637hp Procharged 5.3 w/bolt ons and custom cam

WendysOrBust · May 21, 2015

I live in Houston and work just minutes from Chuck. I've seen this truck in person. You MUST do the VVT delete in order to change the cam. You will destroy the valve train if not. The cam in the truck was specifically ground to mimic most of the profile from an LS7 cam which has lots of lift but not terribly huge LSA angles, thus being perfect for a blower. The truck has been carefully planned and it's not just a meeting of parts ordered. Each part was picked to compliment the next and the previous. Chuck isn't the best there is in Houston, IMHO, but he's very good at these trucks, that's for sure.

I know COMP cams has a really good selection of cams that maintain the VVT on the new DI motors. Not saying he maintained VVT on his truck, just that there are options to do it. I would also assume a person like Chuck would also upgrade springs and etc when doing a cam upgrade to prevent valve float. I know on his shop's website he offers a pretty good package which includes cam, springs, lifters, and headers.

Honestly, for $2,500 that is not a bad deal since it also includes a tune and labor.

nadrojcote · May 21, 2015

That's a fair deal indeed. Too bad there's nothing like this around where I live.

crushNchowda · May 21, 2015

The only difference is they are carrying allot less weight than we are, ~3900lbs compared to our ~5500lbs. So the amount of horsepower/torque the 6L80E could withstand is inherently less than theirs. But who knows, it might last just fine.

I'd be more worried about the driveshaft/rear end TBH

At the end of the day...never would I ever dump this kind of money @ a gasser to make it "fast" - you can buy a factory forced-induction diesel beast w/ a much stouter stock motor/block/tranny/diff etc etc etc that will make more power than this heavily modded 1/2 ton gasser does w/ MINIMAL tweaks.

WendysOrBust · May 21, 2015

I'd be more worried about the driveshaft/rear end TBH

At the end of the day...never would I ever dump this kind of money @ a gasser to make it "fast" - you can buy a factory forced-induction diesel beast w/ a much stouter stock motor/block/tranny/diff etc etc etc that will make more power than this heavily modded 1/2 ton gasser does w/ MINIMAL tweaks.

Well like everything, there are pro's and con's. Diesels have a much higher price entry point, and while they are built to higher tolerances they are also much more expensive to work on. Not to mention that like a gasser, modifying any diesel will void the warranty, but engine replacement costs are easily twice of that as a gas engine. You are also moving much more weight so more power is needed.

crushNchowda · May 21, 2015

Well like everything, there are pro's and con's. Diesels have a much higher price entry point, and while they are built to higher tolerances they are also much more expensive to work on. Not to mention that like a gasser, modifying any diesel will void the warranty, but engine replacement costs are easily twice of that as a gas engine. You are also moving much more weight so more power is needed.

True...........to a point, but I'll put all my $$$ on the diesel not breaking HP for HP 1/4 mile to 1/4 mile vs. a gasser. Bottom line is the diesels are already equipped from the factory to take much worse and more frequent abuse than a 1/2 ton gas model. I don't think the weight is that different though, I'd be surprised if it were 400 lbs different comparably equipped...300 more lb/ft of TQ easily makes up for that....

WendysOrBust · May 21, 2015

True...........to a point, but I'll put all my $$$ on the diesel not breaking HP for HP 1/4 mile to 1/4 mile vs. a gasser. Bottom line is the diesels are already equipped from the factory to take much worse and more frequent abuse than a 1/2 ton gas model. I don't think the weight is that different though, I'd be surprised if it were 400 lbs different comparably equipped...300 more lb/ft of TQ easily makes up for that....

Under the huge steel hood is the 6.6-liter V8 turbo diesel that puts out 397-horses and 765 pound-feet of torque. Even though the truck weighs 7500, from a dead stop the truck has extremely strong acceleration when the turbo kicks in to do its job. At idle, the engine is quiet, albeit not quite as quiet as rival Ford Powerstroke.

http://www.carprousa.com/2015-chevy-silverado-2500-duramax-review-test-drive

We are not here to compare gas vs diesel, but just to set a point. The truck as tested was a Crew Cab 2500, as tested it's a $60k truck and weighs ~2000lbs more compared to a similarly equipped Crew Cab LT/SLE, it also costs $30k more which is a ton of money. So we are really comparing apples to oranges.

At the end of the day its what you have and how much money you are willing to spend in upgrades. For ~$6k I could get my truck Procharged and put down a pretty reliable ~450hp, more if I want to spend money on additional supporting mods.

ToesonTheNose · May 21, 2015

What kind of gains are expected from that 2500.00 package. That's a great deal

WendysOrBust · May 21, 2015

What kind of gains are expected from that 2500.00 package. That's a great deal

He managed to put down 408hp and 386trq at the wheels with a setup like that, minus the cat-back and intake.

That's about 75hp more than what the 5.3 seems to be putting down at the wheels. I'm pretty sure that's on an e85, looking at his other videos he seems to really like tuning on it. I think you could realistically expect ~50hp increase at the wheels on a 91 tune. Not bad at all.

EChavez · May 21, 2015

I feel like for the money we could be pushing more power..but I do wonder what a 6.2 would do with that same procharger. Hell my brother's duramax keeps up with my 6.2 and his is lifted on 35s and x12's with a lift pump & tune. I could only imagine if it was stock height with wheels/tires. Gasser's ftw

darkfox1 · May 22, 2015

6.2 would be a monster under boost. Realistically tho you don't really NEED it unless you're trying to make a big heavy truck fast. Which is fine, but.. I mean there's lighter easier cars to push down the 1/4 ya know?

