stick and a horse/ 5.3 cam help
06-19-2018, 01:22 PM
#1
On The Tree
Thread Starter
stick and a horse/ 5.3 cam help
So I have done a lot of reading the last couple of days trying to gain a little better knowledge of cams and pairing them with my expectations for my truck. Out of all the threads I have read I come across one that was pretty close to what I am trying to accomplish. This is whats I have and what I am looking for, I have a 2006 sierra with the 5.3L the truck is a crew cab 4x4 that is and will continue to be my daily driver. I do haul with the truck occasionally but during the summer I haul a 22 ft pontoon boat every could weeks probably. I want the truck to be more responsive throughout the RPM range, I know a lot of the lag when taking off is the TM, and when pulling a load a the truck is less than impressive. I need help selecting a cam that will wake this engine up, I want usable TQ and HP not just a big peak number. I have a CAI and a diablo i3 programmer and will be purchasing long tube headers soon. After i select the right cam for me and get it installed I will of course be getting a custom tune to get the most out of my work. If anyone has any advice I am all ears. Also taking recommendations for a torque converter that will go hand in hand with the cam and drivablility im looking for. I have contacted a few companies to get their input and am still waiting for a reply. Thanks in advance for any input and sorry again if I am beating a dead horse, there is just such a large selection of options and i would like to hear some testimony so I can get the best bang for the buck and not make the mistake of going too big or too small. 
06-19-2018, 04:09 PM
#2
On The Tree
Thread Starter
Texas speed recommended this Texas Speed Beehive Spring Cam Package for Cathedral Port Heads (LS1/LS2/LS6). Said it was good up to 6300rpm and makes plenty of power down low. Any input to support this?
06-19-2018, 05:37 PM
#3
Yes that cam is good, it's one of the better ones for a daily driver as it's not too crazy and can still be used with a stock stall converter if you wanted too.
Consider adding slightly larger injectors to your list if you truck is a non flex fuel truck. The non flex fuel injectors are only 25lb/hr and can be at their limits with a camshaft/headers/tune upgrade. It's better to just get some that are slightly larger to be safe. Most will go with factory 8.1 Vortec injectors that are 31lb/hr with plug and play data that can be found on any 8.1 calibration.
Consider adding slightly larger injectors to your list if you truck is a non flex fuel truck. The non flex fuel injectors are only 25lb/hr and can be at their limits with a camshaft/headers/tune upgrade. It's better to just get some that are slightly larger to be safe. Most will go with factory 8.1 Vortec injectors that are 31lb/hr with plug and play data that can be found on any 8.1 calibration.
06-22-2018, 10:13 AM
#4
Anything with less than 220* of duration will be just fine. If you are towing, I'm not sure I would recommend a Trailblazer I-6 converter as the lockup clutch area is smaller. At least use Sonnax 1-2 and 3-4 servos for the trans as well as a larger transmission cooler.
I have a Comp 54-451-11 in my 5.3 avalanche and ported 862s with headers. Gets off the line just fine, fuel economy stayed the same. My 3000RPM converter is probably doing the most damage to my fuel economy but...it's a truck....
I have a Comp 54-451-11 in my 5.3 avalanche and ported 862s with headers. Gets off the line just fine, fuel economy stayed the same. My 3000RPM converter is probably doing the most damage to my fuel economy but...it's a truck....
06-27-2018, 03:33 PM
#5
I'd do one of the drop in truck cams and LS6 valve springs. Stick to one of the smaller truck cams, the bigger they get the more low end you trade off for top end. Do a cold air, headers, and good exhaust or just upgrade the muffler to a straight through. Bump up your fuel octane a bit and add timing to get a little more low end (and overall power) out of it if you don't wan't to pull the heads and mill them for compression. Or do both. Compression would help with your goal.
I'd do a better stall than the trailblazer, because like mentioned it has a small lock up clutch, you don't want a tiny lockup to lockup while pulling a trailer, it'll become a no longer locks up at all lockup, quickly.
Gears are kinda long in a 4L60 so I would consider also doing gears or lower diameter tires to help also. Or a 6L80 swap would be super cool haha
I'd do a better stall than the trailblazer, because like mentioned it has a small lock up clutch, you don't want a tiny lockup to lockup while pulling a trailer, it'll become a no longer locks up at all lockup, quickly.
