JFortner5

I’m sorry guys I know cam choice is beaten to death but I did search and can’t find much about what I’m working with. I asked on another truck forum so I apologize if you saw this there, but I was directed here to ask.

Vehicle is a 2011 2500HD CCSB 2wd with 3.73 gears. It weighs about 6700lbs with me in it. I’m not looking to make it fast or anything but more fun to drive wouldn’t hurt. The truck is my daily driver and now tow rig. We bought a roughly 9000lb travel trailer.

Currently the truck is bone stock. It doesn’t do terrible towing but I’d like to try to help it out some instead of going the diesel route. Towing on the highway I’m usually in 5th at 2300-2500rpm on flat ground. In the hills it goes down to 4th and is somewhere around 3k. On a few occasions it will dig deeper to 3rd and really wind on up to 4500-5000 up steeper hills or trying to pass.

My first plan is to buy HP Tuners and work on my tune. I’m not expecting a a huge difference but I’d like to have it for future modifications. I’ve also thought about changing to a 4.30 gear from the 3.73’s. Some people have told me don’t bother and just run a lower gear in the transmission but it seems like a lower rear gear would take some strain off of the transmission and definitely help on take off. Long tubes are also a thought if they will help in lower rpm.

The real reason I’m here is to ask about cams. I realize no aftermarket cam is going to magically make a bunch of torque at low rpm. Is there anything out there that will start helping at 2000-2500? I’m not expecting a big gain in the lower end but I’d take whatever I can get. I guess what I’m saying is I know most cams will shift peak torque higher up but is there anything that will add under the curve?

I was thinking of doing a VVT delete and going with something like a 212/218 .550 with a tight LSA to try and bring power on sooner.

Do cams generally only add power at WOT or are there also some part throttle gains? Any help at cruising speed or on up for passing power would be awesome. I’m also not opposed to going up a little higher in stall speed if there is a good converter that can take the added stress of towing heavy. I’d like the tune the slip out of the stock converter but I’d rather have a nice aftermarket one in there anyway to keep the trans happy.

I know I’ve posted more than just a cam question but I’ll take all the advice I can get.

G Atsma

Actually a 212/218 cam with about a .550 lift would give your truck a nice kick in the pants.
You'll need some LS3 springs, but they're comparatively cheap and swap right in.
Summit has a couple cams that use your stock springs-
SUM-8718R1- 205/217, .500/.500, 112+2
SUM-8712R1- 210/218, .500/.500, 112+1 (this might be your best bet as it is closest to the cam specs mentioned above)
The nice part is Summit sells these cams for just under $300
You WILL need a VVT delete kit for either of these cams.
Just for reference, your present cam specs are 196/208, .467/.479, 116

JFortner5

Awesome thank you. I wasn’t aware of those summit cams but that might be what I’m looking for.

twyid364

I would take a look at the Summit 8719R1 209/217 0.550/0.550 112+1, VVT delete needed as mentioned above. The 8719R1 should deliver a healthy bump in power without tradeoff down low, decent idle quality, easy tuning, and very well priced.

A friend of mine has BTR torque cam which is a smaller 202/202 0.511/0.511 with 111+1, he is pretty happy with it and it could also work for you.

Good luck with your build and let us know what you go with.