I live in a town with 2 very good LSx guys (at least 2.. probably more.) mti racing is about an hour into Marietta, and Vengeance racing up on the norhteast side.

They're NOT cheap AT ALL. But they know what they're doing. If you're a doctor with a brand new Z06 and you want it in the 1000+hp range, they're your goto.

For broke people like me? Eh.. I usually pick the guys brains at texas speed until they're tired of talking to me.

I know for the l99 camaro there's several vvt cams that can still do decent power, but from memory, you're better off doing the dod delete. IIRC tsp even recommends KEEPING the vvt on the L99. At least thats what we discussed when I was looking at a cam.

In the end I decided it was too much money for a car that was already faster than average.

On the truck.. it would be nice to have a bit more power, but I dont wanna sacrifice a ton of fuel econ or have to run "expensive gas." I drive a LOT for my job. I haven't had my truck half a year yet and I've already put over 11k miles on it.

I also wonder, how does a "car cam" measure up in a truck in regards to towing?

SMiller · May 22, 2015

You guys have seen what Hennessey performance does with the 6.2 right?

If only I had $80,000 to piss away in a new half ton...

ToesonTheNose · May 22, 2015

He managed to put down 408hp and 386trq at the wheels with a setup like that, minus the cat-back and intake.

That's about 75hp more than what the 5.3 seems to be putting down at the wheels. I'm pretty sure that's on an e85, looking at his other videos he seems to really like tuning on it. I think you could realistically expect ~50hp increase at the wheels on a 91 tune. Not bad at all.

thats damn good, almost 100hp over some stock dynos ive seen for 2500. i wonder how it is for a daily driver. i would consider that upgrade in a minute. nothing over the top ( who needs 650hp) and should still be relatively reliable

crushNchowda · May 22, 2015

I feel like for the money we could be pushing more power..but I do wonder what a 6.2 would do with that same procharger. Hell my brother's duramax keeps up with my 6.2 and his is lifted on 35s and x12's with a lift pump & tune. I could only imagine if it was stock height with wheels/tires. Gasser's ftw

Yeah that's kinda my point - I wasn't trying to make it gas vs. diesel, and I wanna tune my 5.3 gas truck too (mainly because the transmission and throttle response is horrific, not necessarily for more power, but I'll take it) - but the diesels just make crazy power w/ such minimal mods if you wanna make a big heavy thing fast - Also - I REALLY don't think the GMC 2500 CC weighs 7500 lbs, I'm pretty damn sure that's wrong. My CC 1500 w/ standard bed weighs 5800-5900, I would imagine a 2500 CC would be in the 7000 lb range max - Jalopnik lists curb weights for the 2500 from 5900 to 7650 lbs (huge delta eh?) http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/2015-silverado-sierra-2500-hd-4wd-crew-cab-the-truck-1515047393

While A quick google search yields 5700 - 6700 lbs (seems about right) https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1GGGE___US611US611&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=2015%20gmc%20sierra%202500%20curb%20weight

My guess is, the heavier 7000+ trucks are actually Denali 3500 dualies w/ every conceivable option GM has to offer.

FWIW - my coworker has a '15 GMC denali 2500 CC weighed 7,480 lbs on a truck scale, so yeah they can get up there! My, like I said my 2014 GMC Sierra 5.3 4x4 standard bed weighs about 5900 lbs w/ me in it, a tri-fold tonneau, and 1/3 tank gas - my buddy's Denali HD had him in it and an AL box in the back...

I do agree that $2450 seems like a damn good deal all in.

SMiller · May 22, 2015

Yeah that's kinda my point - I wasn't trying to make it gas vs. diesel, and I wanna tune my 5.3 gas truck too (mainly because the transmission and throttle response is horrific, not necessarily for more power, but I'll take it) - but the diesels just make crazy power w/ such minimal mods if you wanna make a big heavy thing fast - Also - I REALLY don't think the GMC 2500 CC weighs 7500 lbs, I'm pretty damn sure that's wrong. My CC 1500 w/ standard bed weighs 5800-5900, I would imagine a 2500 CC would be in the 7000 lb range max - Jalopnik lists curb weights for the 2500 from 5900 to 7650 lbs (huge delta eh?) http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/2015-silverado-sierra-2500-hd-4wd-crew-cab-the-truck-1515047393

While A quick google search yields 5700 - 6700 lbs (seems about right) https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1GGGE___US611US611&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=2015%20gmc%20sierra%202500%20curb%20weight

My guess is, the heavier 7000+ trucks are actually Denali 3500 dualies w/ every conceivable option GM has to offer.

FWIW - my coworker has a '15 GMC denali 2500 CC weighed 7,480 lbs on a truck scale, so yeah they can get up there! My, like I said my 2014 GMC Sierra 5.3 4x4 standard bed weighs about 5900 lbs w/ me in it, a tri-fold tonneau, and 1/3 tank gas - my buddy's Denali HD had him in it and an AL box in the back...

I do agree that $2450 seems like a damn good deal all in.

Yes a diesel 3/4ton weights 7,500lbs and no a tuned LML Duramax does not make over 600hp...

I am a diesel fan but the new ones are pretty restricted even once deleted as the CP4.2 doesn't flow much fuel and the truck is heavy.

Take the power package and throw it is a reg cab short bed stripped down half ton, you are talking high 12's with light suspension and tire mods.

thewhitestallion · May 23, 2015

that is a pretty sweet set up! but I hate to be the one to say it.... they put all that money into modding the truck and not replace the bad pulley / tensioner that is squeaking????