I will have lots of mods, intake, fans, LT's, 4:10's, exhaust, etc and was wondering what kind of gains, hp and tq, I would expect to see from this cam: 212/218, 558/563, 115lsa. I have a 5.3 and will keep the heads stock. I know I have to replace the springs. Would I need a stall? This is my daily driver and I don't tow anything. I wouldn't expect any idling issues with the 115lsa and a stock tune, right? I will eventually have a custom or Preditor tune. All opinions appreciated. Thanks

 

I personally like that cam. Should idle OK, make pretty good power, keep some low end, really bump power in the upper rpms.... A stall wouldn't hutrt, but not necessary.

 

Installed this cam in my 6.0 last week. Bumped the idle up 50 rpm to make it idle just like stock. Bottom end is the same (w/3000 conv.) but out pulls stock cam 4500 to 6000. . May go 6100 or 6200 in your 5.3. My guess is about a 30 hp increase. Trick to buying this cam is to custom order it (same price) with 1.450" base circle. The off the shelf ones have a 1.490" base and will cause you to give up approx. .030" of your valve lash. With the 1.450" base and .050" longer push rods you keep the geometry the same as stock. Your stock cam should have a base of approx. 1.550".

 

Thanks for the above two replies!! Now I would like to know the performance differences between the 212/218, 558/563, 115lsa and the 212/218, 522/529, 114lsa. Which one would be better for my set-up? I've read about some people here making huge gains with the smaller lift cam. Is that because of the lower lsa? Thanks again.

 

The second cam you mention will peak torque and horsepower a little sooner and probably will not quite pull to 6000. You can live with it but probably will need LS1edit to get a satisfactory idle.