I have a bit of input here...

If you upgrade pushrods and springs, I'd say you could rev that motor to ~6400-6600 safely. After that I'd be worried about rod bolts...the stock rods are powered metal and should be good to close to 7000rpms I would assume. That Chev 302 in a 1969 (or 67) Camaro had those rods and pulled to 7000 with ease...

 

Daniel, at what RPM do you plan shifting with new cam? With the springs and pushrods you are putting in, I'd say it will pretty safe shifting in the 6500 range.

 

I set my shift points at 6300, but on a super lazy 1-2 shift, my autotap recorded 6610 value during the shift. Just a little too high for my tastes. I'm going to back them off some and see if I can get a handle on my trans. I think 6300 was too high to start with anyway.

 

sorry to hijack your thread cashhomie

but i see everyone here stating that these trucks can go up to 6500, while i have not seen or heard of anyone going that high on the 5.3/6.0.. now the 5.7 ls1 i have no doubt it can, oh well, i'm not going any higher than 6200. no way.

 

Thats because very few people have cams, and only a couple have head work. If you cant make power at 6500 rpms, why spin it there? My old LS6 cam died after 6200, so thats where I shifted.

 

tex,

well that does make sense, but still dosent answer my question, i always read your posts, there always valuable knowledge, and would like ur opinion

so you think the 5.3/6.0 with a 224/stage 2 heads can take 6500 shifts and live for a good amount of time?

 

In general, if you have a good valvetrain, I think it will live as long as the LS1 cars do. Same rods, rod bolts, stroke length, etc... No matter what engine, higher rpms are most likely the cause of failure in most cases. Can it take an occasional spin above 6500, sure. Will it live long with frequent visits to 6500 with a big lift cam, not sure. Its going to come down to the quality of your valvetrain and probably your connecting rods/bolts. Tons of LS1 guys are spinning that high (and more) without issue, but I'm not going to tell you that you are safe to do so. More than likely you will be fine, but I wont guarantee it.

If you went with a 224 cam on a 5.3, you'd really have to shift it up in the 6500 range to get peak power, but with the 6.0, I think the power would be a little lower. You could still shift it at 6500, but you may not have to do so. If you can keep the rpms down, your motor will last that much longer. Look at Parish8s olf 6L for an example. He kept the rpms down in the mid 5000s and gave that thing hell without issues.

 

great,
i'm going to look into rod bolts just for extra cheap insurance, so long the labor wont kill me..

sometimes i wonder why i'm so into this.. makes me go

 

RPMs = Ruins Peoples Motors

Anytime you can make the same power lower, do it.