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2500HD 6.0 tow rig upgrades/tech

Gunhand1

Well-known member
Joined
May 21, 2020
Member Number
880
Messages
103
Loc
Best Virginia
So I've got a 2005 2500HD with 6.0/4l80e as my daily (for now) and tow rig for the shitbox cherokee. I'd like to make a few upgrades to help out towing and whatnot. It really does great for what it is, and I don't have a desire to sell it for a diesel at the moment, but a few upgrades to help drag shit up the hills would be welcomed.

What have you guys done and what difference had it made?

Currently it has the cats deleted and 1-7/8" long tube headers along with a ported out stock intake box. All that together seemed to take my tow MPG from about 8 to almost 9.5 on the same route and same load.
I'm looking at possibly a torque cam, TBSS/NNBS intake, and a Blackbear(or other) tune
 
a tune from 150tunes helped my 05 2500 out a lot. my dad drove it with just a tune for over a year as a daily before I started chopping it up. my plans for it now are a cam, valve springs, TBSS intake and a tansgo shift kit.
 
wvracer821 said:
a tune from 150tunes helped my 05 2500 out a lot. my dad drove it with just a tune for over a year as a daily before I started chopping it up. my plans for it now are a cam, valve springs, TBSS intake and a tansgo shift kit.
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I'm definitely gonna get a tune soon, I'm just wondering if there's some supporting work I should do first so I don't have to have it re-tuned. But if a new intake and cam swap aren't gonna help much I'll just say fuck it and get the tune and be done haha


Sterlingfire said:
Turbo or get the fuck out:flipoff2:
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I like the idea of forced induction, I'm just not sure I can pull it off clean enough to be reliable 🤣
 
Cam and tune, or turbo and tune. I’m in the same boat with my 6.0 gas truck. Apparently, says the internet only, a tune can give the lq4 50hp.
 
Gunhand1 said:
Currently it has the cats deleted and 1-7/8" long tube headers along with a ported out stock intake box. All that together seemed to take my tow MPG from about 8 to almost 9.5 on the same route and same load.
Click to expand...

So need to get the headers on and exhaust built for my van, that’s quite impressive.
 
Byro said:
So need to get the headers on and exhaust built for my van, that’s quite impressive.
Click to expand...
I was pretty surprised to see a pretty solid 1mpg jump, it took me at least 4 fill up cycles before I believed it :lmao:
And that's pulling through western MD and WV, I think on flat ground I might be able to eek out 10mpg.


wvracer821 said:
cam, tune and exhaust is worth about 100hp on a 4.8 I would assume the gains on a 6.0 are similar
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100hp would probably make all the difference in the world on this old truck. I'm really itching to pull the trigger on a BTR truck norris or stage whatever truck cam
 
ill drop this here if you haven't seen it already. I ended up with an Elgin 1840p (sloppy stage 2 is the street name) before this one came out.
www.sloppymechanics.com

The Best Cam

*Update, we now have "Import" versions of the best cam as we tried to do before covid, now the proverbial boat has come in, and I can offer both. Please make sure you choose the correct Domestic or Import cam for your purchase Shipping Note: these cams are drop shipped for me, so they can take 3...
www.sloppymechanics.com
 
wvracer821 said:
ill drop this here if you haven't seen it already. I ended up with an Elgin 1840p (sloppy stage 2 is the street name) before this one came out.
www.sloppymechanics.com

The Best Cam

*Update, we now have "Import" versions of the best cam as we tried to do before covid, now the proverbial boat has come in, and I can offer both. Please make sure you choose the correct Domestic or Import cam for your purchase Shipping Note: these cams are drop shipped for me, so they can take 3...
www.sloppymechanics.com
Click to expand...
That's a really great price. I watched a few dyno videos and it looks like it bumps power and torque pretty much across the board.
 
I'm running that sloppy 2 in my lq4 with ls1 heads, ls2 pistons, tbss intake, long tubes, holley tb, etc. I didn't buy a box tune, had it dyno'd. I wish I would have gone with a bigger cam, but I'm asking my truck to do different things than you are.
 
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Silly question probably. Is the only good way to get a cam tune on a dyno or are there mail order tunes that work good for some of the popular cams?

Thought many times about a cam for the lm7 in my junk, but the tuning may be about the same money as the cam??
 
SHARPMACHINE said:
Silly question probably. Is the only good way to get a cam tune on a dyno or are there mail order tunes that work good for some of the popular cams?

Thought many times about a cam for the lm7 in my junk, but the tuning may be about the same money as the cam??
Click to expand...
There are so so so many of these ls combos out there that are identical in parts lists that a box tune should get it close. I wanted all I could get so I went to the dyno. Turns out they wouldn't spin it up because of the long truck drive shaft. So who knows if I got everything possible. I doubt it. I run an afr meter too, too keep track of what is doing.
 
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