Looking to cam my 03 tahoe

[Jbsavage]

So I'm looking to put a BTR or a Texas speed stage 4 cam in my 03 tahoe z71. It has 132k miles on it. Does anyone have any input on any things I may want to upgrade while doing this. The transmission is getting built right befor I do the cam swap and I'll be putting a circle D torque converter in. I know the kits come with most of what I need to do the swap just wanted some input from any one that has done this and what your thoughts are. Thanks in advance

 

[fasteddy]

Are you gonna pull the heads? I would. Because that increase of a cam requires new springs and I would pull the heads and have them rebuilt.
And I would throw in a new oil pump and timing chain while you're in there.
And headers if you can swing it.

5.3 + cam + headers + stall = good power.

 

[iamdub]

So I'm looking to put a BTR or a Texas speed stage 4 cam in my 03 tahoe z71. It has 132k miles on it. Does anyone have any input on any things I may want to upgrade while doing this. The transmission is getting built right befor I do the cam swap and I'll be putting a circle D torque converter in. I know the kits come with most of what I need to do the swap just wanted some input from any one that has done this and what your thoughts are. Thanks in advance

With that large of a cam, you'll definitely need an appropriate converter. Circle D can spec you something. Normal items whenever an engine is opened up for a cam would be new oil pump and timing chain. The cam itself would require valve springs and possibly custom-length push rods. I highly recommend larger diameter chromoly push rods, even if you determine stock length to be fine. I'd recommend upgraded rocker trunnion bearings as well. As Greg mentioned, have the heads redone. While they're at the machine shop, have them shaved to raise the compression. Raising the compression to around 10.5:1 would really help to reduce the low end power lost from the large cam as well as increase power across the board. Doing this is up to what grade of fuel you wanna run, though.

 

[OR VietVet]

Yep, you will live at the 93 octane pump moving forward, but hell, who cares. It is your rig, go for it.

 

[Jbsavage]

Thanks for the info guys I definitely planned to do the heads I just forgot to mention that. I had debated on putting a set of texas speed heads on it but I dint know if the budget will allow for that at the moment. I never even thought about the timing chain so thanks for that. I will be running long tube headers for sure. Thanks alot guys

 

[Mudsport96]

Watch this video on the comparison between the truck cams. I would personally do a stage 1 or 2, with 3 you see a significant low speed drop ( like 25 lb ft of tq) below 3000 a stage 4 will be a bigget loss. Yeah a 3000 converter will get you passed that when accelerating, but highway cruising will put you in that area. Also what gears do you have? It looks lkke you have aftermarket wheels, how tall are the tires? You may need to regear as well to get full benefits of a cam ove the stage 2.

 

[ks03]

Yes... Unless he’s just trying to get a super rowdy idle
Bigger than a stage 2 seems like it’d be hard to take advantage of but then if I had a 5.3 I’d be thinking torque cam and skip the converter for a daily driver... but what fun is that

 

[Jbsavage]

Watch this video on the comparison between the truck cams. I would personally do a stage 1 or 2, with 3 you see a significant low speed drop ( like 25 lb ft of tq) below 3000 a stage 4 will be a bigget loss. Yeah a 3000 converter will get you passed that when accelerating, but highway cruising will put you in that area. Also what gears do you have? It looks lkke you have aftermarket wheels, how tall are the tires? You may need to regear as well to get full benefits of a cam ove the stage 2.

Yeah I have 22x12 rims with 33x12.50xr22 tire not 100% sure what gears are in it at the moment I just got it a couple weeks ago. But i plan on regearing because i plan on lifting it with 35 inch tires on the 22s that are on it now.

 

[OR VietVet]

RPO codes on glove box:

GU4=3.08 gears, GU6=3.42 gears, GT4=3.73 gears and GT5=4.10 gears.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I have a btr stage 3 truck cam with beehive valve springs and 3000 Circle D convertor. Don't forget to upgrade your trans cooler too.

My parts list--

 

[iamdub]

Yes... Unless he’s just trying to get a super rowdy idle
Bigger than a stage 2 seems like it’d be hard to take advantage of but then if I had a 5.3 I’d be thinking torque cam and skip the converter for a daily driver... but what fun is that

The non-stock idle is part of the fun of having a non-stock cam! But I wouldn't sacrifice low-end power and city drivability just to have that. You can make a stock cam lope just with the tuning. I made my Stage 2 sound bigger than it is when I had it tuned.

 

[Jbsavage]

RPO codes on glove box:

GU4=3.08 gears, GU6=3.42 gears, GT4=3.73 gears and GT5=4.10 gears.

So mine has the 4.10 gears and the g80 limited slip

 

[Jbsavage]

The non-stock idle is part of the fun of having a non-stock cam! But I wouldn't sacrifice low-end power and city drivability just to have that. You can make a stock cam lope just with the tuning. I made my Stage 2 sound bigger than it is when I had it tuned.

Yeah I love the sound. But that's not the only reason behind the cam. I want more performance out of it also. After reading all this I have some thinking to do for sure. Thanks alot to all of you for the input

 

[OR VietVet]

So mine has the 4.10 gears and the g80 limited slip

Grunting from a stop with a cam kit and head work and those 4.10 gears should be fun to watch. Can you pass a gas station?

 

[Jbsavage]

Grunting from a stop with a cam kit and head work and those 4.10 gears should be fun to watch. Can you pass a gas station?

It's crazy but the way it's set up right it runs great. I had a kid try to race me in his Silverado the other day on I10 coming home from Alabama and he couldnt pass me I held it till it hit about 95 mph he gave up so I let out of it lol.... it has a lot of get up and go where it's at right now it's so much more responsive then my 04 cateye I had and feels like it has more power also. But my cateye had almost 290k when it got totaled this has 132k

 

[ThisIsLivin]

You can get your heads CNC ported by Katech pretty inexpensively. If I were doing a cam swap the heads would definitely get ported.