Cam swap or mild nitrous shot?

[odie301]

I have an 04 tahoe with 125k miles on it. have cai, tb spacer, and a bb tune. She goes pretty darn good with this set up(only an 89 tune). I have noticed that i can get the belt to squeal during the 1st to 2nd gear shift..and some times it will chirp the tires during that same shift.

problem is i have been getting crap from a guy i work with cause his grand prix can still pull me.(not sure why i cant beat his old school prix, cause i can beat the snot out of my wifes 08) basically it comes down to he gets out of the hole a whole lot faster than i can and then stays ahead. i was thinking a mild shot of juice may help me catch up in a hurry...but i dont want to grenade my motor.

so is a cam swap a better alternative? at least with the cam you always have the same power curve and if i get the right cam it could help my towing and my mileage correct? what all goes with a cam swap, can i just change the cam or do i need new lifters and rockers and valve springs, etc?

can you give me pros and cons of each, and maybe some price reasoning for either of the two. I do pull a boat and sled trailer every now and then and my commute to work is 30 miles one way...so i need it to be reliable and to last a while (hopefully! kind of why i am shying away from nos)

 

[Rivieraracing]

Get a supercharger!!!

 

[Rollin Thunder]

I would get LT headers, and an exhaust, then a Cam, Then get a 93 Retune.


Also the TB spacer is only good for a nitrous entrance. other wise its just adding weight to your truck. lol

 

[tybardy]

yea, tb spacer will be the biggest wast of your $50... if you want i will save you some money and you can send me $25 and i will send you a picture of my truck that you can mount in your dashboard... it will add the same amount of HP, TQ, MPG, ETC and that throttle body spacer.

anyways, i wouldnt recomend the small shot of nos without at least a few more supporting mods... just my opinion though

 

[CodeB4U]

I have an 04 tahoe with 125k miles on it. have cai, tb spacer, and a bb tune. She goes pretty darn good with this set up(only an 89 tune). I have noticed that i can get the belt to squeal during the 1st to 2nd gear shift..and some times it will chirp the tires during that same shift.

problem is i have been getting crap from a guy i work with cause his grand prix can still pull me.(not sure why i cant beat his old school prix, cause i can beat the snot out of my wifes 08)Minor thing called power to weight ratio basically it comes down to he gets out of the hole a whole lot faster than i can and then stays ahead. i was thinking a mild shot of juice may help me catch up in a hurry...but i dont want to grenade my motor. Nitrous is just as non lethal or lethal as any boost adder.

so is a cam swap a better alternative?Not really at least with the cam you always have the same power curve and if i get the right cam it could help my towing and my mileage correct?Will help towing, mileage well that is also a minor thing on how efficient your motor is tune or running. what all goes with a cam swap, can i just change the cam or do i need new lifters and rockers and valve springs, etc?It would be ideal, but if your not going to over board. You can use your stock stuff, as for your valve spring well take them out and measure the squareness, if the rebound is within spec, also change out the seals, inspect the seats and retainers, check your valve guides, valve face, valve seat, valve margin all that good stuff. Clean them up. Lots of work if done the right way. Not worth the hassle when nitrous will give you more power for less money and less work to be done.

can you give me pros and cons of each, and maybe some price reasoning for either of the two. Well nitrous beats the cam in every aspect as far as power goes, but cam is always there...nitrous...well it comes in pounds I do pull a boat and sled trailer every now and then and my commute to work is 30 miles one way...so i need it to be reliable and to last a while (hopefully! kind of why i am shying away from nos)Nitrous is not a killer, it's how you use it. I ran my S-10 through 100's of bottles, more runs then i can remember, I even pushed my luck on the amount i use on a given run knowing the consequence if i use it stupidly/incorrectly.

Find you BFSC !!


Or just take your spare tire out, your seats and carpet and get someone skinny to race it. Should be able to beat him (depending on how far he's beating you by)

 

[Max]

harris speed works makes a nitrous tb spacer, run a 50 shot off the line and you should pull him.

 

[odie301]

I have heard the tb spacer is junk..but i bought it right after i got the truck...so since i paid for it and it is installed i dont think it is hurting much. ( we had a 95 tahoe that a tb spacer actually worked on..so i bought it without researching).

so can i just tap my tb spacer and install 1 nitrous nozzle... or do i need more than that? I am guessing i can find a bottle and some solenoids for fairly cheap from some of the local honda guys. how much can i safely run and when should you hit the button? (obviously at wide open throttle but at what rpm is safe). And should i be worried about the trans not holding the extra oomph.

long tube headers are on the list of stuff to do...how much more of a gain will that make? I have been looking at the pacesetter long tubes w/ the off road y. (they are about the best priced headers)

As for the 91 or 93 octane tune..for those that have it... is it worth it? does your mileage and or power make up for the extra couple bucks a tank? I know when you look at gas prices everyone freaks out about 5 or 10 cents which equals about a dollar or 2 per tank. (maybe i shouldnt be worried about it..but it seems hard to find premium as most kwik trips only carry reg and mid.)

