Upgrading Your Truck or SUV for Improved Performance in Three Steps

Your truck may be a highly functional vehicle capable of towing moderate loads, storing all of your equipment (and luggage when it comes to travel time), and getting you where you need to go.  Unfortunately, effective functionality doesn't always equate to top-level performance, and the same thing holds true for SUVs as it does for trucks.  For larger vehicles of these types, if you want to rocket forward at high speeds or see far ahead of you in the dark, the constraints of your vehicle are often only the manufacturerÆs constraints.  With aftermarket upgrades, you can get the speed, power, and other results you want from your truck or SUV.

Improved Speed and Power
Consider for a moment that you own a Lincoln Navigator.  In can fit all the passengers you need and it has plenty of storage space, but it doesn't have the swift acceleration or top speed of that sports car you used to drive.  If you want to combine the advantages of large vehicle ownership with the benefits of driving a smaller sports car, you'll need to boost your vehicle's horsepower output potential. With a turbocharger, you can boost your vehicle's engine potential to the point where you gain up to 400 horsepower, and even though it will set you back a few thousand dollars, that a substantial gain.  For more limited but rapid boosts in horsepower, a nitrous kit can also make for a faster, more powerful vehicle.  You'll also want to pair these upgrades with a small, inexpensive, and yet highly effective add-on:  a Lincoln Navigator performance chip.  These chips work well with most other upgrades, and can offer up to 60 extra horsepower as well.

Upgraded Brakes
Different scenario:  you own a Ford Ranger thatÆs climbing up in the years.  Perhaps itÆs over a decade old already.  YouÆve equipped your truck with a turbo kit as well as a nitrous one, and youÆre prepared to hit speeds unprecedented in your ownership of this vehicle.  When using performance chips for trucks, however, you need to consider other factors.  Since your truck is already on the older side, its brakes probably don't work as well as they used to.  On top of that, you've also dramatically increased the power and speed potential of your vehicle.  In order to compensate for that greater potential, you'll need to also improve upon your truck's brakes.  The brakes should be able to rapidly slow and/or stop a vehicle on command, all adjusted to the top speed and weight of your vehicle as it currently is.  That way, if you need to stop in an instant, you know you can, even if you hope you never have to test that in action. 
Enhanced Lighting
Once you can drive fast and brake quickly, you'll also need to be able to see what you're doing while you're doing it.  HID headlights and other headlight upgrades can provide for better visual coverage of the road while driving in the dark, so that in case any obstacle stands in your way, you can see it from farther out and work to avoid it.  Improved performance also means that your truck or SUV can adapt to those changes in ways that still keep you safe, so a couple of quick efforts on the part of brakes and lighting can make all the difference with your upgraded vehicle.