In this week’s article, we’ll be going over how to replace the valve springs in your LS-based truck engine. You’ll want to do this if you’ve installed an aftermarket cam because the stock valve springs don’t have enough tension for a cam that has a much higher lift than stock.
I do have a video of the process that can be seen here: https://youtu.be/WWr_Fjf6KEk
The first thing you’ll want to do is remove the coil packs from the top of the valve covers. This can be accomplished by unplugging the electrical connector and removing the 5 nuts/studs that hold the coil pack to the valve cover.
The next step is to remove the valve covers and rocker assemblies, this is pretty straight forward and you can see how I did it in the video.
The next step is to assemble the Proform 67605 valve spring compressor tool. If you’re interested in purchasing this tool it can be found at this link: https://amzn.to/39Fr5ks
It should look like this once you have it assembled:
Before using the spring compressor tool, use the Lisle 19700 valve holder tool to pressurize the cylinder to about 50 PSI. This will hold the valves closed while you remove the valve springs. The Lisle 19700 valve holder tool can be purchased at this link: https://amzn.to/2SNclsR
Once you have the cylinder pressurized with compressed air to hold the valves in place, the Proform tool can be installed like this:
Turn the nut on the top of the Proform tool to compress the valve springs. Once they are fully compressed, you can use a magnet to remove the keepers from the top of the valve as shown here:
Once the keepers have been removed, you can release the tension from the tool and remove the old valve springs and retainers. To install the new valve springs, the process is basically reversed and can be seen in the video.
The valve springs I used were the Comp Cams LS6+ valve springs (Part No. 29606-16.) If you’re interested in buying them they can be purchased at this link: https://amzn.to/39Fr5ks
The parts and tools I used can be seen in the photo below:
The whole video showing the installation can be seen here:
Loved it . Warts and all. Thanks, Just surfing and came across your site been thinking about swapping and LS into my 99 K2500. The current 5.7 is tired. I will have to watch some of your other videos your truck look interesting.
Thanks Todd, haven’t done much with the truck lately but I hear the tracks will be opening up again soon so I hope to be creating some new content soon, the LS into your 99 should be a fairly straight forward swap, would be a fun project.
Couldn’t you just use top dead center to keep valves from falling?