Thinkin about getting a cam

[ScottyBoy]

I have been thinking about getting a mild cam for my 5.3 Suburban. I am clueless as to what I should even be looking for. Somebody school me.
I was talking about it with the mechanic who recharged my AC for me when I replaced my compressor. He told me that the heads need to come off to replace the cam in a 5.3 I never heard of that before. He also talked about my slight lifter noise at idle (which has been there since I bought the truck) and said I might as well replace the lifters too if I am tearing it apart to install a cam. He also confessed that if I had the noise for over 4 years and it hasn't gotten any worse than it is, then it most likely won't get any worse if I leave it alone. He gave me a ballpark quote to do all that work, and said it would be in the 600$ range. Does that sound about right?

 

[OPGMC]

Nikons are nice, they just came out with a really cool cam, it's a 5100 I think.

 

[ScottyBoy]

Nikons are nice, they just came out with a really cool cam, it's a 5100 I think.

 

[Darkanion]

So, what do you want out of the cam? I don't know a lot about 'em. But, I do know they can be made to do different things.. More general use power.. More low-end grunt.. More high-RPM performance.. etc, etc..

If you can describe what you want out of it, maybe someone can edumacate you on 'em...

 

[CJ Hungus]

RUN RUN RUN Away from that mechanic. The heads DO NOT need to come off for a cam swap.
What do you want the cam for? What are you looking to gain?

 

[ScottyBoy]

I kinda figured he was bullshitting me, or else confused about what engine I had. Because I have never heard of anyone taking the heads off to do a cam swap. If I remember right, Dan posted some pics of when he swapped his, and it came out the front of the engine.
I am looking for overall more power, and driveability. Basically, when I stomp the pedal I want it to GO.

 

[Texas Jim]

Scotty... the heads DO NOT need to come off...
The valve covers and rocker arms do... along with the water pump and of course the timing chain and gears.
If you do a cam... be sure to also put a new timing chain on it and probably the top (cam) timing gear...
"IF" you choose to replace the lifters, the intake will also have to come off...

 

[ScottyBoy]

A few more questions.

If I did have a cam installed, is installing headers a must?

Is running 93 octane fuel a must?

And I know I will have to get Justin to update my tune to match the cam profile.

 

[CJ Hungus]

I kinda figured he was bullshitting me, or else confused about what engine I had. Because I have never heard of anyone taking the heads off to do a cam swap. If I remember right, Dan posted some pics of when he swapped his, and it came out the front of the engine.
I am looking for overall more power, and driveability. Basically, when I stomp the pedal I want it to GO.

Just a cam swap won't really get you the GO power, you will have to add all the supporting mods. I would first look at headers and maybe a stall. Once you start modding though, you will start sacrificing your MPG's.

 

[Texas Jim]

I kinda figured he was bullshitting me, or else confused about what engine I had. Because I have never heard of anyone taking the heads off to do a cam swap. If I remember right, Dan posted some pics of when he swapped his, and it came out the front of the engine.
I am looking for overall more power, and driveability. Basically, when I stomp the pedal I want it to GO.

So, you want more LOW END power...from idle to mid range RPM...4000 RPM or so...
I assume you are not going to be driving it around with it wound up at high RPM all the time...