okay heres my problem i know nothing about computerized engines. my last build was a 65 and 68 mustang and a 32 chevy! i currently am working on my 1999 chevy silverado 5.3l new gen. i want to put a really hearty strong cam in it. i dont know anyone around me that knows anything about vehicles. what do i need to change whats a good start and what needs to be done. i am working on a pretty strict budjet as well i am in the usaf with a child and wife so funds are tight! any help will be appreciated

 

hit up the classifieds for deals on used parts!
Used cam n valve springs say $350
A TR220 cam on a 112lsa will sound mean,along with some used valve springs then your set.. Can upgrade pushrods if you want but not needed immediately
New water pump gaskets and any other you want to change but i reused all mine hey were still good.If the gaskets are not leaking i would reuse them

That should give you an idea and get you started

 

well what your budget cam swap tends to end up costing $800-1200 with a tune

then u need a converter $400 if you do all the work yourself

i would start with some long tubes and muffler $700

it all adds up to being a very expensive sport

 

A tune is a must after a cam swap!
A stall isnt needed right away so that can wait till more funds and deals pop up
You can build a truck for cheap if you are capable of doing the labor yourself and wait for deals to pop up...I DID IT

 

How do I get a tune for the mods and would it require a tune for the long tubes and mufflers. And how do I know what size springs to match with a cam

 

generally we pick springs to handle the lifts of the cam
Say a tr220 cam has .551 lift so we run a comp918 spring thats good for say .625 lift which also has stiffer seat and opening pressures

If i was you i would do every mod possible then get a custom tune or mail order from one of our sponsors here on the site

If you get a tune now for headers and boltons when u cam it its gonna need a retune for the new cam

 

Since your truck is a 99, getting the PCM tuned with a cam swap is even more critical than 01 and up trucks...ask me how I know lol The 99-00 PCM's were prone to false knock, and once an aftermarket cam is installed, no matter how mild the cam is, the PCM will interpret the increased harmonics of the new cam and spring combo as detonation, and will pull 8* of timing every time you tip in the throttle. I experienced this with my baby 206/212 cam that I'm still currently running. A bunch of us 99-00 guys ran into this issue in the early to mid 2000 years, and after some trial and error back then, there is now an easy fix. Be sure to tell the tuner who will be reflashing your PCM that you want an 01-02 Operating System flashed in (which any good tuner will probably know already, but it's always wise to cover all your bases), and your false KR (Knock Retard) woes will be taken care of.

Another thing to note, the 1999 trucks have smaller injectors than 00 and up, something like 19 lb/hr vs. 24.7 lb/hr for the other years, and it's a good idea to upgrade the injectors also so that you aren't maxing out the anemic 99 injectors. I've heard that some early 2000 trucks also had the smaller injectors, but I'm not 100% sure about that. Just to be safe, I'd seek out some 01-07 injectors, either from a 4.8, 5.3, or 6.0, their all the same, and you should be able to run a cam such as the TR220-112 mentioned above without any worries.

A good combo, IMO, would be the TR220-112, PAC 1218 springs, hardened 7.4 pushrods, a 3200 stall converter, and 4.10 gears. The pushrods are cheap insurance IMO, not even so much for the fear of breakage, but mainly because the stock pushrods are obviously weaker and flex more than a good hardened pushrod, and this flex could lead to valve float, even more so than spring pressure concerns, which most folks falsely believe is the main contributing factor to valve float.

 

As bud just said above, hardened pushrods are a must in any cam swap in my opinion. The stock ones are weak and can bend with smaller cams than the tr220 you want, especially with increased rpms. They are cheap, just pick up a set of 7.4s (stock heads) and drop em in when u do the swap.

 

The "stock heads" note is very important BTW, most cam manufacturers recommend 7.4" long pushrods with their cams (stock pr's being 7.38 to be exact), with the assumption that the heads and gaskets are stock. If your heads have ever been off and have been milled, it is imperative that you invest < $20 in a pushrod length checker to determine what length pushrod will be necessary to achieve proper lifter preload (there's a sticky at the top of this section that covers lifter preload in detail )

 

Can you give us some info on this?

I have a '00 5.3 and will be doing a cam swap soon, along with 8.1L injectors and exhaust. I also have HPTuners to do my own tuning after everything's finished and running. How would I eliminate the false KR issue? Could I just replace the '00 tables in the "Knock section" of my tune with those from an '01 PCM file, with my current '00 HPTuners vehicle license? Or would I have to buy an '01 license and upload the complete .bin file to my PCM?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.