"The only thing better than a big cam is an even bigger cam" - Brian Tooley

Keyboard warriors heads just exploded again!!! I’m loving this daily content. It’s like when we were kids and Saturday morning cartoons would come on.

I’m too distracted by that sweet K5 next door....!

this has to be the most important video you have made !! thanks !!

This really makes me want to see a stage 1 vs stage 2 comparison on a 4.8 or 5.3

Richard this is an awesome one All your stuff is good but this is good talks about us daily drivers that like a little bit extra more come Friday night.

Exactly what my brain needs to here with a couple combos I'm building. I was having cam envy and buyers remorse for picking the smaller cams. 💪💪👍

Richard, you are hitting on all cylinder as usual. I think most of your viewers are street/strip guys and really needed to hear and understand this. That low end torque, below 3000 is were most people drive at. Special on the highway, going to the track or moving around town. That low end torque, is what gets off the line and spools up the turbo for the win at the top end!

Hey Richard! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and resources. Really informative videos👍

Sound advise. Personally I like a lot of lift, moderate duration, and a tight LSA. This usually produces a quick revving engine with a reasonably tight power band, and just a pleasingly noticeable cadence at idle. If you need more power, get a bigger engine or more turbo. No need to turn a street engine past 6,000 rpm.

I like the different style. Laying everything out like this is awesome.

Man that was awesome!! I have a 6.0 and a BTR stage 2. Cam contemplating going bigger. This set me straight and timing couldn’t be better!

Love these videos 👌🏽 I'm a younger guy trying to learn all I can for my first turbo 5.3 truck build. Nobody else has given real world testing and comparisons like this that I've found. Keep em coming!

Thank you for the video, it answers a few of my questions and also gives me some good pointers. 👍

Great info Richard! I have been telling guys around here for a long time this. Hopefully this helps people make the correct cam choice.

One of the best videos I have seen recently of yours

Thanks Richard, Great information as always!

Love the k5 I had one back when gas was 1.25 gal for 93. It had a 355 with edelbrock rpm heads and a 218@50 .450" cam. It had plenty of low end to move the truck well

Love your videos! I’ve learned sooooo much from them!

Really great explanation. And talk. Thanks for taking the time.

It needed to said. Nice work Richard!

Man I learn so much watching your videos. Thank you

Sage advice from the master! I have an example from a different world-my 2013 Road Glide with a 103 made around 85 ft-lbs and a bit over 70 hp at the wheel stock. With a 222 intake cam that closes at 34 degrees ABDC, but has .555 lift instead of the factory .470-something lift, makes 104 ft-lbs and 93 hp at the wheel. A longer duration cam could increase the hp number substantially, but I wouldn’t have that 100 ft-lbs at 2500 that makes it so fun to ride on the street. I also put a lean spot in the AFR at cruise rpm and MAP that got me 50+ mpg on half my fill-ups on a 4100 mile ride last summer. Others advised me even the “little” cams would destroy gas mileage, but it’s actually better than stock. Matching the intake closing (IC) and overlap to the engine and application is critical. If your cylinder heads allow, use as much lift as you can and optimize the compression ratio to get as much mid-range torque as possible. You will be much happier on the street! Richard’s advice works on every engine!

Lots to learn on turbos ,cams , and converter, great info.

Great work as always!! I’d like to see the Elgin SS2 vs btr stage4 v2 cam. God bless you a the knowledge you share will all. God bless America.

You're throwing a lot of questions out there that so many of us want real-world answers too. My background in racing and mathematics is extensive, but communicating real-world scenarios really helps us latch on to answers, many didn't know where to go for answers. Richard, knowing you are spending time in the dyno cell researching all these "tribulations" of going turbo is turning you into the Southland Swami ...or the OG of the Turbo Motor! Keep this channel growing. You've tapped into a subject that has intrigue and growing environmental awareness,...not just performance.

This is gold for the young generation and even some of the old guys, like you said we have all been there.. Great vid👍

I'm glad to see you starting to address the nuances like low end torque and spool up. This should please a few of us who have commented about low end torque in the past. I hope you don't lose the drag racers and the peak HP junkies. Is it even possible to thoroughly evaluate spool up starting from low engine loads and speeds on that dyno?

This just convinced me to stay small with the cam on my 4.8 as I was having a hard time not wanting a stage3.. Thanks

Great video . And information. Other things to defanitly do. (Larger Ring Gap ) and stiffer intake valve springs. If planning higher boost pressure. The ring gap is also important for nitrous shots bigger than 100 shot.. and the $150.00 - $200 it cost for wideband oxygen sensor +gauge and wire harness. Is a good addition. To know for sure your getting a good AF ratio. .

