Anyone running this cam LS7
11-27-2018, 04:39 PM
#2
Advanced
Thread Starter
I’m at the point of taking it out but want to make sure it’s the cam causing all my surging. Checking to see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing or if it’s my tuner.
11-27-2018, 05:43 PM
#3
Instructor
I have the LS7R cam, the surging is about the same as I've experienced with my old motor and comp cams .620 lift cam, I'm still in the process of tuning.
Actually I can use 6th gear on the highway now at around 70-75mph without the bucking I had with the old setup.
Actually I can use 6th gear on the highway now at around 70-75mph without the bucking I had with the old setup.
11-27-2018, 07:44 PM
#4
Pro Mechanic
Pro Mechanic
Yep.
You could have idle, surging, bucking and pehaps even stalling problems unless the tuner-in-question understands what's required to properly calibrate for driveability.
The problem is that some tuners either don't know how to properly calibrate a cammed engine for better drviability or the owner either can't or won't afford the cost of doing that. Wide-open throttle cal is easy. Driveability is hard and time consuming and many owners have kittens when they find out what it costs to get the driveability right.
From the OE LS7 cam (.593/.589 lift at .050, 210°/230° duration, 120.5 lobe sep) to your Texas Speed cam (.655/.655, 242°/250° and 114 lobe sep) is a big jump in overlap and that will play hell with idle and low-speed unless your calibrator knows drivability and you're willing to spend the money to get it right.
That said, even with a cal having good idle and part-throttle, that much of a cam is going to make for a few compromises in driveability in a street environment, but good cal work will certainly have you with less problems than you have now.
You could have idle, surging, bucking and pehaps even stalling problems unless the tuner-in-question understands what's required to properly calibrate for driveability.
The problem is that some tuners either don't know how to properly calibrate a cammed engine for better drviability or the owner either can't or won't afford the cost of doing that. Wide-open throttle cal is easy. Driveability is hard and time consuming and many owners have kittens when they find out what it costs to get the driveability right.
From the OE LS7 cam (.593/.589 lift at .050, 210°/230° duration, 120.5 lobe sep) to your Texas Speed cam (.655/.655, 242°/250° and 114 lobe sep) is a big jump in overlap and that will play hell with idle and low-speed unless your calibrator knows drivability and you're willing to spend the money to get it right.
That said, even with a cal having good idle and part-throttle, that much of a cam is going to make for a few compromises in driveability in a street environment, but good cal work will certainly have you with less problems than you have now.
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octaneman (11-28-2018)
11-27-2018, 08:14 PM
#5
IMO the split is not wide enough on that cam and if you want your car to drive better then you should probably get the intake to 238 or lower.
I am running a cam with a similar intake, much bigger exhaust, more lift, with the same LSA and a larger advance. My car will cruise in any gear at 1,200 without bucking or surging. However, I spec'd my own cam based on my mods.
Did you get with Stephen to retune your car? Your cam is not that big and it should drive better than what you are describing. The biggest issue that you have is that your Intake is too big.
I am running a cam with a similar intake, much bigger exhaust, more lift, with the same LSA and a larger advance. My car will cruise in any gear at 1,200 without bucking or surging. However, I spec'd my own cam based on my mods.
Did you get with Stephen to retune your car? Your cam is not that big and it should drive better than what you are describing. The biggest issue that you have is that your Intake is too big.
11-27-2018, 08:37 PM
#6
Advanced
Thread Starter
IMO the split is not wide enough on that cam and if you want your car to drive better then you should probably get the intake to 238 or lower.
I am running a cam with a similar intake, much bigger exhaust, more lift, with the same LSA and a larger advance. My car will cruise in any gear at 1,200 without bucking or surging. However, I spec'd my own cam based on my mods.
Did you get with Stephen to retune your car? Your cam is not that big and it should drive better than what you are describing. The biggest issue that you have is that your Intake is too big.
I am running a cam with a similar intake, much bigger exhaust, more lift, with the same LSA and a larger advance. My car will cruise in any gear at 1,200 without bucking or surging. However, I spec'd my own cam based on my mods.
Did you get with Stephen to retune your car? Your cam is not that big and it should drive better than what you are describing. The biggest issue that you have is that your Intake is too big.
