For about $5.00 the seat angle feels Sooooooo much better. Check the thread in the garage.
Cheap and quick.
Recommended Mods
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! I will spare you from mine, particularly since it's still developing due to my current inability to find anyone with solid answers 
, and point you to the search function, where if you search on "exhaust" you will find more information than you could ever want 
Linear Mode
