Hi everybody. Seems most people here are after high HP, but I'm looking for some advice for a tow rig. My truck is a '97 C2500, extended cab long bed, with a 4.10 FF rear and a 4l80e. Currently has the worthless Vortec 350, but I'm looking to 'upgrade'

I'm acquiring an LQ4, and am curious about a basic build, vs going with an 8100 instead. How would an appropriate cam effect the low-end torque? By the factory graphs, an 8100 makes ~400 ft./lbs right off idle and has a very flat torque curve. Could that be at least somewhat matched with the right cam selection? Would bumping the CR by either shaving the heads, swapping the heads, or doing different pistons help, or would it possibly create too much heat? Of course, this will be custom tuned. Whats LS1truck think?? Or should I just stick to a tune-only 8100?

FWIW, this truck mostly hauls crap in the bed, and towes racecars or other trailers. Average towing load is ~7-8k or so, max would probably be 10-12k lbs. The vortec 350 is fine once up to speed, but getting off the line, even with the 4.10, just sucks. I had an '01 K1500 extended cab ona steel trailer once, and I was floored trying to get up to speed hitting an on ramp on a slight grade, and she struggled HARD, and temps started to rise.... I don't wanna have that problem again. I really wish 1st in the 4l80e was shorter, a 6l90e swap someday would fix all of these problems Thanks for your time.