Gears are kinda long in a 4L60 so I would consider also doing gears or lower diameter tires to help also. Or a 6L80 swap would be super cool haha
06-28-2018, 10:00 AM
#6
Correct. I even have problems with my Circle D budget converter. It unlocks and then doesn't lockup again until the engine has been off long enough. I have a 40k cooler and while towing a 3000lb trailer at 70, it's at 160 degrees, then if it has to unlock, it will remain unlocked until I shut it off and let it cool down. Works great without the trailer!! ha
06-29-2018, 10:18 AM
#7
On The Tree
Thread Starter
Update on what I have done and what I’m going with. I purchased some LT headers and y pipe from TSP, they were supposed to be fitted for the 4x4, I had fittment issues, 1 the headers are touching the frame on both passenger and driver side. 2 the y pipe was rubbing on my front drive shaft. Instead of taking my cross member out to remove the stock y pipe I cut it out so there was no turning back, so instead of sending them back I used a little heat and a pry bar and made a small indention for clearance ( not really what I wanted to do on a new set of headers and y pipe) the quality of the pipes looks good and they were well put together just wish they fit like they were supposed to, they did bolt up to my factory exhaust as stated. For the cam I decided to go with the 212/218 .550 .550 112 lsa instead of the high lift. I ordered it today, once it arrives I will install it and take the truck to a shop near me to have the tune done. As for the transmission I ordered a larger cooler and thinking about installing a transgo shift kit and corvette servo to improve shifting and reduce slippage. Thanks for the input guys!
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06-29-2018, 11:55 AM
#8
Update on what I have done and what I’m going with. I purchased some LT headers and y pipe from TSP, they were supposed to be fitted for the 4x4, I had fittment issues, 1 the headers are touching the frame on both passenger and driver side. 2 the y pipe was rubbing on my front drive shaft. Instead of taking my cross member out to remove the stock y pipe I cut it out so there was no turning back, so instead of sending them back I used a little heat and a pry bar and made a small indention for clearance ( not really what I wanted to do on a new set of headers and y pipe) the quality of the pipes looks good and they were well put together just wish they fit like they were supposed to, they did bolt up to my factory exhaust as stated. For the cam I decided to go with the 212/218 .550 .550 112 lsa instead of the high lift. I ordered it today, once it arrives I will install it and take the truck to a shop near me to have the tune done. As for the transmission I ordered a larger cooler and thinking about installing a transgo shift kit and corvette servo to improve shifting and reduce slippage. Thanks for the input guys!
Sounds good man, and for what it's worth now, usually when you have that many fitment issues with known good quality headers it's due to worn/sagging motor mounts. Seen many threads where people had old mounts and a lot of issues and people that did new mounts and had zero issues.
May not 100% be the case for you, but it's a common thing.
06-29-2018, 12:35 PM
#9
On The Tree
Thread Starter
I thought about that too, I visually inspected them and the motor mounds looked good, I applied pressure with a jack and they didn’t seem to have a lot of play, definitely didn’t seem loose or worn out. I nearly didn’t have any clearance with the transmission pan but after some adjustments that got better. When I applied pressure with the jack under the engine it seemed to make the contact on the front drive shaft and transmission pan worse. I may replace the mounts anyways and see if it helps or hurts. If they don’t help I’ll save the new mounts for later. I chalked it up to maybe just getting a set of headers that slipped through quality control. I hear mostly good reviews on their products so that’s where I ordered my cam package from as well.
06-29-2018, 03:40 PM
#10
I thought about that too, I visually inspected them and the motor mounds looked good, I applied pressure with a jack and they didn’t seem to have a lot of play, definitely didn’t seem loose or worn out. I nearly didn’t have any clearance with the transmission pan but after some adjustments that got better. When I applied pressure with the jack under the engine it seemed to make the contact on the front drive shaft and transmission pan worse. I may replace the mounts anyways and see if it helps or hurts. If they don’t help I’ll save the new mounts for later. I chalked it up to maybe just getting a set of headers that slipped through quality control. I hear mostly good reviews on their products so that’s where I ordered my cam package from as well.
Could be any one of those things, sucks you had issues. As far as looking at the motor mounts usually the most obvious sign (outside of the motor jumping out of the bay from the mount being broken) is comparing the oil pan gap to the cross member and seeing if the gap is even all the way across. On my 04 I had no motor mount issues like banging when I gave it gas or anything but the motor was leaning pretty hard when looking at that gap.