Time needed for Camshaft Change 5.3

[Dan Acosta]

I am thinking of the whole project of a cam change in my 05. It is my daily driver, so time is critical. What kind of time am I looking at for a cam change, with and without the spring change. Thanks

 

[Dan Acosta]

I think have the record for the least replied to posts...

 

[HiHoeSilver]

I think have the record for the least replied to posts...

I'll reply. I have no idea of the answer to your question. Lol

 

[Sasquatch]

A friend of mine can do an ls cam swap in three to four hours but he`s a mechanic and has done a bunch of them. I would say you could get it done in an afternoon if its your first time.

 

[Scottydoggs]

ill vote: if your first time, plan on the whole weekend and change the damn springs. dont start skimping now.

 

[Rocket Man]

I did mine along with dual springs, oil pump and timing gear in a weekend. That's without pulling the heads using the 2 rods to hold up the lifters. Just the cam without springs you could do it in a day most likely.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Don't forget, you'll most likely want to get a tune with the new cam.

 

[swathdiver]

Crane and Cam Motion both have drop in camshafts with lifts below the maximum for stock springs, so you don't have to change them. You do not even have to pull the heads, just the front cover. A long day if you've never done it before.

 

[Sgtduckyboy]

I just did this as my 6th cylinder exhaust lifter froze up. I used a Melling MTC-7 with spring upgrade. its a class 1 cam, designed for stock tune. its been tuned as of yesterday, the idle was a little off and would stall sometimes, it did run better under 91/93 octane on a 91 tune with my predator diablo it ran just about 10% lean, within range but the longer opening adds more air to the combustion. I did mine over 3 weeks as I didnt have any idea what went wrong and it was 10 degrees in the garage, I only worked at nights. I ran into a few problems with stripped bolts and threads. I'd recommend while you are in there, you have to remove the oil pump and timing gear, replace it. One take away I had was the install of the oil pump. I didnt notice nor was tehre any documentation of the 'dimples' on the gerotor gear in the pump as you assemble it, make sure the 'dimples' are facing you. I didnt know this and I'm hoping they are out and if not, it doesnt hurt! I also replaced, cam sensor, oil pressure switch, engine coolant and MAP sensor. I also cleaned my throttle body, air intake housing, injectors, dropped in new plugs and new water pump.
I think this could be done in a weekend easily, just have an extra set of hands, all the tools/parts there, I'd order all the parts i mentioned, then return what you dont use. I have the service manual in PDF form, it did help with some of the procedures, sequences and torques.

 

[ivin74]

I did mine along with dual springs, oil pump and timing gear in a weekend. That's without pulling the heads using the 2 rods to hold up the lifters. Just the cam without springs you could do it in a day most likely.

Rocketman
What specs did you use? did you install it on the Denali or the crew cab?

 

[Rocket Man]

Rocketman
What specs did you use? did you install it on the Denali or the crew cab?

Vinci High Performance "Trucker" cam :
DUR @ .050" 216*/ 224*LIFT .552/.552
LSA 115*5A

Dual valve springs, vitron seals, hardened pushrods and Yella Terra full roller rockers from them also. All on the Denali to go with a Whipple blower and American Racing headers. I had several conversations with Roger Vinci regarding what I had planned including trans and stall.

 

[Bombsquad85]

Vinci High Performance "Trucker" cam :
DUR @ .050" 216*/ 224*LIFT .552/.552
LSA 115*5A

Dual valve springs, vitron seals, hardened pushrods and Yella Terra full roller rockers from them also. All on the Denali to go with a Whipple blower and American Racing headers. I had several conversations with Roger Vinci regarding what I had planned including trans and stall.

