2007 Tahoe cam choice

[nitro498]

2007 Tahoe w/ 5.3 non flex fuel. I am rebuilding the engine now. Went back with stock bore flat tops. Doing the DOD delete. Had the 799 heads reworked, including installing BTR springs. The cam I’m using is an older BTR low lift truck cam.

I’m having second thoughts concerning this cam and MPG. The Tahoe has a stock 4L65E thanks and stock rearend. I want to be able to pull a car on an open trailer. That’s all I want to be able to do. I do understand the trans is a weak link. I have an HP Tuner and tuning friends.

Can someone guesstimate my MPG using this cam? I understand fuel efficiency is going to be bad pulling a trailer. I will mainly be using the Tahoe highway and city split.

 

[Geotrash]

2007 Tahoe w/ 5.3 non flex fuel. I am rebuilding the engine now. Went back with stock bore flat tops. Doing the DOD delete. Had the 799 heads reworked, including installing BTR springs. The cam I’m using is an older BTR low lift truck cam.

I’m having second thoughts concerning this cam and MPG. The Tahoe has a stock 4L65E thanks and stock rearend. I want to be able to pull a car on an open trailer. That’s all I want to be able to do. I do understand the trans is a weak link. I have an HP Tuner and tuning friends.

Can someone guesstimate my MPG using this cam? I understand fuel efficiency is going to be bad pulling a trailer. I will mainly be using the Tahoe highway and city split.

I’ll bite. I estimate 15 around town and 18 on the highway. 7-8 mpg towing.

 

[Trey Hardy]

I second that my Silverado gets 15-17mph same setup
BEWARE please inspect your Brian tooley springs super well like with a magnifying glass type way mine came with super small rust pits you couldn’t see by looking at it normally and ended up having a faulty spring which broke in half and trashed my head lifter spring and pushrod along with cracking my head I would highly suggest getting springs from Texas speed or somewhere else just from that experience they did give me a top end rebuild kit but I had to supply my heads myself and reuse my cam Because they wouldn’t warranty that…
I have the btr nsr cam and it rips with the stock converter grunt down low and the harder you turn her the more power and top end it’ll want to make in my experience my truck wants you do drive it like you stole it she’s a blast around town!
Upgrade your rocker trunions while your in there ls7 lifters and blue springs will be fine depending on your cam size they are cheap just get GM ones or from a trusted vendor
As for the tranny get a tru cool 40k dropped my temp from the 220 range down to 165-175 very cheap insurance to prolong your transmission and easy to add to your vehicle

 

[Trey Hardy]

2007 Tahoe w/ 5.3 non flex fuel. I am rebuilding the engine now. Went back with stock bore flat tops. Doing the DOD delete. Had the 799 heads reworked, including installing BTR springs. The cam I’m using is an older BTR low lift truck cam.

I’m having second thoughts concerning this cam and MPG. The Tahoe has a stock 4L65E thanks and stock rearend. I want to be able to pull a car on an open trailer. That’s all I want to be able to do. I do understand the trans is a weak link. I have an HP Tuner and tuning friends.

Can someone guesstimate my MPG using this cam? I understand fuel efficiency is going to be bad pulling a trailer. I will mainly be using the Tahoe highway and city split.

.

 

[Geotrash]

I second that my Silverado gets 15-17mph same setup
BEWARE please inspect your Brian tooley springs super well like with a magnifying glass type way mine came with super small rust pits you couldn’t see by looking at it normally and ended up having a faulty spring which broke in half and trashed my head lifter spring and pushrod along with cracking my head I would highly suggest getting springs from Texas speed or somewhere else just from that experience they did give me a top end rebuild kit but I had to supply my heads myself and reuse my cam Because they wouldn’t warranty that…
I have the btr nsr cam and it rips with the stock converter grunt down low and the harder you turn her the more power and top end it’ll want to make in my experience my truck wants you do drive it like you stole it she’s a blast around town!
Upgrade your rocker trunions while your in there ls7 lifters and blue springs will be fine depending on your cam size they are cheap just get GM ones or from a trusted vendor
As for the tranny get a tru cool 40k dropped my temp from the 220 range down to 165-175 very cheap insurance to prolong your transmission and easy to add to your vehicle

How long were your btr springs in there before one broke? I’m running btrs on my 2012.

