Trucks and Chips: Simple Performance Upgrades for Truck Owners
Trucks are unusual beasts on the road. They are built completely for functional purposes in some ways, equipped with large truck beds for increased storage capacity and stronger, more durable engines capable of towing weighted objects significantly larger than you'd expect. Simultaneously, they are also lacking in some areas, as increased storage capacity is offset by lower passenger capacity and greater engine strength is offset by speed constraints that don't quite match up. If you want to make your truck perform better, regardless of whether it's a Toyota Tundra or a Ford Ranger, there are modifications that you can make to match your expectations with actual results.
Many truck owners are too busy with actual tasks and errands to spend hours on end installing equipment that will make for minor speed boosts. For a quick upgrade, you can always install performance chips. These high performance truck chips are inexpensive, often costing well under a hundred bucks, and are easy to install even for novices. If you have an hour to spare, keep a few basic repair tools for your vehicle lying around, and know the location of your truck's air intake sensor, you should be set to go. Performance chips can reduce the acceleration time it takes for your truck to climb from 0-60, and can also increase your vehicle's horsepower potential by up to 60HP. If you're worried about how the chip affects efficiency, don't be. You can actually save up to 4-7mpg in fuel by using an ECU chip on your truck. Remember, GMC Sierra or Ford F150, the truck needs to have a working air intake sensor to accept the new chip. Trucks built before the early 1980s won't be equipped with them, and therefore won't be able to use these chips (retroactive installation of air intake sensors is typically not possible).
Outside of truck chips, there are other performance upgrades you can consider. Nitrous kits are excellent for rapid acceleration boosts, while truck turbochargers can increase your vehicle's horsepower multiple times that of a chip, though the cost will also be dramatically higher. Items such as voltage stabilizers can improve system functionality and also increase the durability of your truck's internal components, but don't expect your truck to make any major speed gains from a stabilizer. Really, so long as you tailor specific performance upgrades you intend to go through with to the actual performance results you're expecting, youÆll be able to keep up with an upgrade project you can tackle, and which can produce results youÆll be more than satisfied with in the long run.