Can't argue about any of that, makes good sense. Also knowledge and experience is in what you say. I'm with that

You hit it like a hammer to the face! WE ALL are that guy trying to ONE UP what we know costs us down low! You are spot on... WE ALSO KNOW OUR DRIVE FOR SPEED also we go 388ci, 427ci, etc.. EVENTUALLY if you have that drive... YOU SHORTEN THE LEARNING CURVE.... AND WORK HARDER! Thanks Richard... you hit some of us where we live and work... we all come around.... some sooner than others...SO TAKE THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHERS, and Make it work for YOU!. KUDO'S BROTHER!!! Seth

Very useful information I think everyone gets wrong! I had no idea you could over due turbo cams for 5.3 ls applications. Thankyou Richard!

Based on this video I chose a "Stage 1" turbo cam, 222/227 and around .600" lift. 5.3 with 7875 turbo. Going to use a "long runner" manifold too. Thank you for talking sense into us. U DA MAN Richard!

Thanks for the info! Love the data, the numbers don't lie

Man I’m really glad you put this video out! I’m building a twin turbo (eBay gt45’s) 4.8L for a burnout competition truck and been racking my brain on cam’s from stock to as big as it gets! Now you got me really thinking about leaving the stock cam in it or a very mild cam!

This video explains why i went with a more mild cam on my street/track build. I didn't want my low end power to be lost because it isn't practical to be revving 7.5k all the time. I also don't want to lose my off the line torque.

Great explanation of low end V.E. the big cam won't spool the turbo as low on the bottom.

I'm so happy to find your channel iv lurned so much and this video especially I needed to see I would always be the guy bigger has to be better

Really good info! Love the light to light cars👍🏻

Thank you for the great information!

Excellent! Would love to see a similar discussion on picking a PD blower cam.

Glad to see some common sense as most of us are in the dd category. Good work!

In the big LS cam test a few years ago, I thought the Crane 210/218 was the most impressive by far, losing virtually no torque down low but offering +90 up top to the factory cams. I would think recreating it with more modern lobes like Comp LSL 211/219 would be just that much better.

Unbelievable! You finally figured out why we want Dyno runs down at 1500 rpm even if we aren't WOT.

Doing good work 👍. This is something we should all know. I remember zippy (zippy performance) doing cam testing back in the mid 2000s with Silverado SS’s. The smaller cams whooped the bigger stuff with the same converter due to loss of TQ. The weight of the trucks exacerbated this issue and really proved a point. Once your TQ down low starts to die, stop there! That’s big enough. Try telling that to a customer though 😔

I had this argument with a buddy of mine. I had a brand new 2009 corolla 1.8l 5 speed. If you tried to lug the engine under 2000rpm it would audibly knock, dump fuel in (afr would fall to less than 10:1) and all forward progress would stop. The claim made by Toyota was peak power at 6000rpm and fuel cut was 6750. I took the factory intake off to measure the runner size, and found the factory cam specs and it was never hitting 300'/sec flow velocity per runner. I tried for a week after resetting the factory ecu with ethanol free 94 octane and it would still knock, and that was crazy to me the factory spark map was so aggressive. A buddy of mine had a flywieght aircraft and I bought 5 gallons of unleaded 100, that still didn't stop the knock. I didn't want to take it back to Toyota to complain because it made heal/toe downshifting impossible after their safety issues. My point is the car would be faster with 20hp less at 6000rpm if it had 10ft lbs more at 3000rpm.

thank you Richard, too many times I've seen this scenario

I lowkey regret buying a cam for my 6.0 swap lol but great video. Love learning more from you 💪🏾💪🏾

This is exactly what I've been struggling with on my combo. Very N/A style tight lsa moderate cam at the moment and debating going to something else over the Winter while everything gets freshened. That and heads. BBF setup with twins. I've thought about even going with a marine style cam designed for low end grunt. Custom cam guys keep wanting to go bigger but I'm trying to keep it from getting too wild N/A before boost hits it.

Great videos, thank you!

it takes a real man to pick out the "perfect cam" and then go 1 smaller, i finally learned that!

Richard, this is excellent information! I learned a ton. Thank you. Could you explain to us the differences in cams for turbo, positive displacement supercharger, and centrifugal superchargers? Are supercharger cams designed for positive displacement more so than centrifugal? Thanks for all you do. I am in awe of the sheer number of videos you are able to produce.