 

[iamdub]

2007 Tahoe w/ 5.3 non flex fuel. I am rebuilding the engine now. Went back with stock bore flat tops. Doing the DOD delete. Had the 799 heads reworked, including installing BTR springs. The cam I’m using is an older BTR low lift truck cam.

I’m having second thoughts concerning this cam and MPG. The Tahoe has a stock 4L65E thanks and stock rearend. I want to be able to pull a car on an open trailer. That’s all I want to be able to do. I do understand the trans is a weak link. I have an HP Tuner and tuning friends.

Can someone guesstimate my MPG using this cam? I understand fuel efficiency is going to be bad pulling a trailer. I will mainly be using the Tahoe highway and city split.

With the mods in my sig, my cruising MPG averages are:

26 at 60
22 at 70
21 at 75
19 at 80

City averages, with the looser converter, etc. aren't even worth looking at. I don't drive enough city to average it together with the highway MPG. Basically, I get the same or better overall MPG as I did when stock with AFM and I have 80-100 HP more as calculated by my before and after ETs. I run 91-93 due to the compression and tuning. Those, the tighter quench, the extra power made at the cruising RPM and the improved aerodynamics of being lowered are the key contributing factors. So, subtract a few MPG where applicable for your build.


As for towing- pfft. You already know that's nothing to really watch. I only have two experiences with towing. One is a ~900 lb. electric golf cart on a 5x8 mesh-bottom trailer from Tampa, Florida to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Averaged 17-18 MPG at 70:





The other is a compact 4-door (Mitsubishi Outlander) on a tow dolly from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Averaged 19 MPG at 65 and 18 MPG at 70:

 

[Trey Hardy]

How long were your btr springs in there before one broke? I’m running btrs on my 2012.

Lasted 3 days before it broke btr said they may see it happen once or twice a year and you ought to know I’d be one of those people…
I’ve always liked Brian tooley racing I’ve just had the one bad experience with them that’s made me weary on certain parts I guess or again it was just my luck they were ls7 springs but the btr brand and not the blue Gm springs like I should’ve got however the new set I got ain’t give me any issues so far.

 

[Geotrash]

Lasted 3 days before it broke btr said they may see it happen once or twice a year and you ought to know I’d be one of those people…View attachment 384066View attachment 384067View attachment 384068
I’ve always liked Brian tooley racing I’ve just had the one bad experience with them that’s made me weary on certain parts I guess or again it was just my luck they were ls7 springs but the btr brand and not the blue Gm springs like I should’ve got however the new set I got ain’t give me any issues so far.

Gotcha. I have about 20k on my set so far. They’re the btr springs designed to handle .560 lift so hopefully they’re a good grade of steel.

 

[Trey Hardy]

They should be fine a bunch of my racing buddy’s were surprised and one was worried because he had the same set in his truck.

BTR .560" BEEHIVE VALVE SPRING SET - SP011-16

Brian Tooley Racing beehive valve springs are an excellent upgrade for your mild LS engine equipped with a BTR truck cam.

briantooleyracing.com

If you got 20k miles already they should be fine again they told me it was a rare once or twice a year type thing and Just my luck i was the one who got em I had less then 500 miles when mine broke
Sounds like you got the same set also just be careful I have tested the new set only once doing a big burnout bouncing off the limiter and put maybe 2500 miles if even on it since the rebuild since I’m still waiting for my tuner I only drive it short distances locally until I get it dialed in just right but runs and drives great however I already had the tune for my mods minus the cam and head swap

Gotcha. I have about 20k on my set so far. They’re the btr springs designed to handle .560 lift so hopefully they’re a good grade of steel.

 

[Geotrash]

They should be fine a bunch of my racing buddy’s were surprised and one was worried because he had the same set in his truck.

BTR .560" BEEHIVE VALVE SPRING SET - SP011-16

Brian Tooley Racing beehive valve springs are an excellent upgrade for your mild LS engine equipped with a BTR truck cam.

briantooleyracing.com

If you got 20k miles already they should be fine again they told me it was a rare once or twice a year type thing and Just my luck i was the one who got em I had less then 500 miles when mine broke
Sounds like you got the same set also just be careful I have tested the new set only once doing a big burnout bouncing off the limiter and put maybe 2500 miles if even on it since the rebuild since I’m still waiting for my tuner I only drive it short distances locally until I get it dialed in just right but runs and drives great however I already had the tune for my mods minus the cam and head swap

Thanks for the details. Very helpful. I won’t worry about them.