 

[Grebbler]

yea, tb spacer will be the biggest wast of your $50... if you want i will save you some money and you can send me $25 and i will send you a picture of my truck that you can mount in your dashboard... it will add the same amount of HP, TQ, MPG, ETC and that throttle body spacer.

You forget to mention the increase in Coolness Factor.

 

[danimalmax]

i was wondering about the 91/93 octane tune myself, how much better is it than regular?

from blackbear, of course

 

[BOSS]

What exactly does a TB spacer do?



BOSS

 

[Rollin Thunder]

What exactly does a TB spacer do?



BOSS

on fuel injected cars. NOTHING!!!! lol.

I have a 93 tune and love it.

 

[Grebbler]

Maybe I need to get re-tuned to 93 as I'm not seeing anything with the 87/89 tune.

 

[Sepiroth]

Grebbler, IIAC, you can get a tune to use your e85 capabilities to it fulles potential.

Using E85 will have 105 octane.

 

[Grebbler]

Grebbler, IIAC, you can get a tune to use your e85 capabilities to it fulles potential.

Using E85 will have 105 octane.

It's still kinda sparse here. Did you have that done?

*looking up IIAC*

 

[odie301]

the tb spacer works on older chevs that have the fuel injection and throttle body together. which is similar to a carb set up. it spaces out the throttle body from the intake making it more like a tall rise intake. I bought mine for my new truck after having it work on our 95 with tb injection...so not knowing it only worked on tb injection or carb vehicles i got suckered into buying one for my tahoe.

so a 91/93 tune is worth it? what about this e85 thing mine is a flex fuel is there way better gains?...but i am thinking that they dont have enough pumps around here to be worth it, unless the fuel sensor can allow you to switch between premium gas and e85?? I believe that is how the stock motor adjusts its fuel settings when you switch from gas to e85 or any blend in between

 

[blueflamed03]

you'll see gains on the 93 tune....

nobody has stated another obvious.

What size tires do you have and what gears do you have?
Nitrous is a quick fix, but cam, stall and gear change is always. It cost you to refill the NOS bottle....
Gears...these things weight a ton, but the motors are barely able to pull themselves. (unless you have a 6.0) so the 4.8 or 5.3 will wake up with the cam/spring swap, longtube headers, gears and small stall. Heck, even look for a TB stall...should stall to about 2600. If you have larger than stock tires/rims, possibly look at 4.10 gears.

---------- Post added at 09:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 AM ----------

imagine pulling up to Grand Prix guy sounding like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGbRCIdpV7I

 

[danimalmax]

that vid is nuts, blue

what kind of gains does one see from a gear change/cam swap/long tube headers? individually, of course

 

[odie301]

Yeah sounding like that vid would be SWEET. I am currently running stock 17in rims and the 265/70 that came on it. I believe i have the 3.73 w/ the posi lock.... i did lay a sweet burnout the other day taking off from my house when i was late for work. It was good enough to get yelled at from my wife, it goes about half way down the block w/ both tires(a little mud at the start kind of helped it spin easier)

Anywho for now i think i save up for the LT's that I have wanted and then save up for a cam. I think I would be happiest with a cam, cause it is always there and it doesn't run out or need to be refilled. SO now it is if our economy will turn around so I can afford to buy a cam.

Anyone have a recommendation for what cam to get, springs, rocker arms etc?? should I plan on getting a new set of heads, or a stock set and have them cleaned up and new springs and such installed in order to speed up my cam install time? This is my daily driver, so when I tear it down it can't take me more than a weekend to have it up and running. I assume that with it cammed it will run on my current bb tune, but probably not the best?

 

[blueflamed03]

after the LT and cam install, you'll want it retuned.
Look around, there are several places that make killer cams. Comp, TR, Vinci, etc
Longtubes? I plan to try the LPP's, stainless, and come with ORY for $500! That's a great deal.
If you have 3.73's, your good...cam and headers will make the biggest change.
Cam, springs and get hardened pushrods...leave intake and heads alone, for TQ, the heads are more than adequate.

danalimax, I have heard 50+ HP with cam and headers

---------- Post added at 09:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 AM ----------

mild cam
http://www.compcams.com/Cam_Specs/CamDetails.aspx?csid=1095&sb=2

http://www.compcams.com/Cam_Specs/CamDetails.aspx?csid=1085&sb=2

Vinci cams
http://www.vincihighperformance.com/camshaft spec list page ls truck.html

if leaving converter stock, the Vinci 080 is perfect, installing a TB stall, look at the 112 or 062.

---------- Post added at 09:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

 

[road1will]

I've never been a fan if nitrous... I'd go for the cam a retune and headers. But if moneys tight just do the nitrous