ChevyTruck

iTrader: (39)

i am looking into a cam right now. i would like some input. i am looking into getting a i am, springs, installed, custom tune, and dyno'd and i have to also have to get 2 header bolts takin out of the head. all that for about 2 grand. is that a fair price?

InchUp

iTrader: (2)

$2000 seems like a fair asking price provided that the Dyno is, in fact, included during the tuning process. Usually dyno tunes cost a little over $500 for everything and an afternoon of pulls.

If you're looking for a cam in the 5.3L, check out the XR259 by CompCAMS. Have them grind it for .540" of lift on the intake and .545" on the exhaust side. Then run .550" lift springs from Lingenfelter, they're only $53 bucks. You'll end up with a 206/212, .540"/.545", 112LSA. You'll have a good deal more low end torque to get the 35's spinning, and truck-like mid range duration to keep them spinning. Not that you should be spinning 35's all the time, but at least that camshaft matched with 4.56's will make your truck feel better than stock. If you don't feel like getting a custom grind, the XR259 is still my best suggestion for a low end torquey camshaft. I'm putting it in my truck, also with tall tires. In stock form it's a 206/212, .515"/.522" 112 LSA. It's meant for about 1000-6000 rpms in a 5.3L, or 800-5800 in my 5.7L.

ChevyTruck

iTrader: (39)

i was talking to the owner of the shop and he asked me was i looking for more top end or bottom end. i am haveing a hard time where i want the more power.
i love taking off of the line like a fast ***, but the faster the better, i want to be able to eat hemi like i did with my factory tires on. i mean i still get them but i want to eat them and spit em back out. lol.

look at my other post about "question about superchips" and tell me what you think.

InchUp

iTrader: (2)

I'll look at it eventually but I can pretty much tell you right off the bat, "chipping" your truck is never going to be as accurate as a custom tune, especially a dyno tune with live feedback. Basically all you're doing is ordering a custom PCM to be mailed to you after you send them yours to have it tuned. All you're doing is letting some guy in another state program your truck to what HE thinks your truck SHOULD be tuned like. It takes him all but maybe a half hour using their computers and is in no way a successful tune. Mail order tunes allow for no live feed back or real world situations. All they're doing is changing a few numbers based on what their handbook says.

And as for a camshaft lending more top end or low end, you'll want low end and mid range with tall tires. In the same sense, swapping in a high-end camshaft would be like stuffing a 4.8L in your truck instead of the 5.3L. You'd need to rev much higher to get the same job done and though it may pull hard from 3000-red line, you're leaving a ton of power on the table that you need to turn tall tires and enjoy your truck as a daily driver.

Here's what I would do, in your shoes. Get a shop to change your gear sets in both axles and leave the G80 in there alone. You'll be much better off with 4.56's with your 4L60E but 4.10's will do alright, at least they'll be better than the 3.73's you have now. The gear change will make your truck get up and go like it used to with stock tires. That investment alone will do wonders for the "get-up-and-go" feel of the truck, and adding the camshaft into the mix after will be icing on the cake giving you more power than stock. So like I said, with 4.56's in the axles and 35's, your truck will feel more powerful than when you bought it stock with 3.73's and 265/75R16's, with the XR259 cam. Top off all your modifications with the tune to recognize the tire size increase, the gear change AND the camshaft. Done deal after all that.

InchUp

iTrader: (2)

I just thought of something. Go out to your truck and take a little joy ride around your neighborhood. Put the truck in 4LO once at a stop light and smash the gas but stay below 20mph. Feel the intense rush of power and quickness compared to 4HI, and that's what 4.56's will feel like compared to your 3.73's now. Only difference is you'll be able to go all the way up to 100mph or so with the 4.56's and then imagine what 4LO will do! You'll have 22% more torque going to the tires just by the gear change. I'd most definitely change the gears before the cam.

ChevyTruck

iTrader: (39)

the shop that i will be taking it to has a inhouse dyno and he will be tuning the truck there, not another state.
i think that i will be going for low end power. and 4.10 are in the future. the main reason that i am having the cam done first is because i have broke off 2 header bolts in the heads, and that is included in the price also because he has to take off the head to get out the bolt.

Blown2300

sounds to me like you really just want a supercharger..

Cams just shift your torque curve.. sacrificing low end torque for high rpm power..

ChevyTruck

iTrader: (39)

yea down the line ill get one..... but for now i will get a cam.... i will be happy for this year. this winter i am going to make that it a project.