I am thinking about putting on a small baby cam in my wife's truck to maybe help with towing and get some better gas mileage. If there are no benefits then I won't bother with it, I will keep the stock manifolds on it and the stock stall until we rebuild the tranny then it will likely get a Trailblazer stall. With what I have in mind should I even consider trying it or just leave it alone? My mods to it now are the tb bypassed, Magnaflow muffler on the stock system. Didn't want duals and the exhaust for what I am thinking will flow plenty. I ordered a shift kit, and a 160 stat, no intake because I am not sure what I want to go with. Tips on that would be great. I do plan to have it tuned after all is said an done. My goals is something that will tow very well, I have a Camaro and it will be on a 16 ft trailer and get better gas mileage than we have now. Thanks sorry it was so long.

 

I would keep the stock cam in your case. A mild tune would probably be of more help.

 

I would swap gears and get a tune before a cam. A tune will make the biggest improvement by far. I think a 206/212 cam would work well. You have to remember that the stock cam is something like 195/195(give or take) so even a 206/212 is a big jump up, even though most consider it to be tiny.

 

what motor, the 5.3, 6.0 or 8.1?

 

5.3 motor. I planned to do a tune anyway and gears are out of the question because it already has 3.73s

 

Just do a few bolt on's. Also see if the trans has torque management. They say on the trucks that do have it kills the power.

I have had all the gear ratio's over the years from gm in the tahoe and yukons... There is not much difference in the 3:73 to 4:10... I even had the od ball gears in a 97 model. They where 3:07... It was SLLLLOOOOOWWWW...

 

Exactly, that 191/190 duration is puny in that heavy pig. I'd run a 206/212 like mark suggested. It'd be great for low end torque.

 

The motor has 89k on it now. When replacing the cam what else should I replace and who would be a good place to get it from? What should the LSA be at and etc? I am just getting into learning about cams.

 

Replace the valve seals while you're changing valve springs. They cost about $25. There are different seals for intake/exhaust so be aware of that. You can run LS6 springs ($50) if the cam lift is below .570. When doing a cam swap, you're essentially resealing the top end of the engine so you'll be fine!

 

I can highly recommend the cam in my signature for towing. It's a custom ground cam with valve lifts of .527"/.527" with a 1.7:1 rocker ratio. Also, the Thorley Try-Y headers are great for broad band torque.

Here's the travel trailer that I tow.

Steve