Camshaft Upgrade Question...

[OffRoadin]

So... Other than the camshaft itself, what else is required to get it installed properly?

After searching and reading a couple of posts I may want to try an LS6 or LS1 cam upgrade...

Thanks

[MVR 155]

Any time you go from stock to a higher lift/duration camshaft I would suggest going with a good set of valve springs and retainers. I would also urge you to do some research before slapping a LS6 or other high RPM cam in your rig...... these trucks are very heavy, you want a cam that is gonna give some good low end torque otherwise you will actually hurt your performance down low and have something that your gonna have to have your foot in hard all of the time. I would suggest talking to a reputable speed shop that has done intalls on trucks and see what they say.

[OffRoadin]

Good point. Only reason I said those 2 cam choices was because of some of the posts I read o nthis forum. Is there a " high torque" cam that I should be looking at vs. the LS6 cam to give more down low torque. Max HP is not my concern, I just figured that any cam would give more torque at a bigger range in RPMs.

[MVR 155]

Originally Posted by OffRoadin

Good point. Only reason I said those 2 cam choices was because of some of the posts I read o nthis forum. Is there a " high torque" cam that I should be looking at vs. the LS6 cam to give more down low torque. Max HP is not my concern, I just figured that any cam would give more torque at a bigger range in RPMs.

With having the Z06 myself I could recommend cams that would work well in the car but it weighs half of what the truck weighs so big difference. I suggested talking to a reputable shop that has done cam swaps in truck applications so that you can get the most out of it.

[IRA51]

what you want is a cam that will enhance power and torque at lower rpm's . I would call Comp Cams and speak to the Tec dept they will have what you want . also a set of cnc ported heads will help a lot .a head and cam package with a set of headers will wake that hummer up big time . than you can play with a tune and maf and watch the gas gage drop like never B4.

[MVR 155]

Originally Posted by IRA51

what you want is a cam that will enhance power and torque at lower rpm's . I would call Comp Cams and speak to the Tec dept they will have what you want . also a set of cnc ported heads will help a lot .a head and cam package with a set of headers will wake that hummer up big time . than you can play with a tune and maf and watch the gas gage drop like never B4.

Heads would also be a good help. Although the LS GM motors seem to respond very well to cam only swaps. With doing the cam I also think headers would be a big help.

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

I do not disagree with any of these recomendations.

I just wonder how much do you want to spend and what are you using the H2 for?
Daily driver and offroading.
Daily driver and pavement demon.
Towing or pulling stumps.

Cost of upgrades that you are willing to spend money for as well as the return on that expense are Your Keys reguardless to what any of us are doing with our rigs. The use of the rig will help you decide what you do to it and how little or allot you spend on it. Be real specific of your goals for all of us concerned who want to help. All that have mentioned their help do want to help. You have to help us all by being a little less vague with your question for me anyway to help you with what is best for you.

Just changing a cam is not always the less expensive way to go but, not bad either if it meets what you want to do and want to do it yourself, plus more cam means need to add more fuel and more are which the tuning was mentioned already. With a friend cam is not a bad job to do as i have changed a few in the rain with hood as only protection for the engine with a tarp helping very little for me since I had to lay on the ground fortunately on a nice piece of oiled plywood used many times under the car. Tarp did not help me much but, the motor in my baby is what i cared about and could care less if I got sick. Changed a clutch having to pull a T-10 top loader tranny etc. in the snow by myself when passing a school bus I showed off on the ice patch not seen coming up causing the revs to wind up to much blowing a very thin clutch anyway. In both situations above my help never showed. So you do what you have to do with the money you have to spend or want to spend. I was a much much younger man then and physically fit playing football and every other sports i could so was able since the dork did not show to help to remove the T-10 lifting it out and back in myself. His remark on raining was "Man I did not think man that in the rain man you would want to be out in the rain man, what is wrong with you dude?". Well it was my only ride and I just did not like my monster not being ready for a race or what ever. The snow work was the same as with the rain just in the snow . Well the what ever was the chicks that liked riding in it was as much the reason as anything for getting it done quick plus saving money i did not make allot of anyway.

I wonder can anyone figure what decade that was in? Thought I would add some fun to my talk.

Hey we do want to help but, do it in the best way for you money wise and use wise!! Good Luck!!!

