Hi guys. Grab a cold snack and get comfy. #VGG (if you know, you know)

2006 L33 Silverado with 250k on the original motor. I've had the truck for 2 years now and have put about 50k on the truck. I live in Tennessee, so we have hot/humid summers, and sometimes cold winters. I'm also pushing a ~34" tire. Not sure what gear ratio is, I haven't looked. I run 89 or 93, depending on gas prices.

My problem is this- no surprise, I have a sticky lifter. Last summer, it was intermittent. It would be silent for the first 1000mi on the oil life. I could run 10min to the interstate on back roads, then about 5mi on the interstate the lifters would sound like they're about to come out of the valve cover after 1000mi on new oil. Oil pressure was 34-42psi running 75mph. During the winter, my truck will be virtually silent until I started pulling my boat down the interstate. At one point this past winter, I was going up Monteagle mountain and thought I was about to throw a rod.

I ran Seafoam in the crank at the end of this last oil cycle. I got an additional 20lbs of oil pressure afterward, but immediately got the lifter tick again. Like I said above, during summer I can usually run 1000mi in silence. I also put new plugs in it then. This oil change I used Wix filter, Mobile1 Truck/SUV 5w30, and Lucas stabilizer.

I've run Rotella 5w40, 15w40, Valvoline 5w40 Premium Blue, Valvoline MaxLife (syn blend) 5w30, Mobile1 5w40, Mobile1 5w30 Truck/SUV (synthetic), some with Lucas stabilizer, some without. Some with MMO, some without. Always with a Wix filter.


I'm at the point now where I'm afraid I've damaged my cam. I just got a new daily so I can park my truck. That brings me here, guys..

I started looking at long blocks and comparing prices. I found a 5.3 400hp motor advertised at Powertrain Products for $3500. Then I realized I'd be sending them an aluminum block and taller cam, only to get an iron block in return, and I'd like to keep my aluminum block. I don't know that the 400hp PP motor will have the low-end torque I need for towing. They don't list their components on their webpage.

Then I started looking at truck cams, which lead me here. I could have my heads ported/polished, put a TBSS intake on it, a set of long tubes, and put a truck cam in it (or just replace my OE cam) with an 89+ tune, and come close to that same 400hp number without doing an engine swap.


Am I smoking crack here, or does this sound more feasible? I dare not speak about how well my trans is running (knock on wood!!!). I've had ZERO mechanical issues out of this truck/motor, other than the lifters. The truck is paid for, and I have no intentions of getting rid of it.

I guess what I'm asking of you folks is for either, "Dude, you're f'n crazy," or "Yeah, you got this," or "Hey have you heard of this _____?" I'm here for the advantages vs disadvantages, good, bad indifferent.







TL;DR wHaT cAm shUd i ruN? is My moToR ToStE