I see you guys talking about cams. I try to take in all I can, so I can get the one that will fit my needs. I seen a couple guys say lift is free horse power. So why wouldnt guys like me that dont want to loose any low end, go get a stock duration and LS cam with more lift? If I were to do this, how much will the lift help me? Or is it a waste of money? What if it was mated with a set of ported and polished heads? Sorry if this is a silly question. Just trying to learn. Thanks.

 

Ported heads will help flow, but you have to need the flow to get the biggest benefit. With a stock cam or small cam, you will not likely see a large increase with heads alone.

Lift will allow more air / fuel in, making more power. But without the valves opening longer, there is only so much air you can get in there. To answer your question, more lift on the stock cam will make more power. But not a huge increase. This would be similar to getting 1.8 rockers. You get more lift without changing durations.

IMO - I think you can get a little larger cam with aggressive lobes and make more power without giving up your low end. Just don't look for an off-the-shelf cam, it will need to be ordered. I bet a comp 208 208 .554 lift 114 LSA +2 cam would work. You could go larger, but the 208 duration is the smallest Comp makes in the Extreme Energy cam.

 

why such a short duration richard? you said that the longer the valve is open the better as far as getting air in and out. so wouldn't a longer duration be better. atleast longer than 208

 

Matt, did you install those headers on your HD yet?

I believe the 6.0 heads are pretty much the same as the LS6 heads except for a larger combustion chamber meaning they flow pretty kickass in stock form. I'd just toss in a cam and springs and leave the heads alone. To get the most from ported & polished heads, you'd need to go to a bigger cam than a 208/208.

Are you still considering a stall converter? A cam like a 212/218 and that stall would be great as you'd still be in the powerband easily and not really loose any low end. It seems that you are thinking the power will come on at like 3000rpms+ with a mild cam swap...it won't. Hell you could run even a 216/220 and advance it 4* if the piston to valve clearance is okay to have more power down low.

I think the best bet would be to snag a converter first. Then call a cam company...Crane, Comp, etc and tell them what you are looking for and what you have done.

 

Slov - He is very worried that he will lose all his low end power. Going with larger durations takes away from the very low rpms and move the power band higher. With his large truck, gaining power while keeping as much low end torque as possible is what he is tryiong to do.