Do I need a tune after upgrading the cam in a 6.0?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:39 am
So I picked up an 04 Suburban, 3/4 ton 2WD 6.0 that needs a cam (Pretty sure anyway, it's got a wicked lifter tick on #1 and the cam is the only thing that didn't get replaced when the friend I'm getting it from rebuilt the engine) Since it's going to primarily be the tow pig/adventuremobile (I also have a 3/4 ton diesel Dodge 4x4 but getting the wife + baby + baby paraphernalia + camping gear + two dogs in an extended cab pickup sucks) I figured might as well put an upgraded cam in it. (I've narrowed it down to the Melling MTC7 or the stage one kit from Texas Speed and Performance (Leaning towards that one since they include lifters + the gaskets and crank bolt) but what I'm not sure of is how much tweaking, if any, I'll need to do to the ECU maps to fully take advantage of the new bumpstick.
AS far as Stage 1 vs the Stage 2 cam goes, just looking at the specs it says the stage one gives "Excellent" low and torque/hp and the Stage 2 says "Good" low to midrange torque/hp; and I definitely want some low end grunt for towing my RV (it's a 1998 Nash 28 foot); not looking to make a Suburban that will waste a Corvette (although that would be pretty awesome) if anyone has any recommendations on camshafts etc I'm all ears Not new to cars, but most of my Detroit Iron experience is with old school carbureted Mopar and Ford big blocks (and Ford small blocks), EFI stuff is mostly Toyota and Subaru (I was a service tech for Toyota/Subaru from 2007 to 2011, went back to school in 2011 and now I work in IT)
I was definitely excited when I came across the PCM Hammer tool, hopefully between it and the Tuner Pro software I can beef this thing up a bit! Eventual plan is to Duramax + Manual swap it (and possibly add 4WD) but that's down the road..
AS far as Stage 1 vs the Stage 2 cam goes, just looking at the specs it says the stage one gives "Excellent" low and torque/hp and the Stage 2 says "Good" low to midrange torque/hp; and I definitely want some low end grunt for towing my RV (it's a 1998 Nash 28 foot); not looking to make a Suburban that will waste a Corvette (although that would be pretty awesome) if anyone has any recommendations on camshafts etc I'm all ears Not new to cars, but most of my Detroit Iron experience is with old school carbureted Mopar and Ford big blocks (and Ford small blocks), EFI stuff is mostly Toyota and Subaru (I was a service tech for Toyota/Subaru from 2007 to 2011, went back to school in 2011 and now I work in IT)
I was definitely excited when I came across the PCM Hammer tool, hopefully between it and the Tuner Pro software I can beef this thing up a bit! Eventual plan is to Duramax + Manual swap it (and possibly add 4WD) but that's down the road..