A bulk of performance questions.

[iamdub]

Preach @iamdub

lol
It's raining so everyone's asleep- I'm bored.

 

[swathdiver]

I have a 09 Tahoe 130xxx miles 5.3 4x4 stock everything except rims/tires

i want to get performance parts and basically just mess around
i also don't want to spend buckets of money (i dont really have a limit on spending just dont like the idea of dropping a few grand on a single thing)

Ya piddle around you get a piddling of performance. Save your coin and put a supercharger on it and pick up 125+ horsepower. For half the money and nearly the same increase in power, stick an L9H in there with a BlackBear tune.

For weekend piddling, AirAid MIT, BlackBear tune and go out and run E85 as soon as your tank runs low next time. Free horsepower.

Long tube headers will add about 20 rear wheel horsepower after a tune. A camshaft will deliver about the same.

My rig is stock save for the BlackBear tune and with a bad cat she made 302 rear wheel horsepower through the traps in the 1/4 mile. My next mod will be the AFM delete with a very mild camshaft. Keeping the stock manifolds. May someday run a new Flowmaster muffler with an outlet on each side just because. Same for AirAid MIT. I might even put the K&N air filter back in when the paper one gets dirty. Then I'll put in an 9-1/2" AXN rear differential. From there I'll either supercharge it or stroke it to 402 cubic inches if I'm still alive in twenty years!

As the engines get up in mileage, it is good to replace the pickup tube o-ring at the first sign of decreased oil pressure (not attributed to screen under sensor!) and maybe the oil pump. If you like AFM, upgrade the lifters and VLOM to the latest part numbers, and if not, upgrade the driver's side valve cover anyway to reduce oil consumption.

Don't cheap out on replacement parts or fluids, stick with GM OE or AC Delco Professional. Make sure the 100k service was performed and if not, get it done.

Before you do ANYTHING but fill it up with E85, go online and buy a Tech2 off ebay. More important than a wrench, you cannot successfully diagnose and work on your truck without one. It WILL pay for itself in short order with the first repairs.

 

[sumo]

Nitrous.... but a supercharger will have you grinning ear to ear. I try to take it easy but i find my self punching it needlessly because it just sounds so awesome. I also find sharing that sound with others next to me is also awesome.....well at lest for me anyways

 

[bajchi]

these are excelent answers and just what i was looking for thanks a bunch

 

[bajchi]

Deleting AFM is advised nearly 100% of the time by nearly 100% of those concerned. You can disable AFM by having it turned off in a tune or with a plug-in module (Range device). But, actually removing the components is the only surefire way to avoid potentially catastrophic engine damage from an AFM lifter failing. One of the AFM components is the cam. So, when you're deleting the AFM system, it's a perfect time to install a performance cam.

can someone point me to a good reference of this process be chance?

is there a cam that is well known to be decent for these engines?
i do better with this kind of stuff when someone points me in the exact direction i need to go (like a parts list or something)

 

[bajchi]

should i be getting lifters with a cam and afm delete
should i be getting a tune beforehand (am going with black bear)
would a tune be a fix for the afm temporarily?
i dont have any ticks but my father in laws truck up and died at 90k miles under those circumstances and needed a new engine ( i dont have that kind of money lying around)

 

[swathdiver]

People who have done this work have posted here and on other forums and some have even made video, often time-lapsed, showing it being done. There are a number of speed shops offering AFM Delete Kits like Summit Racing, Jegs, Texas Speed and Performance, etc. or you can source the parts you want yourself.

I was preparing to do mine and made a list of all the OE parts until I learned that the whole system had been rebuilt right before I bought my truck. So my AFM delete was put on the back burner for a while.

Many of us, myself included, have AFM turned off in the tune and still retain all the hardware. It can still fail, just as regular lifters do, just not as likely.

I see lots of folks picking out big camshafts advertised as small ones not requiring high stall torque converters. Many of them sound awesome but we never see real world dyno or track results or the affect on mileage and street manners. I'm an advocate for keeping the lift so low as to not require new valve springs. And the duration also low, under 210 to keep the powerband as close to original as possible. Many camshafts lose 20-40 ft lbs of torque between idle and 3000 rpms and add it back above that number. That maybe fine for a drag car, corvette or racing truck with a high stall converter and lower gears but not one with stock street manners.

 

[bajchi]

ok so i have looked into it a bit more
is there a cam kit for a gen 3 cam with new lifter springs/anything else needed that i could do at the same time as the afm delete
or something like it?

the idea of taking apart the top of the engine doesnt bother me the more research i do
would a vvt delete be a good option while i am doing this as well?

 

[swathdiver]

ok so i have looked into it a bit more
is there a cam kit for a gen 3 cam with new lifter springs/anything else needed that i could do at the same time as the afm delete
or something like it?

the idea of taking apart the top of the engine doesnt bother me the more research i do
would a vvt delete be a good option while i am doing this as well?

If you're going to run a Gen III camshaft you have to delete VVT. Almost all of the camshafts are Gen III so we have to slightly modify our Gen IVs to run them. TSP is one of the few companies that makes a Gen IV cam to work with VVT. @randeez

 

[bajchi]

If you're going to run a Gen III camshaft you have to delete VVT. Almost all of the camshafts are Gen III so we have to slightly modify our Gen IVs to run them. TSP is one of the few companies that makes a Gen IV cam to work with VVT. @randeez

that makes sense and the vvt delete kit from summit looks like it includes all parts you would be taking off to change the cam anyways and isnt too expensive
if i got one of those kits and one of the afm delete kits from them as well will those lifters in that kit be compatible with a gen 3 cam
and also is there a cam that would be recommended? i was also reading that new springs would be good to go with the cam as well does someone have product recommendations? i dont know anything about the different autoparts brands really.

https://help.summitracing.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4858
"Performance valvetrain parts from the LS1, LS2, and LS6 fit these heads. Spring Kits are available for typical 0.600 in. lift cam upgrades. Titanium retainers are another option to reduce Valve Float. For those on a tighter budget, an LS3 cam and LS6 valve springs alone can make 50 extra horsepower.."