L83 DoD Delete with L86 cam questions

UrbanRage · September 12, 2023

I have 17 Sierra w/ 5.3. I’ve been thinking about moving forward with the DoD delete. I’m looking for input from those who are more knowledgeable about this than I am.

I have a Diablo turner to turn off the DoD after the cam is installed.

My questions are:

- Is the L86 cam upgrade power increase noticeable?

- Is the truck drivable if I can't get a custom tune immediately after the cam is installed?

Edited September 15, 2023 by UrbanRage

UrbanRage · September 19, 2023

Does anyone have experience with the 6.2 cam in their 5.3? Anyone... Anyone....Bueller...Bueller?

superdave160 · October 8, 2023

If you are going to replace the cam anyway, why not go ahead and do a DOD delete as well? I have a 2017 Silverado with a 5.3L engine. I had the DOD delete done to my engine and had a stage 2 cam installed. I also had an intake manifold and throttle body off of a 6.2L engine installed. When I got my truck back, it did not run well at all. The mechanic was saying that I needed to have it tuned and the tuner said that there was a mechanical issue. Well, I found several mechanical issues and, now that they are resolved, it runs pretty good. It still idles rough but it appears to me that the tune is very lean at idle. It's going back to the tuner so that they can take another look at that. I also had the torque converter replaced with a billet model that has a higher stall speed. I pull a camper with my truck and I didn't want the torque converter to grenade and take out the entire transmission. If you put in a larger can without replacing the torque converter, you may have some low RPM issues such as surging when coming to a stop. With all that being said, the truck has WAY more power.

superdave160 · October 8, 2023

My truck was drivable before the tune was updated (I already had a custom tune before the DOD delete). However, the most likely problem that you will have if you have the mechanical work done and then want to drive the truck before you have it tuned will be at low RPM/idle. Larger cams want to have a higher idle speed.

UrbanRage · October 10, 2023

On 10/8/2023 at 10:24 AM, superdave160 said:

My truck was drivable before the tune was updated (I already had a custom tune before the DOD delete). However, the most likely problem that you will have if you have the mechanical work done and then want to drive the truck before you have it tuned will be at low RPM/idle. Larger cams want to have a higher idle speed.

Thanks for the reply. I ordered the DoD delete kit w/ stock cam as I wasn't 100% sure how it would run without a tune. I'm not super happy about this decision, but I can't risk being without a vehicle. On the other hand, I will feel better knowing I'm not driving a potential time bomb.