....for this cam

210/218-551/551-116

Are the stockers good enough? What would be a good set of springs/retainers/pushrods to get?

 

Comp cam's 918's are some damn good springs and as far as the pushrods go I went with some Manley 7.4 pushrods. Haven't had any problems with anything and I run my truck hard.

From what I have heard the stock springs are pretty damn weak.

 

OK cool...how bout retainers? Any reason to replace those?

 

No need to replace retainers unless you plan on revving North of 7000 RPM's, then you would want to get titanium ones. If not, then no sense replacing stock steel retainers with aftermarket steel retainers.

I used Comp hardened pushrods, but Thunder Racing has the exact same pushrods under their name for ~$5 less.

The 918 springs are excellent, but can contribute to valvetrain noise that seems to bother some people. In spite of how sensitive I am to noise, I am fine with my 918's. If you want something quieter (and perhaps nearly as good), get GM LS6 springs, which are good to over .550 (some say .600).

 

When you say quieter, how much of a difference are you talking? I don't mind a little noise but I don't want it to be nasty loud.

So...wait...gmpartsdirect has the LS6 springs for $5.60 ea, which would be $89.60 for the whole set, or thunder racing has a set of comp 918's for $160. Am I missing something here?

 

Can't speak to the quietness of the LS6 springs, but like I said, my 918's are okay with me. Can't hear 'em in the cabin, only when I pop the hood....which I don't care about at all.

Looks like the price difference makes one better than the other, though, huh?

 

Damn I guess that made the decision easy. Thanks for your help.

 

Uh, you realize you need 16 springs, not 8, right?
(two valves per cylinder)

 

Thanks for the common sense slap in the face. I'm a dumbass.

 

That's alright man, I drove 100 miles to have someone else put a solenoid cable back on my transmission. Cuz I'm a moron.

Looks like the LS6 springs are still a better deal, even at twice the price...