I don't care about performance at all so don't say not to do it because I won't see any gains. I just wanna know if I can do it and not tune it. I've had two professionals say it will run fine on the stock tune, but I'm looking for more input or people who have tried it. Will that cam run on a stock tuned L59? Or will I have to change a lot of parts?

the little bump in duration between a stock 5.3 camshaft (191/190 .457/.466 114lsa) and the stock lq9 camshaft (196/207 .467/.479 116lsa) you will not need to tune. Also, keep in mind that GM also used this camshaft in the HO 5.3 motors as well. Thiscamshaft will only provide a small increase in power, over a stock 5.3 (maybe 5-7 horse).

That's from one of the sources whom I trust. But I'm always trying to find out more. Will the stock tune handle that cam or do I have to get the tune tweaked? Will I have to change valve springs?

I know this is basically turning the motor into a 5.3HO. Any input helps. I know a tune always helps, but I'm trying to avoid all expenses possible so I can save up for a good cam, torque converter, pushrods, heads, etc. Thanks.

 

It wont exactly be a 5.3HO because they had flat top pistons that raised the compression a little as well. However, I wouldnt see any problem in swapping in that cam with minimal work because it is not that much different from stock and the lift is hardly any higher. I doubt you will find many guys that have done this swap on here though since this is a forum geared around performance as you may have noticed in the name. About the smallest cam you will see recommended around here for a 5.3 is a 206/212 .52X lift.

 

I understand. I just wanna get it moving. That counts as a performance gain... Right?

 

Its definately faster going down the road than sitting on jack stands

I think most guys will just tell you to try it and see how it does because I dont think anyone has probably done that particular swap. Good luck.

 

The LQ9 cam is also the most common LS1 cam, my suburban idled very low with this cam and would stall with the ac on. Tuning the pcm fixed the idle problem.