I am sorry for starting another cam thread, but I haven't been able to find too much info on this. I know a lot of people swap in LS6 cams, but what about just an LS1 cam? I am going to opening up the motor soon to replace the lifters and I figure I could swap in a cam while I'm in there. The only extra cost would be for some gaskets and a little bit more labor. Used LS1 cams are cheap and easy to come by.

This truck is my daily driver. I don't race or beat on it really, never tow anything. It has 90k nearly flawless miles. I am not looking for a huge cam and a lot of power. Just something to add a small amount of spice, and keep a relatively good fuel economy and still be able to pass smog, all without a tune. My few mods are in my sig.

Has anyone done this? Would an LS1 cam require LS6 valve springs and hardened pushrods? I noticed the lifts of the 5.3 and '01-'02 LS1 cam are very close.

Thanks!

 

If you're going to swap cams, why not put something in to make it worthwhile? IMHO, an LS1 cam isn't worth the time and trouble.

 

Yes, it's been done. You will notice some gains, tuning will not be required, upgrading springs & pushrods will not be required. Others will argue with me about the gains not being worthwhile. However, if you get the cam free or almost free, and your not expecting massive gains, it can be a nice little "budget" upgrade for you.

 

Well the "time and trouble" would be minimal because the engine will be all apart already to change the lifters. The extra cost of swapping in an LS1 cam would only be the gaskets and balancer bolt. If I do an LS6 cam then I also need to get springs, pushrods, and might as well change the valve seals too. Not to mention LS6 cams cost more and are harder to find than a good used LS1 cam. Plus I'm don't plan on getting it tuned and would like to preserve as much of my fuel economy as I can and keep it smoggable. This is a very low budget operation.

These are my only justification for going with an LS1 cam over an LS6 cam or something else larger.

 

Sounds to me like you have already made up your mind. Get R done!

 

Why have there been at least 5 of these stupid threads in the past few days. Are people rushing out and buying stock ls1 cams for some reason?

Just leave the stock cam in it, if you noticed any gain from that ls1 cam, I'd be surprised....