Well now that I've payed off all of the exterior upgrades of my truck I've decided to look into a few performance upgrades. When browsing I stumbled over a throttle body spacer. What exactly is this? Where does it go and what does it do. It claims to improve torque, fuel efficiency and mid-range power.

Keep in mind I'm not the most knowledgable person to date on vehicles. I know basic maintenance but not how to take apart an engine to put something in and all that stuff. So if this is something I couldn't install tell me please.

Also, how much would a chip cost? And would the bama ones still be able to run on regular unleaded? Thanks for bearing with my noobish.

 

dont waste your money on a throttle body spacer, i hear they basically do nothing. if you dont have anything yet, maybe look for an aftermarket intake (K&N or MAC), or an exhaust, then you could also look at a chip from bamachips like you asked.. and yeah, i think there was a program available for regular.

EDIT: i think the chip was somewhere near $325.. i might be off on that though.

 

they dont work there is studys out there there pointless. get ahold of Doug at Bamachips.com you'll like them

 

throttle body spaces space the throttle body from the intake. they do this by using a machined piece of metal, usually alm. some companies offer fancy "swirl" chambers claimed to give the intake air a "swirl" effect. this has no effect on the incoming air what so ever. they are a complete waste of material and money.

the idea for a spacer is effective in carburation applications however. why u ask? bcause the carb mixes the air and fuel together to atomize it so when the spacer is added between the carb and intake it allows more time for atomiztion and also cools the air/fuel charge.

being an EFI engine (except the old chevy TBI applications) have an injector at each clyinder so the fuel is added at each clyinder not in the throttle body. so all the air does it bounce around off the intake and looses the "swirl" is recieved from the spacer. then it finally mixes in the combustion chamber right after the intake valve opens therefore the spacer does nothing to improve atomazition.