blueox9771

I'm have a bone stock 2001 Chevy 1500 z71 automatic looking to put a hot cam in and a full exhaust and cold air intake not really looking for a power house just good sounding good running pickup. I have a bach. degree in heavy equipment and diesel tech. but the gas burners throw me for a loop. esp efi. So other than the cam springs and push rods. what kinda of tuning do i need and is that something i can do myself through a programmer or chip. please help. thanks alot.

country_09

It's a lot more than just pickin a cam out and throwin it in. The transmissions stock don't hold up to a whole lot of power over stock. You plan on puttin in a stall or doin any other upgrades for the transmssion so it doesn't go out?

Motor mods cold air intake is a good start, look into Longtube headers and off road y-pipe as well to get the most out of the cam. Tunin, don't look into a programmer or chip, find a custom tuner in the area or close by that can do an in person tune on the truck. Will be much better route for what you're lookin for.

Cam options depend a lot on what you're lookin for and the stall choice. Can't go to big on the stock stall or it wouldn't be worth it. A good daily driver cam is a 212/218 112 lsa cam, may have to do a custom grind for the lsa to be a 112, springs and pushrods are usually the only things to be replaced when doin the swap. With that 212/218 I'd do at least a 2600-2800 stall, circle d and yank are some of the bigger stall/converter companies out there. Want a lil more, then a 220/220 112lsa with a 3000 stall is awesome. My bro had it in his Tahoe and it ran great. There quite a bit to look into, just gotta know what you want to do with the truck

blueox9771

im lookimg for a cam that candily drive but sill have a sick sound. with as little mods as possible. regaurdless i know im gonna have to tune, headers (ill probably do shortys) deff y and maybe x pipe. stall if necessary dep. on cam but as little tranny mods as possible. so what do u suggest. thanks for the reply

blueox9771

honestly dont want a powerhouse just a little peppy truck its lifted on 35s

country_09

Don't look into shorties, the shorty headers and your stock manifolds about flow the same. They have no size difference in tubin or primaries. And if it's mainly for sound, a 212/218 112 lsa would be the biggest I'd go, they have smaller and available, but it's more work than it would be gains from a smaller cam. Now I really recommend a few upgrades to the transmission, especially now that I know you have 35s on the truck. The 4L60e doesn't take well to bigger tires, I've blown mine and my bro has blown 3 of em, all stock transmssions, with only an cold air intake, Longtube headers, and a tune for the motor.

Also for pep, bein on 35s doesn't help. A cam alone won't do as much as you think for you. The reason is, gearing, mechanical advantage. You're probably on stock 3.73 gears and a g80. The g80 is a tickin time bomb, ask me how I know, or my bro, or 2 of my buddies. I've regeared and went to 4.88s and couldn't be happier, it's so much more fun to drive, and I'm still only with headers, Intake and a tune. The gears keep you in the sweet spot of the motor, basically power on tap. I know you said stuff that doesn't require a lot of supportin mods, but throwin a cam in and just drivin it could be costly. There's a few things to do to kinda help that out.

If it were me and I was still on stock tranny and gears, my list would be to

Regear- 4.56 or 4.88 gears, but this means you'll have to do fronts to keep 4wd, not necessary right away though
Tranny upgrades- hd2 shift kit, vette servo, and a bigger transmssion cooler to keep temps down(tru-cool has best coolers, most go with a 40k cooler)
Then Longtube headers with an off road y-pipe, 212/218 112 lsa cam and tune to top it off.