Comp cam or retune?? help me choose

[odie301]

ok looking into a comp cam for the tahoe. emailed comp they told me that a 54-424-11 would be a great choice for what i told them. So has anyone installed this cam and what is your thoughts?

This is a daily driver, and i need to keep my gas mileage. I have cai, lt headers, corvette servo, and a bb 89 oct tune currently. been getting 13-15 winter and 16-16.5 during the summer.

So the question is, how much of a power gain will the cam give me? And roughly a cost to that amount of power.

my other thought is to retune for 91-92 oct. and for the lt headers that i added after my first tune. How much more power will this give me?

I just dont want to spend 350 on a cam, plus push rods, and timing set to only gain 50 hp..if a retune would give me 20-25... just looking for you guys/gals opinions.

Also thought about just installing hardened pushrods, and maybe ratio rockers w/ the stock cam.

lets here what you all think. this is a daily driver, i drive 30 miles one way 6 days a week, i tow a boat maybe 2 times a year.

 

[TIM Z]

Get a cam and a Retune!!

Cams are awesome!! The right cam / tune will make your truck run like a ***** ape!

Comp cams is a great choice!!

You'll need valve springs also. what lift is the cam your looking at?

These 5.3's are fricken strong with a cam and tune, you wont be dissapointed.

I had a comp cams 212 218 in my 04 Z71 with a 5.3 . I used Corvette Z06 valve springs, they are priced great!

 

[odie301]

54-424-11 it list 212/218 @.050, lift .558/.563, lobe center 115*. rpm range 1400-6700.

I'm asking opinions, because i have a kid on the way and can't break the bank. I would love to go all out..but i know i shouldn't (unless someone wants to buy my 1970 vw baja bug so i can spend that money on my truck?)

I just want to make sure if i spend 350 on a cam, 120 on push rods, 130 on a new timing set, plus whatever new valve springs cost. That my motor will still hold up (i have 140k on it) and still be a great daily driver. I dont want to spend all that money to not see a "big" gain or to lose driveability.

Anyone know what to expect for mpg with this cam?? i have 3.73 gears, and currently on my drive to work my engine stays between 1500-2300 rpms.

Would love to hear more opinions on this.. i know i can save the money up..but would like to get it done before april so that when bb comes to mn i could get a retune in person...just want to make sure that a cam would be a big improvement and not a waste of money..compared to just a retune for my headers and up-ing the octane.

 

[TheFuzz]

My opinion? Get the cam AND the 91 octane tune. You'll need to get a retune for the cam anyway, so why not have him tweak it for 91 octane and reap all of the benefits?

 

[odie301]

I was planning on switching to a 91 tune anyway. just want to make sure the cam is worth the price tag. (meaning there is a big enough power/economy gain to justify buying it vs. just retuning for higher octane)

Is a stock timing set ok or do i need a better one?? i see that autozone has stock timing sets for $70. What should i get for valve springs and what do they cost?(can i get used ls6 springs?) How about hardened pushrods, stock is 7.4" long right?? my stock rockers should be fine?

 

[odie301]

Is anyone running this cam that would have some first hand knowledge of its performance and mpg?? Or someone have one that is similar? Still mulling it over. I really want a big boost it power..but don't want to spend a ton of money if it isn't going to be a fairly large gain. Just trying to keep the $/hp at a decently cheap rate.

 

[El Capitan]

put it this way...
in just about any car you can think of, a cam install is going to have one of the best HP/$ gains of any mod.
now assuming you're going with a cam that is big enough, you're going to HAVE to retune the car to make it run, idle properly, and be safe for your engine and have good driveability.
There are some cams that are small enough not to require tuning, or upgrading springs, but will still make good power.
it's always wise to replace springs, pushrods, retune, so on when doing a cam swap though. It will keep reliability to the max, and will get the most out of your cam aswell.