04 2500HD 4x4 CCSB 6.0L / 4l80e / 4.10 175k miles
All Stock and worse for wear
Bought the truck back in March and have been slowly fixing all the neglect on it, but now oil pressure dropped to 4psi @ idle, 14 @ 2500 RPM. As far as I've dug into the motor, I've just decided to pull it and rebuild/upgrade.
I'd like to keep drivability/idle quality/emissions in check - doesn't have to pass smog, I just don't want the cats burning up. Don't want a screamer either - this is a family truck and wife already thinks it's too loud.

was thinking Comp's 212/218 (54-412-11) but a few threads I've read stated this is a fairly small cam for a 6.0. If so, what's the largest cam that would maintain like/near stock behavior?
Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance you can offer.

 

Something like this would be good for what you're wanting to do. Don't forget to change you valve springs while you're at it. Plus you'll want some new harden chromoly push rods. You'll also want a set of 8.1 liter injectors, and a tune from Black Bear Performance, or someone that knows how to properly tune your truck.


https://www.texas-speed.com/p-4925-t...-camshaft.aspx

 

With that much lift is drivetrain reliability going to be affected? Whats the adv. Dur. On that cam? Or better yet a cam card?

 

If you upgrade your springs, and your push rods, you won't have any issues with that amount of lift. I've been running a similar cam for 54k miles in my 2007 2500hd Classic with the 6.0, 6" lift, 35" tires, 4.88 gears, and not a lick of trouble. I even had my rev limiter and shift points raised. I bang on the limiter at 6k rpm regularly. It's a good motor, and if you do the necessary upgrades (good springs and push rods), you'll be happy.

You can go with the low lift version of that cam as well, and probably be happy with it too.

https://www.texas-speed.com/p-5002-t...-camshaft.aspx

It lists the duration (212/218) on the website I provided you, and you can pick either a 114, 113, 112, or 111 LSA.

If you go with too much duration you'll lose your driveability, unless you want to change out your torque converter to a higher stall.

 

Okay. I'll call them about adv. Dur. Is the 8.1 injector upgrade to handle the increased duty cycle or volume per pulse (curious)? Is a tune mandatory for it to start/run?

 

It will start and run after just the cam, springs, and pr's. It may stall and die when you come to a stop at stop, or turn the AC on, but it will start and drive. Once you get your tune back from BBP or whoever tunes it, then you can install the 8.1 injectors. And yes you will max out the stock injectors duty cycle. You can find a set of used 8.1 injectors on ebay for cheap if you watch from them.

 

If it were me I would throw a 4.00" crank in it.

 

A cam, and the 91 octane tune that BBP did for me, really woke my truck up. I'd recommend BBP for the tune. I don't have anyone near me to do a tune, so I used them, and have no complaints. Find a ecu that will work in your truck, and buy it. When it comes time to do the tune, just send the extra one in to them. Then you don't have any down time. I've got a spare in my garage for this very purpose.

 

The problem with BBP is that it's not a real time tune, it's basically a complete guess at tuning before you can send them data logs and wait for corrections. Anyone can just spam the PE with more fuel, raise/lower the timng and make it run but it can take a long time to truely dial in the VE and MAF curve for the change in airflow. Of all the BBP tunes I've seen and read about, they don't get everything in line up to my standards.

Having owned a tuner for many years it's easier to see where spots are skipped. It may be some peoples only option but if you can find someone local I'd suggest that route before blackbear.

 

I agree with this 100%. ^^^^^
In my case I live several hours from the nearest decent sized town, and 4+ hours from the nearest town I'd trust to tune my truck. I plan on doing an in person tune in the near future.