Cam choice for 03 Z71

[Dantheman1540]

Heads are one of the biggest gains per dollar and without doing heads the effective gains from a cam are greatly reduced. If someone is having trouble it's likely because they don't have the balls to hit their nice shiny headers with a hammer at any place they are close or slightly touching. I little massaging of problem areas will not have an effect on power Engine Masters tested this to the extreme and saw no power loss.

Not much info out there yet for that Truck Norris cam. It looks super promising but every time I see a cam with a ridiculous name it turns me off, I hate gimmicky marketing. BTR knows their stuff tho and it will be super interesting to see how it ages, unfortunately, it's out of stock right now.

 

[Dantheman1540]

For the lifters LS& have been popular for a long time although I think knockoffs have really tainted their name as far as reliability goes.

For pushrods I'd use whatever is suggested by the cam manufacture, and also measure with a pushrod length checker to make sure what they sent you is correct.

 

[Tamcphail89]

Lol ya the name of the cam turned me off initially until I talked to them. It's goofy but if it works so be it.

Is it more the headers or the y pipe that's a pain? I'll be running no cats

 

[THarber]

I had a BTR Stage II low lift in my H2 and it was a beast. Also look at swapping the stock intake for a stock TBSS intake, its a cheap mod and helps the bottom end too.

Tim

 

[Tamcphail89]

Yea I planned on trying to find an intake local.

But now I'm also toying with the idea of getting a 5.3 block local and building it up to drop in since the stock motor has nearly 300k on it

 

[Mudsport96]

Yea I planned on trying to find an intake local.

But now I'm also toying with the idea of getting a 5.3 block local and building it up to drop in since the stock motor has nearly 300k on it

My Silverado has 400k on it. If your oil changes have been regular, put a cam in it, new springs and run it.

 

[Tamcphail89]

My Silverado has 400k on it. If your oil changes have been regular, put a cam in it, new springs and run it.

Yea they've been good about maintenance. So you'd run with the stock lifters?

 

[Tamcphail89]

Few things off the top here. Noticeable lope most of the time doesn't go with better low end. For an in town street beater go with the BTR Torque cam.
Second and this may be more important than the cam... what gears does it have?
Not sure what was available for the 03s, but even stock for stock a 3.73 rig will walk a 3.42 rig. So if you have crap gears, camming up will make it worse.

My Tahoe has 3.42s and if i was looking for more performance my first move would be 4.10s

I know it is an apples oranges comparison. But from personal experience, 2 std cab short bed 4.3 s10s one with 3.08s and one with 3.73s... the 3.73 truck had 3 lengths on the 3.08 truck at the 1/4 mile both launched in 4hi for traction.

It has 3.73's

 

[Mudsport96]

Yea they've been good about maintenance. So you'd run with the stock lifters?

At 300k MAYBE get a set, but i would be wary of anything that wasnt from GM at this point in time. Quality parts are hard to come by right now. Call and talk to the cam manufacturer that you decide on and see what they recommend. If you go with one of the BTR low lift cams they dont really require springs.. but again at 300k id do springs.
As for your build it up post, i wouldn't tear it down to do bearings and rings.

 

[Tamcphail89]

At 300k MAYBE get a set, but i would be wary of anything that wasnt from GM at this point in time. Quality parts are hard to come by right now. Call and talk to the cam manufacturer that you decide on and see what they recommend. If you go with one of the BTR low lift cams they dont really require springs.. but again at 300k id do springs.
As for your build it up post, i wouldn't tear it down to do bearings and rings.

212/218 @.050, .553 lift int/exh 111+0 lsa

I found this guy selling this btr cam new in the box, with lifters, springs, rods, gaskets, ls2 timing chain, seals, arp bolts and even ngk plugs for $850 locally.

What do you think about that setup and price? Seems like a pretty solid deal