If you ever come to the Sipp the drinks are on me bro. I greatly appreciate all of your efforts. Your delivery makes education entertaining. Thank you and keep it up. Cheers

Hey Richard, could you do a comparison of the Summit Pro LS cams? The Pro 4 cam the other day looked really promising but would love to see the difference between them.

Very clear. Thanks!

great info Mr. Holdener. thanks.

As always great job thanks.

Thanks for the good info like usual!!

Thank you for that one, I just had that question after your last video. I might shift to a BTR Stage 1 instead of stage 2 Truck cam for my LQ9 in preparing for a turbo build. Now I just need to figure out what turbo to use. Perhaps BW S472 76/100 comp with 80mm turbine at 0.83-.91 A/R. Looking for something that spools early and gives me loads of torque. Turning 46" tires at 2 psi in snow takes a lot of power.

Was that entire video a single take?? Great info as always, absolutely spot on👍

Great info brother thanks for sharing the knowledge 💪👍

I’ve got the SS2 in my ls1 camaro and have a 5.3 in an el Camino was gonna go for the summit stage 2 turbo cam. Now You got me thinking I may drop it down.

Heck yeah this will be great you the man richard

Thanks for this video

I've been following you for a while. Hell, I'm the guy that made the "wrong cam" avatar of you lol! Anyway,. I gotta say, this is one of the best videos you've done in a while, in terms of plain speak common sense. I see so many people in this millennial era still doing the "bottom of the page" cam selections, then wanting to know what turbo to pick to give them the least lag. In the age of information I'd have thought people would be doing their research and making educated choices. But nope... they're doing the modern day equivalent of picking that 292 or 305 cam from the bottom of the summit catalog page for their gen 1 350 with a performer intake and carb, hedman headers and stock converter. we're all guilty of that. We did that stuff in the 70s and 80s...fell for the |3/4 race cam" propaganda, and so on. I thought we'd be better by now. But while some of us older folks have evolved... the few millennials that are actually into cars instead of video games and man buns haven't learned. Like you said... if stage 1 is good, stage 4 must be the best, right?

Felt like u made this video specifically for me.. lol.. I had a question in your last video.. I guess the bigger question was what is the soul purpose of the vehicle. And u nailed it..

holly cow!! ask and you shall recieve!! great video!!

Hi Richard. Great info, thanks. I would love to see a video on the difference a Variable Vane Turbo makes, if any. Maybe from a Dodge Cummins? And see if it can be done without a computer. By vacuum? Just a suggestion

You're the man Richard! I am about to start setting up my daily for a 550-600 whp. (L99 2014 SS camaro) I am seriously torn between a turbo and a supercharger... if I go s/c its gonna be a procharger, but if I go turbo, I'm not really sure which set up to get. Any suggestions? Car is bone stock with 40,500 miles.

Did a stage 2 tsp truck cam in my pre Corona virus 07 avalanche build and im glad i did. Got a bug out truck now in case shit really hits the fan hehe... for 150 miles before i run out of gas at least but lol 🤣 but man oh man is it is fun as hell to drive and offroad with vs stock. 2007 avalanche 4x4 z71 NA gen 4 LC9 5.3l to 383 forged stroker conversion kit with 1800-2100 stall, 6" lift kit, custom fitted rough country 2.5 vertex 8 stage adjustable shocks, 4.88 gears and 37" mt toyos. One day it will see boost after its all caged up but thats only once im ready to die doing something crazy awesome lol

We all just want that chop chop chop 🤣

Great video!

This makes me feel a little better. I have a 6.0L with a btr stage 2 turbo cam. Right now during the build I have a 78/75 but I'm leaning toward a s480. I was worried I may be on the small side for the cam. Right now I just have a set of decked 799s.

The stage 1 v2 cam in my wifes pickup is spot on with alittle exhaust upgrade

Love the videos. I thought I was being conservative when I bought the stage 3 summit pro LS cam. I have a question that I think you would be the expert on. And it is basically about being conservative. I have a stage 3 cammed 6 liter, LQ4. Long tubes, 3200 stall th400, in my 69 Corvette build. I went to a carb and MSD box. I love it. I have 2 carb choices, Pro-form 850, or a Holley 750, both are mechanical secondary. I had the 750 on my car, worked fine except for a lean spot off idle, so I took it off to go through it, put a bigger squirter cam gear on it. Noticed it has 72 jet in front, 78 in back. I decided to put some jet extensions on the back and out 76s in the front. After all, more fuel equals more power, sometimes. Then I put it all in the 850 pro form. It is a more race styled carb, capable of handling more air. But, my question is, what jetting would you go with? Should I put in a power valve? I may try 78s in front,, 80s in rear. I keep going back and forth. What's your opinion?