11-27-2018, 09:19 PM
#8
I run a 240/252 113+3 with Johnson axle oil short travel lifters and have no highway surging at all. I understand highway surging well as I used to have a 243/259 112+0 (Lingenfelter GT21 cam) before and hated it due to highway cruise speed surge. I have a good tuner that spent 20+ hours on my car on a mustang dyno to achieve my current results. Not simple but very do able. I use my car for a multitude of things, street, drag, 1/2 mile and road course. This cam does it all very well.
11-27-2018, 11:51 PM
#9
Pro Mechanic
Pro Mechanic
I run a 240/252 113+3 with Johnson axle oil short travel lifters and have no highway surging at all. I understand highway surging well as I used to have a 243/259 112+0 (Lingenfelter GT21 cam) before and hated it due to highway cruise speed surge. I have a good tuner that spent 20+ hours on my car on a mustang dyno to achieve my current results. Not simple but very do able. I use my car for a multitude of things, street, drag, 1/2 mile and road course. This cam does it all very well.
11-28-2018, 12:59 PM
#10
Team Owner
That looks to be from TSP's old line up. Their new cam would be the Stage 3.2 240/252, .657"/.655", 111 LSA
If you're looking for better driveability, I think the BTR 3 would be better than your current one...but I'd suggest even going to the BTR 2 or step down to a TSP Stage 2.2 if driveability is the primary concern, and losing ~15 peak HP isn't that big of a deal.
If you're looking for better driveability, I think the BTR 3 would be better than your current one...but I'd suggest even going to the BTR 2 or step down to a TSP Stage 2.2 if driveability is the primary concern, and losing ~15 peak HP isn't that big of a deal.
11-28-2018, 02:13 PM
#11
Burning Brakes
I have a 242/250 cam with less lift than that and my car drives great. I live in the mountains and cruise no lower than 1500 rpm. I shift into 6th around 65 mph. When I'm out west or up north where it's flatter I can cruise even down to 1200 rpm. Parking lots don't drive like stock but who expects that?
11-28-2018, 02:14 PM
#12
Drifting
Only makes sense that you would want different durations to address the difference between the intake and exhaust sides of the cylinder head.
https://www.lsxmag.com/tech-stories/...rain-upgrades/
From the OE LS7 cam (.593/.589 lift at .050, 210°/230° duration, 120.5 lobe sep) to your Texas Speed cam (.655/.655, 242°/250° and 114 lobe sep) is a big jump in overlap and that will play hell with idle and low-speed unless your calibrator knows drivability and you're willing to spend the money to get it right.
TSP offers at least two lobes (or amount of lift for each intake and exhaust ) for the 1.8 rocker arm ratio used on LS7 motors (same as the LT,) but you can pick almost any duration, LSA, and ICL that you want. TSP lobes are valvetrain friendly and their Landis CNC cam grinder is one of the best tools in the industry for making cam shafts.
I run a 240/252 113+3 with Johnson axle oil short travel lifters and have no highway surging at all. I understand highway surging well as I used to have a 243/259 112+0 (Lingenfelter GT21 cam) before and hated it due to highway cruise speed surge. I have a good tuner that spent 20+ hours on my car on a mustang dyno to achieve my current results. Not simple but very do able. I use my car for a multitude of things, street, drag, 1/2 mile and road course. This cam does it all very well.
11-28-2018, 03:15 PM
#13
Burning Brakes
There are lots more that comes to cam timing than IN/EX split. On my current cam I run 9 deg split and 7 deg more intake duration and my cam absolutely rips, its explosive and pulls like a freight train on top. It idles in traffic with AC with no hesitation with aluminum flywheel, and carbon fiber driveshaft, and I can drive it in 6th gear all the way down to 1000-1500 RPMs if I have to.
Your tuner will play a huge role....I know mine did from my old "tune" to my "rertune" and my drive-ability speaks tons of that.
Your tuner will play a huge role....I know mine did from my old "tune" to my "rertune" and my drive-ability speaks tons of that.
Last edited by Da Z06; 11-28-2018 at 03:16 PM.
