Valve Spring Life

**JoshieDoom** · 04-22-2009, 05:50 AM

I keep doing a lot of flipfloping on what direction I want to go with the trans am.
I want to build it once, build it right, and drive it to alaska if I wanted...

With that noted... lets say with a 224 or 228 cam from Texas Speed... how long do you think the valvesprings with their package would last.. I here a lot of people throwing in cams then about 10k miles later the bastard explodes... I talked to a guy locally with a LsX truck who ran his 230 something cam with 6XX lift for over 80k with no issues.. and I kinda feel like that is BS.

Right now im broke.. lol.. but Im setting my goals and doing research.

At this current moment its a ls6 ported heads/ls6 cam/ls6 springs. I think that will prove to be a very reliable 100k possible engine(will be building it from the ground up)

Most people say 15k 20k you need to check them for a decent size cam but I want peoples actually experience.. not opinions...

**Hi-Po** · 04-22-2009, 08:04 AM

Well, I guess I dont have the 'actual' experience yet becuase I havent changed my springs after xxxxx miles. But, I just installed my 230/236 .580 lift... and I will def run them for 15,000-20,000 miles.

**hec33** · 04-23-2009, 03:57 PM

The biggest mistake people make with higher number springs is that they don't let the car warm up all the way before they drive the crap out of it. Higher load springs are much more brittle when they are cold, and they don't like high rpm's until they are nice and warm. That being said, cheaper springs are made with cheaper materials. Cheaper materials probably won't last as long. You know where I am going with this I'm sure... Just ask someone like Crane or Comp Cams. They have the right springs for the right cam.
From experience, I know the center springs in my dual springs loved to break in my 80 Camaro. They were very cheap

**Mr. Luos** · 04-23-2009, 04:04 PM

I think a good spring should last 50K without issue on a mid-range cam.

HSVGTS300 · 04-27-2009, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by Mr. Luos

I think a good spring should last 50K without issue on a mid-range cam.

Would that apply to PRC Duals [.660 Rated] with TSP 228R?
Cheers Mike

**JoshieDoom** · 04-27-2009, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by HSVGTS300

Would that apply to PRC Duals [.660 Rated] with TSP 228R?
Cheers Mike

I would say so. There site has that listed as a long life valvespring setup

**Frost** · 04-28-2009, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Mr. Luos

I think a good spring should last 50K without issue on a mid-range cam.

I don't know that seems like a HUGE roll of the dice.... I have seen the drop in seat pressure of most of our common springs that is present by 13-16K miles and I wouldn't push aftermarket springs any further than that personally. To each his own, and I'm NOT a gambling man, but I'd make a big bet against a set of aftermarket springs with 50K on them being past significantly weakened.

Yes I have some customers with high miles on springs, and I have had more than one of them lose an engine because of it too... but maybe you will get lucky.