Input or advice from others on cam swap for 6.2L 2011 Yukon Denali

[JPS0284]

So I just took it out for a test drive and it feels like a completely different truck. I didn’t do any wot pulls but it feels so much more responsive. I think Im having a similar issue that Hager brought up about the converter pushing through at a stop. I’ll have to reach out to Black Bear for a fix.Thanks everyone for all your kind words encouragement. I really appreciate all your help/advice!

 

[hagar]

So I just took it out for a test drive and it feels like a completely different truck. I didn’t do any wot pulls but it feels so much more responsive. I think Im having a similar issue that Hager brought up about the converter pushing through at a stop. I’ll have to reach out to Black Bear for a fix.Thanks everyone for all your kind words encouragement. I really appreciate all your help/advice!

Super awesome! Do another oil change after first drive is my approach. Would have suggested you use cheap oil with a break in additive if I thought of it. You did absolutely nothing wrong, just costs an extra 50 bucks for oil. You didn't do any damage or anything.

I put a factory built HKS team racing engine in a MK4 supra like 10 years ago, like 40 grand for just the long block. The crate showed up, busted it open, and there was the engine, packed with boxes of oil and filters. 5 filters, and 5 oil changes worth of oil.

Step one. Start car with new engine, shut off once engine temp registers, then shut off and change oil.

Step 2 after full engine cool down, fire up car and warm up to full temp, rev to 3 grand a few times, shut off and change oil. Ridiculous maybe, but metal comes off early.
I personally change all diff and tcsse and engine oils super early.

 

[JPS0284]

Super awesome! Do another oil change after first drive is my approach. Would have suggested you use cheap oil with a break in additive if I thought of it. You did absolutely nothing wrong, just costs an extra 50 bucks for oil. You didn't do any damage or anything.

I put a factory built HKS team racing engine in a MK4 supra like 10 years ago, like 40 grand for just the long block. The crate showed up, busted it open, and there was the engine, packed with boxes of oil and filters. 5 filters, and 5 oil changes worth of oil.

Step one. Start car with new engine, shut off once engine temp registers, then shut off and change oil.

Step 2 after full engine cool down, fire up car and warm up to full temp, rev to 3 grand a few times, shut off and change oil. Ridiculous maybe, but metal comes off early.
I personally change all diff and tcsse and engine oils super early.

Thanks so much Hager, that sounds intense but I imagine with that kinda money on the line it’s all about attention to the fine details. I took it for a 5 mile loop around the block last night, so drive it to work tomorrow then change the oil again? Also like you mentioned before about the torque converter pushing through at a stop, how do you get your tuner to remedy that?

 

[JPS0284]

So during the cam swap I decided to add the speed engineering 1 7/8s long tubes headers with their Y pipe which deleted the OEM cats. The Y pipe ended just after the OEM resonator and before the OEM muffler. So I cut it out the resonator and coupled the Y pipe to the OEM muffler. To say the least it’s a little louder than I’d like it and the wife said “Is there something wrong with it? that’s embarrassing!” . So I have room between the Y pipe and the muffler, what would be the best solution to toning it down. A resonator or a high flow cat?

 

[Geotrash]

So during the cam swap I decided to add the speed engineering 1 7/8s long tubes headers with their Y pipe which deleted the OEM cats. The Y pipe ended just after the OEM resonator and before the OEM muffler. So I cut it out the resonator and coupled the Y pipe to the OEM muffler. To say the least it’s a little louder than I’d like it and the wife said “Is there something wrong with it? that’s embarrassing!” . So I have room between the Y pipe and the muffler, what would be the best solution to toning it down. A resonator or a high flow cat?

@iamdub or @swathdiver will have some good insights for this one, I suspect.

Congrats on the successful conclusion to your work and I'm glad it's running strong. I forgot now which cam you ended up with but anything that has a decent chop at idle will push through the brakes a little with a stock stall on the TC. Blackbear may be able to help smooth it out a little, but you may end up going to a TC with a higher stall at some point to get its manners under control. That was the primary reason I went with the Cam Motion cam on my build - it featured a smooth idle.

 

[JPS0284]

@iamdub or @swathdiver will have some good insights for this one, I suspect.

Congrats on the successful conclusion to your work and I'm glad it's running strong. I forgot now which cam you ended up with but anything that has a decent chop at idle will push through the brakes a little with a stock stall on the TC. Blackbear may be able to help smooth it out a little, but you may end up going to a TC with a higher stall at some point to get its manners under control. That was the primary reason I went with the Cam Motion cam on my build - it featured a smooth idle.

Thanks so much for all your kind words of wisdom geo, okay yeah that makes sense I’ll reach out to them soon. I went with the TSP L92 stage 1 VVT cam. So far I’m really liking it but I haven’t really witnessed any of the upgrades full potential yet. I’ve been babying it a little after all the ups and downs I think I’ll just cruise it awhile let my Knuckles heal a little. I ordered a resonator to help quite down the exhaust drone and a oil catch can after noticing a lot of oil buildup inside the intake.