Good info. Thanks

This is what’s been lacking in the community solid info and facts myths and what actually works

I agree with alot of what you say, however trying to make more torque down low combined with the weight of truck will make a ton of cylinder pressure. If your going through the trouble of swapping cams and turbo setup, why not have a stage 2 with a 3500 stall and 2 step off the line. Unless you plan to tow in which case a stock cam with springs and appropriate size turbo should do

I’m building an 89 K5 Blazer with 6.0. Much like the one in the background. Daily driver and occasional dunes. Planning mild cam and 76 or 78mm turbo.

That was great, had to move away from my Roku to my PC to write this comment :) Low RPM power drop gets even worse at lower throttle openings - that should be on every box with so called torque or Stage 1 cams. (why to buy them )

Now I understand why you told me my LS9 cam is gonna be laggy spooling a turbo on my gen4 flattop piston 5.3L with 706 heads!!! Can't wait to see the dyno numbers. Makes sense tho!

Richard what about preparing LSes for drifting. Oiling and valvetrain upgrades, etc.

Really enjoyed this vid.. i have been thinking about cam upgrade on my 3.0 inline6 with 950ish hp turbo.. it makes like 230hp with stock cam, so i can max out turbo with 3bar of boost and dont go higher in rpm, or spend like 1000-1500+€ on cams, springs, retainers - and actually make it less streetable just to make same HP/higher rpm with less boost, and have other problems then with oil pump etc. i guess main driving force to get big cams in my case is that sound, but well not worth it when for same money i can have forget pistons and rods for another or spare engine ( or for two 4cyl engines xD )

Let's see a video series of a ls swapped K5 that's parked behind you...then later add the turbos....that would be awesome home quarantine content

My man, listening to his audience. Thanks Rich!!! Lets have the same lesson with N/A motor builds. P.S. whatcha got under the hood of that red Chevy? ;-)

Another thing that’s not talked about enough, especially with daily driven turbo applications, is that 1000hp on a 2 wheel driven car or truck is practically pointless. Tire technology is the limiting factor at anything much past 600 or 700whp on an unprepared surface everytime. I’ve been rocking the Summit Stg 1 cam on my turbo 5.3 m6 for 5 years now. Couldn’t be happier.

Most people that go with stage 2 or bigger cams generally go with lower gears so it makes the drop in low end a lot less noticeable. When I upgraded my 212/218 Silverado to a 224/224 cam I also lowered the rear gear low end loss wasn't noticeable

Cheers Richard, I hope the beverage was good

Very much agreed! Torque for the win!!

I did a stage 3 on my 6.0 but also bumped the compression up to 11:1 & put a TBSS intake on 🎉

Hi Richard! lots of conflicting opinions on Rhoads lifters for large cams. We would love to see an unbiased dyno test on them. To good to be true? RPM potential? Do they really help low end?

Im doing a blow thru 5.3 with Pro Ls Pistons and rods with a Eagle 1500hp crank. Stage 4 Texas Speed Turbo Cam with a 94MM Billet wheel , 11;1 compression

Damn i was thinking of a truck norris cam cause i like the chop with the 78/75turbo but now you gotme thinking of going with the stage 1 cam and that same turbo on my lm7 5.3 i race 8th of a mile offroad

I wonder if the same applies to the VVT LS engines.

I just bought a st1 btr turbo cam for my 4.8, 7875, ls6 camed S10. It only makes about 8lbs on the brake at 3800rpm. I'm hoping the btr cam makes more power or boost on the brake to get the sixty down. The LS6 cam has been 142mph in the quarter so hoping for more mph out the back also

This gets way more important when you are going to corner the car, if it does not give a lot of power on part throttle it will be much more difficult to swing out of the corners where its most important to get that power to the ground I like my drift cars to feel like they are NA at where I run the power band, and I usually find myself needing atleast 500 more rpm than people in general think you need

David Vizard nailed it many decades ago. Pick the cam you want, and then buy the next stage down.

Amazing advise. So, in regards to a mostly daily driver truck cam upgrade it’s refreshing to hear a recommend for smaller cam. And the fact that low end trq loss on big cams is accentuated by turbo makes it a no brainer. BUT, what about a twin screw? Some loss on the bottom from the cam surely would be covered up by the low rpm boost of the twin screw right? Or does the same phenomenon occur with a SC, that if u size the cam too big for that application you see an amplification of trq loss? Nah.. can’t be.

great info rich