I am in the process of turning my 4.8 into a 5.7. I hope to have it done in the next couple months. I will start fabbing a front mount turbo kit next spring. I will be using stock ls1 rods, pistons, and 241 heads. It mite be a year before i get it turboed. I want a cam that will give me good low rpm power and torque when the truck is na, but it needs to work good with boost because i dont want to do a cam change when i get the turbo on. I have a 02 zo6 cam because i heard they are a damn good turbo cam. But i also heard that they suck before about 3500 rpm when in a na truck. What do you turbo guys run for cams and are they any good without boost?

 

I dont know a whole lot about the LS motors, but if your bottom end is stock, your stock cam can make enough power to kill the bottom end. You want to stay away from "blower"cams with alot of overlap. Even my 5.0HO cam is capable of about 500whp at about 15psi on stock heads with the right turbo setup.

 

there's plenty of guys running over 500 rwhp on the stock bottom end. LSX motors can handle a **** load. Hell Trick just made like 650 rwhp on a stock bottom end 5.3L

Get a z06 cam or something with a big split.

 

I agree with you that the LS bottom ends are pretty strong; and I dont doubt they can make that much power- I was just saying that a stockish cam will probably get you there and you'll still have a good idle. There is really no sense in getting all crazy with cam specs.

From what I read, it seems like that Z06 cam would be a good choice for turbo applications.

 

well no you can't neccessarily get there too 500 rwhp on a stock bottom end. It seems like 10 psi is the limit for stock bottom ends and that usually equals about 425-450 rwhp on a stock 5.3L now in order to make up that 50 rwhp you need something like a stronger cam.

 

For a turbo cam:

1) reverse split
2) as close to 0* overlap as possible
3) wide lsa

At least the wide lsa will help with torque on the NA side

 

I guess I am showing my limited knowledge of the LSx motors So the stock cam limits power to about 450ish? I would have though that with those good flowing heads, you could make really good power on the stock cam- heck, there are 5.0 Mustang guys making 5-600whp on stock HO cams with crappy heads. Our blocks are only good to about 500whp reliably though.

 

..i tuned a 5.0 fox body here a while back..running 16psi on a stock block stock rod motor..had heads and really good cam and intake with a procharger..never could get a good dyno run because it was spinning the tires on the dyno..even this it still made 400 on a mustang dyno..but he ended up splitting the block in half at the mains

 

i know where your coming from since i used to be a 5.0 guy. but comparing any logic to the lsx world from the 302 world wont work. the ford blocks are the weak links, the lsx weak are rod bolts but only when in high rpm use. fords make torque plain and simple. for the lsx to make the same torque it takes more work. a 302 will peak torque at 3k of 300flts a 5.3 makes 325 at 4800rpms i beleive. point is the stock 302 is a great piece for boost. the lsx cams arent the best for boost unless you dont expect alot of power. change the cam and pick up alot more power

 

Good to know since I will likely build an LSx truck if I can sell my Explorer. I have a 61mm unit in my shop that wants to be spun.