 

[iamdub]

So during the cam swap I decided to add the speed engineering 1 7/8s long tubes headers with their Y pipe which deleted the OEM cats. The Y pipe ended just after the OEM resonator and before the OEM muffler. So I cut it out the resonator and coupled the Y pipe to the OEM muffler. To say the least it’s a little louder than I’d like it and the wife said “Is there something wrong with it? that’s embarrassing!” . So I have room between the Y pipe and the muffler, what would be the best solution to toning it down. A resonator or a high flow cat?

Cats are great mufflers. I don't mind some loudness but it was ridiculous when I deleted my cats with headers. I'd use an actual muffler instead of a resonator in trying to tone down the volume. A resonator's purpose is to cancel out specific frequencies, as with droning that happens at a specific RPM range. It's not so much for lowering the overall volume, which is really what you need.

To give you some idea, I had an 18" straight-through muffler on my otherwise stock exhaust and it was perfect. Very mild rumble at idle and when cruising so you didn't have to raise your voice or crank up the radio, but it growled something fierce at WOT/high RPM. Lost the cats and it was almost like I had no muffler. Just a nuisance at all times. I added a 22" straight-through muffler right after that 18" one which brought it to right around a stock volume level, if not slightly louder. Definitely a performance sound, but not annoyingly loud. I wanted it quiet since I have a dual valve electric cutout to adjust the volume.

 

[JPS0284]

Cats are great mufflers. I don't mind some loudness but it was ridiculous when I deleted my cats with headers. I'd use an actual muffler instead of a resonator in trying to tone down the volume. A resonator's purpose is to cancel out specific frequencies, as with droning that happens at a specific RPM range. It's not so much for lowering the overall volume, which is really what you need.

To give you some idea, I had an 18" straight-through muffler on my otherwise stock exhaust and it was perfect. Very mild rumble at idle and when cruising so you didn't have to raise your voice or crank up the radio, but it growled something fierce at WOT/high RPM. Lost the cats and it was almost like I had no muffler. Just a nuisance at all times. I added a 22" straight-through muffler right after that 18" one which brought it to right around a stock volume level, if not slightly louder. Definitely a performance sound, but not annoyingly loud. I wanted it quiet since I have a dual valve electric cutout to adjust the volume.

thanks for the advice I appreciate it! okay I’ll check out some straight through mufflers. Thanks for the recommendations

 

[hagar]

I killed the timing at idle in drive and when returning to idle while coasting to fix the stall push. I am too late on the exhaust thing, but as said above, cats make great mufflers, and they help clean up some stink.
Funny story since you brought up the wife and embarrassed. I did a big ass heads cam on a new c6 corvette when they first came out for a customer. He called me 2 days later to book it in to have the cam taken out and a supercharger put on instead. He said his wife was too embarrassed to ride in it because of how it sounded.

 

[JPS0284]

I killed the timing at idle in drive and when returning to idle while coasting to fix the stall push. I am too late on the exhaust thing, but as said above, cats make great mufflers, and they help clean up some stink.
Funny story since you brought up the wife and embarrassed. I did a big ass heads cam on a new c6 corvette when they first came out for a customer. He called me 2 days later to book it in to have the cam taken out and a supercharger put on instead. He said his wife was too embarrassed to ride in it because of how it sounded.

Haha they just don’t get it..

 

[CassiusClay]

I do this for a living and get tons of feedback, all positive. I am doing a stage 3 l92 vvt right now in a regular cab short box, it should be an absolute freak for what it is, being a little 2 wheel drive.
It still sounds like a nice size cam, don't worry at all about that. It is for sure more on the aggressive side than the tiny cam side, it is very noticeable.
It really makes sense when you think about it. Racers have been installing cams advance or retarded for years, depending on tracks and the power range they are looking for. Traditional cams are a middle of the road as a default, then cam designers make them more advanced for heavy vehicles, and more retarded for lightweight vehicles that need less help getting going.

I do this for a living and get tons of feedback, all positive. I am doing a stage 3 l92 vvt right now in a regular cab short box, it should be an absolute freak for what it is, being a little 2 wheel drive.
It still sounds like a nice size cam, don't worry at all about that. It is for sure more on the aggressive side than the tiny cam side, it is very noticeable.
It really makes sense when you think about it. Racers have been installing cams advance or retarded for years, depending on tracks and the power range they are looking for. Traditional cams are a middle of the road as a default, then cam designers make them more advanced for heavy vehicles, and more retarded for lightweight vehicles that need less help getting going.
With these cams you start off fully advanced off idle, then it progressely retards the cam on a slope, all the way to when peak power is reached. You are getting the best of all 3 worlds.

good info, thanks

 

[CassiusClay]

Fabulous! The heads on the L92/L94 flow so well that it's silly not to take full advantage of it.

Well, I suppose there is nothing keeping me from going back to VVT someday. I don't welcome the prospect of tearing back into it, so I'll probably leave it as-is for some time. But it's great for others to have this info to make more informed decisions with as they go, so thank you for taking the time to share your expertise and knowledge with us! I'll update my cam swap thread with this info also as I know a lot of people have referred to it in making their decisions.

day one member here, should have joined a long time ago! thanks to all!

 

[Denaliz]

Great info added to my original query! I hit the pause button my that part of my upgrade. Build due to not getting all parties (shops) to agree the best path forward.

Congrats on your cam purchase/build btw!