What about someone with a stock LQ4 that wants more umpf but doesnt have the means to change converter right now? I'll do springs, seals, push rods and rockers tho

Like this one? Says nothing of converter but could still do springs rockers and pushrods

 

[Rocket Man]

What about someone with a stock LQ4 that wants more umpf but doesnt have the means to change converter right now? I'll do springs, seals, push rods and rockers tho

Like this one? Says nothing of converter but could still do springs rockers and pushrods

View attachment 216458

That should be fine but if you email them, I’m pretty sure Roger Vinci himself will answer you regarding the best cam for what you want to do. He helped me a lot.

 

[ivin74]

Vinci High Performance "Trucker" cam :
DUR @ .050" 216*/ 224*LIFT .552/.552
LSA 115*5A

Dual valve springs, vitron seals, hardened pushrods and Yella Terra full roller rockers from them also. All on the Denali to go with a Whipple blower and American Racing headers. I had several conversations with Roger Vinci regarding what I had planned including trans and stall.

Mark
Did you change out torque converter?

 

[Bombsquad85]

That should be fine but if you email them, I’m pretty sure Roger Vinci himself will answer you regarding the best cam for what you want to do. He helped me a lot.

I'll have to remember that when I'm ready. Probably wont be a while. Me and the family will be moving this summer and hopefully buying a house. Gotta find one with. Garage

 

[Rocket Man]

Mark
Did you change out torque converter?

I did, but it was later and more due to the fact that I installed a supercharger and then blew the stock trans so I upgraded the trans and added a triple disc billet torque converter which Im pretty sure is what I broke a couple months ago. That or the transfer case. Or that new transmission....arrrggghhh. I’m currently waiting until good weather to tear it apart.

 

[Rocket Man]

IIRC, Roger Vinci told me that cam would benefit from a different stall but it wasn’t necessary.

 

[RAMurphy]

IIRC, Roger Vinci told me that cam would benefit from a different stall but it wasn’t necessary.

Really not sure where this post should go, but I wanted agree with Rocket Man and give the proper accolades to Vinci Performance. A couple of months ago, after towing our camper for a year or so, I decided to upgrade my 2002 Tahoe 5.3 engine with a new camshaft. I already had other mods installed including a Black Bear tune. All these mods were information obtained from this awesome forum. Not knowing where to purchase my camshaft, I once again turned to this forum. After reading about Vince's customer service, which is very important to me, I reached out to Vinci Performance. Roger Vinci himself responded to my email. He suggested a camshaft that would meet my requirements. Further discussions with Vinci Performance and I decided to go with Yella Terra roller rockers and upgraded springs and pushrods. Throughout the build process, I must of reached out to Vinci Performance 15-20 times and they always responded within 4-6 hours - sometimes quicker. By far, Vinci Performance provided the best customer service I have ever received. I will also be posting my accolades to Black Bear Performance. Justin and team have once again showed me that I made the right choice going with Black Bear.

 

[Rocket Man]

Really not sure where this post should go, but I wanted agree with Rocket Man and give the proper accolades to Vinci Performance. A couple of months ago, after towing our camper for a year or so, I decided to upgrade my 2002 Tahoe 5.3 engine with a new camshaft. I already had other mods installed including a Black Bear tune. All these mods were information obtained from this awesome forum. Not knowing where to purchase my camshaft, I once again turned to this forum. After reading about Vince's customer service, which is very important to me, I reached out to Vinci Performance. Roger Vinci himself responded to my email. He suggested a camshaft that would meet my requirements. Further discussions with Vinci Performance and I decided to go with Yella Terra roller rockers and upgraded springs and pushrods. Throughout the build process, I must of reached out to Vinci Performance 15-20 times and they always responded within 4-6 hours - sometimes quicker. By far, Vinci Performance provided the best customer service I have ever received. I will also be posting my accolades to Black Bear Performance. Justin and team have once again showed me that I made the right choice going with Black Bear.

Awesome. I also went with the Yella Terra full roller rockers after reading about the problems with trunnion upgrades to the stock ones. I just felt the rollers were worth it. Good to hear of your experience with Vinci.