Adam Hinde's 2007 Silverado

Adam Hinde started with his 2007 Silverado sporting a Z85 suspension and a factory trailer hitch. He also started with black 22” wheels, which he decided to replace with factory 20” wheels wearing 275/55/20 Goodyear’s. A strange move your thinking, but it gave Adam more tire options at cheaper prices, and his choice will perform as good as any bigger wheel/tire combo while giving him a better ride! And Adam being a wise and cagy enthusiast, put a DJM Calmax 3/5 kit on his Silverado to get that “stance”, the stance when combined with performance wheels and tires give his truck a muscled, aggressive, look. The Calmax upper and lower control arms in the front bring it down three inches, while keeping the stock coil and strut, keeping the factory suspension travel, and using factory alignment numbers! We mentioned the trailer hitch earlier because most trucks come with them, and on the 07 and up Silverado’s it is very handy to remove the hitch when installing the 4, 5 or 6 inch rear kit. This provides much better access to the leaf spring shackle mounting brackets. Adam chose not to install his hitch after he was done but you can, and many do.  DJM offers 3”, 4”, 5”, 6” and 7-inch rear kits for the new Silverado’s to match up with the 2, 3, and 4-inch front drops. To quote Adam “I went with the 3/5 DJM kit, everything is nice, tight, and makes for an awesome ride”                  

 Before

Adam has also upgraded his engine performance by increasing the airflow with an Airaid intake and throttle body kit. The way the air enters your engine is important and can be managed to improve both horsepower and fuel efficiency. The Airaid cold air intake systems utilize a synthetic air filter coupled to plumbing that improves and directs air right to the custom throttle body which causes the air to spin and increase velocity as it enters the engine, optimizing performance. The synthetic filter is easy to keep clean and the system works well. Adding to his performance management, Adam also installed an Edge Power Programmer. These programmers do a lot of very cool things, how about up to 40hp and 38 ft/lbs of torque, or displays engine performance in real time on a factory looking display, improves power output and mpg and installs easily and quickly. All this increased performance needs to flow through and escape without being restricted and that’s where the Flowmaster 40 Series exhaust comes in. Dubbed “American Thunder” the 40 series is the most aggressive sounding street and strip muffler in Flowmasters line. Flowmaster themselves describe the 40 series as “generating extreme interior resonance within the vehicle. If you want to really hear your exhaust system inside as well as outside your vehicle the 40 series is for you”! Well there you go, Style, Power, and Performance!   

 

Adam used 3:73 gears in his Silverado, this gives him quickness at the line without losing to much overall mpg. This is also a very popular towing gear. The guys who tow high end fishing boats seem to agree the 3:73 gear package is the best for towing. To be really quick off the line use a higher gear set like the factory 4:10 rear end, this also is good for towing very heavy stuff. Your gas mileage suffers, and the rpm’s go up though, not a good combo for the highway. The lower number gear sets (like 3:42, 2:73) are more popular for getting better gas mileage and are great for cruising. The terms higher and lower can get a little confusing when referring to rear-end ratios. If someone changes to a higher gear ratio they are actually changing to a numerically lower ratio. If you were to swap a 2.93:1 gear set with a 3.42:1 gear set you would be switching to a lower gear even though the ratio of driveshaft turns to turns of the wheel is higher. If you swap a 3.42:1 with a 2.93:1 you are switching to a higher ratio. I don't how high ended up meaning low numerically or low ended up meaning high numerically, but they do. And like fine tuning engine performance, or custom alignment set ups you can change gear sets to optimize performance to satisfy your requirements and conditions.

Without spending a fortune Adam has turned a box stock Silverado into a great looking, great handling, performance ride. It is exactly what Adam wanted, he did it himself, and so can you!