LS6 cam with stock exhaust manifolds?

[JeRM82]

I have a RCSB 07 with a 5.3 in it.....I am planning on dumping some cash into it for a few bolt ons and was toying with getting an LS6 cam for it....
I am going to get a K&N for it, a nelson tune, and a corsa exhaust......i wanted to get some headers....but in another thread i was pretty much told that it wouldnt be worth the cost....
I guess my question is...Should I get headers if I wanted to put an LS6 cam in it? I live in california and I am not going to put long tubes on the truck.....i just dont wanna deal with the BS when it comes time to smog it....even if it is in 2 years....for headers i would have to go with the JBA's because they are the only ones smog legal for california on the 07 trucks.....

[sprayedenali]

whoever told you headers arent worth it... well, maybe you shouldnt listen to them as much... i dont know why or how they said it, so maybe there was a good reason, but you cant expect to make any huge gains if you have the stock manifolds holding you back...
i believe there is some headers that are SMOG approved, dynatech's come to mind... so that might be something to look into.

[Larry1962us]

Don't waste money on shorty headers. Very little if any horsepower gain and no noticeable sound difference. Go with long tubes or stay with stock manifolds>

[r.barn]

You will need better exhaust and rear gears before doing the cam.

[JeRM82]

You will need better exhaust and rear gears before doing the cam.

I have 373's in my truck....I dont think that I need to step up to 410's for just an LS6 cam do I?

[bangbangskeetskeet]

You will need better exhaust and rear gears before doing the cam.

Why would you need gears for doing that cam?
I could see maybe a converter...but most people say that you dont need one with the LS6 cam...

[Trevor]

will the ls6 cam add to or bring down the low end torque any? or would i feel a decent gain through the rpm ranges? looking for a cheap cam to add till i pull the tranny for a tq converter and maybe beef up for supercharger or turbo

[George C]

LS6 cam came stock with manifolds so yes will work


also a few years ago they did a test back in GM hightech where they took vette manifolds and compared them to a set of headers and the gain over the manifolds was 2 rwhp

granted now technology has grown with companys like Kooks.

[performinnorman]

You can definitely run the LS6 cam with stock manifolds. You just won't see as big of gains as if you ran headers and a good exhaust system. Just depends on your personal goal.

[pl4yboy]

I have a RCSB 07 with a 5.3 in it.....I am planning on dumping some cash into it for a few bolt ons and was toying with getting an LS6 cam for it....
I am going to get a K&N for it, a nelson tune, and a corsa exhaust......i wanted to get some headers....but in another thread i was pretty much told that it wouldnt be worth the cost....
I guess my question is...Should I get headers if I wanted to put an LS6 cam in it? I live in california and I am not going to put long tubes on the truck.....i just dont wanna deal with the BS when it comes time to smog it....even if it is in 2 years....for headers i would have to go with the JBA's because they are the only ones smog legal for california on the 07 trucks.....

Pretty sure we said the LS6 cam, and shorty headers weren't worth the money.