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Im about to send my engine harness to speartech and Im trying to make up my mind whether I want to keep the dbw throttle body or switch it for cable. Of course with dbw i have to get a dbw trailblazer pedal. with cable i keep the pedal but i have to make some adjustments in the ECM. Any suggestions?
I swapped out the dbw tb and got a used cable type tb from one of the f-body forum members - cleaned it up and ported it before installing. Sold my vette dbw tb - pretty much a wash $ wise.
No pedal hassles and nice to be able to play with the throttle when in the hood area. I also used an f-body pcm so didn't need to change the pcm re throttle (but had lots of other pcm changes - used hptuners).
Someday ... maybe a fast intake and larger diameter tb....or maggie......
Ill be tuning with hp tuners as well. The whole pedal thing just seems like an extra hassle. I think Ill swap it out for a cable throttle body..anyone want to trade??
The one benefit to the drive by wire setup is the fact that reinstalling cruise control becomes simple as it is integrated in the TAC module. You must remember that if using a LS1or LS2 DBW throttle body that there is no linkage for an auto transmission T350 or 700R4 hookup. You must use a manual transmission or 4L60E transmission. I'm going this route just to be different.
Also it's important to note that you must make sure the pedal assembly and DBW throttle body are matched with the correct year ECM as there are differences between the Trailblazer throttle bodies and C5 and C6 Corvette throttle bodies.
I much prefer a cable throttle. If the cable breaks the car will just coast to a stop. I have DBW in our 2001 Volvo and it has a mind of its own. Stepping on the accelerator pedal is just a 'suggestion' of what you would like the car to do. The ECU makes the final decision as to what the engine is going to do. Sometimes it doesn't make the right decision. I'm sure everyone has read about the problems Toyota is having with its DBW systems.
I once had an old VW whose throttle cable broke going into downtown Boston. I was able to pull the cable out of its conduit, run it down the outside of the car, and wrap it around a piece of wood that I found in the road. I wedged the wood into the vent window opening and drove the car 30 miles to my house pulling on the wood to accelerate the engine. Can't do that with DBW.