TAZ

[OffRoadin]

Everyone,

Thanks for your responses. I am looking for more torque in the lower rev range, I not too concerned about top end HP since I highly doubt I will be spending much time at redline. I will be using it off road and it will see alot of daily driving as well (although its not my only auto I just love driving it that much). I want to keep it realistic. It would be nice to have a supercharger setup, but for off road use I know that's not good. I already have a hypertech and my other performance plans were:

Long tube headers, exhaust, intake, and maybe the cam swap... Nothing too crazy, just something to add a bit more low end grunt. Also has anyone ever put an underdrive pulley kit. I have had good results on many of my previous cars with that as well.

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

I would strongly suggest you do long tube headers with catback system, a more free flowing filter in your factory intake system, and be sure the handheld is set with rpm's as well as shift points that help with lowend.

If that does not quite get you where you would like to be I would swap out gearing in the rearend and front. It should have 4:10 gearing so there are many choices to get more lowend. You could actually skip all mentioned above and just go to gearing change and most likely you will be very pleased.

Understand that unless you use a light foot except when needed you will use more gas. There are things you as driver can do to help mpg which you are familiar with.

Good Luck and hope I have helped. I just try my best to think of the simple ways and most cost effective things that are the easier things to reverse if you do not like what the change did for you.

TAZ

[OffRoadin]

All of you have helped more than you know. I'm just so used to top end numbers and keeping my old toys at the redline. I had my motorcycle pretty much race ready, and my last car pushing almost 15psi of boost.

Taz I was actually looking at the Dynatech system (because of most of your posts) and I'm still debating on which cat-back system (maybe Bassani). I do need one with stock exit because I will be going off roading and I don't want the tip getting crushed on rocks, etc. I already ordered a Volant intake over the weekend (Box/Filter/MAF/Tube) so I'll see how that works out.

So when you say set the hand held for rpms/shift points for low end, I should change it to shift earlier? Right now I have it at 6200 redline and +400 shift points for highway merging and just in case I need to get on it to pass... When I drive around town I do take it very easy and just about everyone flies by me when the stop lights turn green.


Thanks.

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

Hi OffRoadin,

All these things are hard to decide as to which is best or will the advice I get really help me in the stuation I'm in. You really have to take all the info and just sit down and decide 1) how much do I want to spend 2) how much experience does a person have in the specialized area you are wanting info from.

Obviously no one can make these decisions for you but, the Forum can only give the best advice we can from practical experience. Each Member tries something different and likes what it did for them. It makes me feel that it is hard to get bad info from this Forum of which I'm proud to be a part of. Many as I try things before allot of non-members etc. ever find out about it.

Now me personally I feel you will be very happy with the complete Dynatech header and catback system to gain more low end. The 2 are tund so that they work together. I would say if you buy a different catback system then buy the headers they have that match the cat system. This is a topic that I have strong ideas about. The 2 are usually designed to give there best perfomance when used together. When most companies were pushing shorty headers Dynatec continued to build the long tub which was the standard for many many years. See what Jason can do for you in price as i do not want to take business from him. If Jason does not handle Dynatech I will check with Dragon and see what we can do for you from our suppliers. Check Jason first.

OffRoadin Your concept of what I was talking about in changing shift points etc. is correct. It will take some experimenting but, you can find the sweet spot. You do not always have to adjust the shift points with each gear the same amount. You may want the top gear to allow you to stretch out the topend.

Good Luck,

TAZ

[OffRoadin]

Taz, Thanks again. I don't know who Jason is, but I recognize the name Dragon from the forums.

If you can give me contact info for both I would be happy to give them a call when I finally decide to drop the money on the exhaust after all the Christmas shopping is done.


Thanks.

[HUMMERcustoms.com/TAZ]

OffRoadin I'm sorry,

Jason is the Bud who started this forum and owns SOMO.com. You an see his banner at the top.

Dragon and I are partners in a Hummer customizing company HUMMERCUSTOMS.com and Dragon is owner of MotorsportsAuthority.com which is a custom shop MotorsportsAuthority. The phone numbers are at the websites or you can email a question to Dragon using the questions form. Be sure You tell Dragon you are forum member and TAZ told you to contact him.

TAZ