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tb spacers

dsmd58

dsmd58

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are throttle body spacers a good investment? or are they any other small budget mods to get some more performance out of a bone stock 5.7? its currently running on everything stock :confused:
 
I have always wondered if they work on carbs...And IF they work are they better for carbs or on TB?
 
They work.


However don't expect a massive amount of power and also not all spacers are the same. They've been dyno proven to work on carbs and TBI setups but you definitely need to do your research.
 
It better work, just bought one along with underdrive pullys. Need to save on gas where ever I can.
 
The general concepts that I have gotten from reading on them is that they dont make power. They just move your curve to be more low end torque friendly.

I'll be doing transdapt 1/2 TB spacer and their 1/4 injector spacers.
 
it definitely works if you have throttle body injection or a carb. anything where the fuel and air are mixed before they enter the spacer will work. otherwise its pointless. just a longer passage for air to get to the fuel.

i got one through the local shop as a promo from air raid i think? its red thats all i know. my throttle definitely got a lot more responsive and i felt a little power increase down low.
 
Well if it helps down lower I def want one!!! Mine makes tons of power up high [ PO changed out from a 400 to a 350 :rolleyes ]

Any brands , 1/2" -1" better?
 
Dafey said:
Well if it helps down lower I def want one!!! Mine makes tons of power up high [ PO changed out from a 400 to a 350 :rolleyes ]

Any brands , 1/2" -1" better?
Click to expand...

me too, guess the question is who else owns them on the board?
 
I put a Airaid on my 89 TBI also added the "salad bowl" thingy, made a big improvement in low end throttle response and a slight improvement in mpg.
 
About ten years ago I put a 1" TD Performance products spacer on my '92 K1500 Blazer with the TBI 350. It definitely had an increase but it wasn't super great or anything. I later heard that anything beyond about 1/2" had diminishing returns for the hassle of installation. If I were to do it again I'd stick with 1/2" or less.
 
There are two types of TB spacers. The two hole type like most of the spacers on the market. The really dont add any power. What they do is add length to the intake runners. This increases air velocity at low RPM. Moving the torque curve down in the RPM band. Giving you more usable torque at low RPM. So you have better throttle response, and maybe increase MPG a little.

The other type is the open type. where the space between the TB bores is open. These type of spacers acually do build HP and torque on the top end. because they allow the TB to breathe thru both bores instead of one .

I have tried both types of spacers and Like the open plentium the best.
I have the Thhrottle Body Spacer, Injector spacer, and Power charger, From here:http://marine-performance-parts.com/gmtbiperformance.aspx
For the money they are cheap HP and torque builders. Putting on those 3 things gave me a very noticeable power increase all thru the power band and I get better MPG also.

The same is pretty much true for carbs. The 4 hole spacers build torque on low end. The open spacers build power on top.
A velocity stack (Same as a the powercharger in above link) speeds up air at low RPM increasing low end torque. cfm-tech in the above link also sells carb spacers.
 
mine is a 2-hole with smooth bores. small torque improvement across all rpms and 10-15% mpg increase. my friend got 2, a spiral 2-hole and an open style, and each of us ran one for a while. the spiral was ok. i gained some high power with no noticeable change anywhere else. same mpg as stock. i didn't like the open kind at all. robbed torque, hurt my mpg, but did give the biggest high-rpm gain. that's not very useful for me though. smooth 2-hole is what i stayed with.
 
What about different materials? I hear some don't transfer heat to the carb/TB so the fuel is cooler/denser.
 
vortec said:
mine is a 2-hole with smooth bores. small torque improvement across all rpms and 10-15% mpg increase. my friend got 2, a spiral 2-hole and an open style, and each of us ran one for a while. the spiral was ok. i gained some high power with no noticeable change anywhere else. same mpg as stock. i didn't like the open kind at all. robbed torque, hurt my mpg, but did give the biggest high-rpm gain. that's not very useful for me though. smooth 2-hole is what i stayed with.
Click to expand...
Do you have a carb or TB? What about your friend? Which does he have and which did he like the best and why?
 
tbi on my dd. my friend's was tbi too and he kept the spiral because he wanted more top speed.

i had a 4-hole carb spacer on my blazer's 350 with q-jet for a while, and while it was great offroad, it really hurt my highway cruising. tried open and that did just the opposite (no surprise), so i sold it and i'm running the k5 normally now.

there are carb and tb spacers that have have holes for each barrel or injector but also have a tapered open section. i haven't tried them, but they might offer an average of the two other types, performance-wise.
 
vortec said:
tbi on my dd. my friend's was tbi too and he kept the spiral because he wanted more top speed.

i had a 4-hole carb spacer on my blazer's 350 with q-jet for a while, and while it was great offroad, it really hurt my highway cruising. tried open and that did just the opposite (no surprise), so i sold it and i'm running the k5 normally now.
Click to expand...
Thanks , theres not much high way driving here.And my K5 doesnt leave the city so the 4 hole would be great for me.
 
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