11-28-2018, 08:26 PM
#14
Advanced
Thread Starter
[QUOTE=MTPZ06;1598409216]That looks to be from TSP's old line up. Their new cam would be the Stage 3.2 240/252, .657"/.655", 111 LSA
If you're looking for better driveability, I think the BTR 3 would be better than your current one...but I'd suggest even going to the BTR 2 or step down to a TSP Stage 2.2 if driveability is the primary concern, and losing ~15 peak HP isn't that big of a deal.[/QUOTE
funny you you said that. I just told my engine guy to order a BTR 2. He said it would drive like stock but still make good power. I’m not drag racing or going to track days so I think I’ll be happy with the stage 2
If you're looking for better driveability, I think the BTR 3 would be better than your current one...but I'd suggest even going to the BTR 2 or step down to a TSP Stage 2.2 if driveability is the primary concern, and losing ~15 peak HP isn't that big of a deal.[/QUOTE
funny you you said that. I just told my engine guy to order a BTR 2. He said it would drive like stock but still make good power. I’m not drag racing or going to track days so I think I’ll be happy with the stage 2
11-28-2018, 08:31 PM
#15
Team Owner
BTR 2 is a great proven cam with excellent street manners. 
11-29-2018, 09:46 AM
#16
Pro
+1 for BTR Stage 2 cam. Drives like stock and makes excellent power (Don’t expect crazy peak power). Overlap is only 8, so really it shouldn’t be that difficult to tune. Then again, I had to get a retune after the first tuner spent 30 minutes on the car and did not adjust fuel tables and left power enrichment come at 400 RPMs. My last tuner spent 6 hours going over everything. Now the car drives amazing, no stalling, and definitely no surging.
Drives so much like stock now that I’m getting bored and will be bumping it up to a stage 3 or Punisher cam from RR, haven’t decided. Car will also be on E85, with 13:1-13.8:1 compression.
Drives so much like stock now that I’m getting bored and will be bumping it up to a stage 3 or Punisher cam from RR, haven’t decided. Car will also be on E85, with 13:1-13.8:1 compression.
11-29-2018, 05:03 PM
#17
Advanced
Thread Starter
+1 for BTR Stage 2 cam. Drives like stock and makes excellent power (Don’t expect crazy peak power). Overlap is only 8, so really it shouldn’t be that difficult to tune. Then again, I had to get a retune after the first tuner spent 30 minutes on the car and did not adjust fuel tables and left power enrichment come at 400 RPMs. My last tuner spent 6 hours going over everything. Now the car drives amazing, no stalling, and definitely no surging.
Drives so much like stock now that I’m getting bored and will be bumping it up to a stage 3 or Punisher cam from RR, haven’t decided. Car will also be on E85, with 13:1-13.8:1 compression.
Drives so much like stock now that I’m getting bored and will be bumping it up to a stage 3 or Punisher cam from RR, haven’t decided. Car will also be on E85, with 13:1-13.8:1 compression.
11-29-2018, 10:05 PM
#18
Pro
You can’t go wrong with the stage 2. I was scared at first, not wanting a large cam due to drivability issues, but was told that the stage 2 is still a rather small cam for a 427, so I went ahead and ordered it. It will definitely give you some shake, and it’s got a Lope to it for sure. You can tell it has a cam. Power comes on around 3500 and pulls hard til about 6300-6500.
12-10-2018, 01:05 PM
#19
Burning Brakes
Member Since: Mar 2011
Location: Tampa FL
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St. Jude Donor '13
I run a 240/252 113+3 with Johnson axle oil short travel lifters and have no highway surging at all. I understand highway surging well as I used to have a 243/259 112+0 (Lingenfelter GT21 cam) before and hated it due to highway cruise speed surge. I have a good tuner that spent 20+ hours on my car on a mustang dyno to achieve my current results. Not simple but very do able. I use my car for a multitude of things, street, drag, 1/2 mile and road course. This cam does it all very well.
What are your 1/2 mile speeds? Do you have 1/4 mile et and mph numbers? I have spent a lot of time researching camshafts looking for a good all around performer and noticed the specs I am leaning toward are close to the ones you posted.
Last edited by MickVette; 12-10-2018 at 01:23 PM.
12-10-2018, 01:34 PM
#20
Le Mans Master
I've known 2 cars that have run that cam, both drove great! And I got to drive one half-way across the country. The tune is everything. That cam makes GREAT power and had perfectly normal street manners when tuned correctly. The car I drove made 545 rwhp with stock heads and intake. Pulled hard and was a blast to drive. I never experienced "bucking" unless you chugged it down to like 600 rpm on purpose. But normal driving was great. I personally think it's the tune. But it's your call because it's your car. Good luck with your decision.