Cam selection

[99C1500JA]

Hello all!

I always wanted to restore and upgrade my 99 C1500 suburban. Now that I have a new truck, I can take the time to take the suburban into the shop for a major overhaul. Along with the restoration, I’m going to be bumping the performance a bit. Compared to my 18 Silverado 5.3, the suburban feels as snappy as a moped.

About 3 years ago, my block cracked and I replaced it with a brand new crate engine from GM. It included brand new heads, oil pan, etc. I think it cost me about $3k, but the suburban was purchased new by my grandparents and I didn’t want to toss it.

I started researching cams today and I like the idea of the GM 395 cam because it seems so simple and would require nothing but a set of ls6 springs. The downside is that I want a choppy cam similar to the TSP cam I had in my trans am.

Does comp cams (or anyone for that matter) offer a cam similar to the 395 but with a more sinister sound?

After the cam, I’m doing long tube headers, exhaust, intake spacer, and finally a tune.

Thanks!

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Hello all!

I always wanted to restore and upgrade my 99 C1500 suburban. Now that I have a new truck, I can take the time to take the suburban into the shop for a major overhaul. Along with the restoration, I’m going to be bumping the performance a bit. Compared to my 18 Silverado 5.3, the suburban feels as snappy as a moped.

About 3 years ago, my block cracked and I replaced it with a brand new crate engine from GM. It included brand new heads, oil pan, etc. I think it cost me about $3k, but the suburban was purchased new by my grandparents and I didn’t want to toss it.

I started researching cams today and I like the idea of the GM 395 cam because it seems so simple and would require nothing but a set of ls6 springs. The downside is that I want a choppy cam similar to the TSP cam I had in my trans am.

Does comp cams (or anyone for that matter) offer a cam similar to the 395 but with a more sinister sound?

After the cam, I’m doing long tube headers, exhaust, intake spacer, and finally a tune.

Thanks!

395 cam uses stock springs. I was less than impressed by its performance.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Does comp cams (or anyone for that matter) offer a cam similar to the 395 but with a more sinister sound?

Call them and ask.

 

[JeremyNH]

I put in the 395 cam in the Spring along with a fair amount of other work and I like it. +40HP/+50tq give or take (at the crank, +30/+40 rw based on my dyno result assuming a start at 185/250). It's been described as the cam that GM should have used and I think it's a fair statement. It will make your otherwise stock motor better but still behave like a stock motor. There are certainly better cams for other applications depending on your aim and how much you are interested in putting into it which others with far more experience than I can expand on. I did call Comp Cams doing my research through the previous Winter and they recommended the 8-500-08 cam as a 395 competitor. I considered it strongly but decided I didn't want to risk beating on the valve train with an Xtreme Energy profile on heads known to crack. If I ever go the Etec 170 route I'd likely throw in an Xtreme Energy cam though. The last thread on the 395 cam, maybe a month or two ago, had the OP opt for the 8-501-08 cam so maybe contact him to see how it turned out. There's a Youtube video of the sound of that cam in a Tahoe iirc you could check out. Note though that Comp Cams computer controlled cams are out of stock everywhere so you would likely have to order from them direct for a delivery months out.

One warning on your "finally a tune" statement in that you probably won't make it past the cam without a tune. The 395 cam in my 98 k1500 was lopey enough to set off an ECM wrongly interpreted misfire prior to the tune so you may be living with an blinking CEL until you tune it. That would certainly be true for anything more aggressive (which to be fair is everything else).

 

[Joe Dirte]

I put in the 395 cam in the Spring along with a fair amount of other work and I like it. +40HP/+50tq give or take (at the crank, +30/+40 rw based on my dyno result assuming a start at 185/250). It's been described as the cam that GM should have used and I think it's a fair statement. It will make your otherwise stock motor better but still behave like a stock motor. There are certainly better cams for other applications depending on your aim and how much you are interested in putting into it which others with far more experience than I can expand on. I did call Comp Cams doing my research through the previous Winter and they recommended the 8-500-08 cam as a 395 competitor. I considered it strongly but decided I didn't want to risk beating on the valve train with an Xtreme Energy profile on heads known to crack. If I ever go the Etec 170 route I'd likely throw in an Xtreme Energy cam though. The last thread on the 395 cam, maybe a month or two ago, had the OP opt for the 8-501-08 cam so maybe contact him to see how it turned out. There's a Youtube video of the sound of that cam in a Tahoe iirc you could check out. Note though that Comp Cams computer controlled cams are out of stock everywhere so you would likely have to order from them direct for a delivery months out.

One warning on your "finally a tune" statement in that you probably won't make it past the cam without a tune. The 395 cam in my 98 k1500 was lopey enough to set off an ECM wrongly interpreted misfire prior to the tune so you may be living with an blinking CEL until you tune it. That would certainly be true for anything more aggressive (which to be fair is everything else).

Since we have same cam I got a question for ya. Do you remember what your timing advance was at idle? I think mines around 19 or 20. No check engine lights though. Debatin on pullin n restabbin dizzy.

 

[JeremyNH]

I don't recall what it was initially when I was getting the flashing CEL but the idle spark advance for the tune now is shown below. As mentioned though I did alot of things at the same time (cpc, marine intake, 1.6 rockers) so I'm not sure how much help it is to you. Also, I am not a tuner. I had a local speed shop do the tune but I was there for the first crank since the mechanical/electrical labor was all me and I wanted to check my own work.

 

[homeslice]

To the OP, I just completed installing Comp 8-501-08 in my '98 K2500 w/4L80. While at it I did comp valvetrain upgrade as well, new timing set, and 24x ignition setup (along with 0411 pcm). After getting the bugs worked out, which were mostly my mistakes on the 24x wiring (and injector wiring) - the truck runs great with no CEL. I'm working with BB for the tune, and so far so good. sounds great, great response, plenty of power.

 

[jaywestfall]

I put the 395 on my 5.7 replacement. No issues, but I haven't had it dynoed. I have to take it easy because I'm still running the original transmission way beyond 250K mileage!