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Cam thread

8K views 50 replies 20 participants last post by  JonFord 
#1 ·
Whose runnin whose cams? Likes, dislikes? Worth it, not worth it? Tryin to get a feeler for whose works and whose runnin what and by who. Im liking the idea of throwin one in, daily driver of course ;)

Cowboy Steve
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
:whs:

I'm also running a DI cam, but as Luke stated, we have changed too much to really know whether it has helped or not.

I can tell you that we Dyno'd my truck this weekend and it put down 531 RWHP @ 3450 RPM's... We have some work to do to get the twins dialed in (wastegate adjustments), BUT the truck pulls like a Mother from 1800-4000 RPM's :D

 
#13 ·
:whs:

I'm also running a DI cam, but as Luke stated, we have changed too much to really know whether it has helped or not.

I can tell you that we Dyno'd my truck this weekend and it put down 531 RWHP @ 3450 RPM's... We have some work to do to get the twins dialed in (wastegate adjustments), BUT the truck pulls like a Mother F*cker from 1800-4000 RPM's :D

That truck WILL put down WAY more power than that when you dial in those gates. Sweet truck by the way.
 
#6 ·
Has anyone tried an aftermarket cam with as many things staying the same as possible? Any cams made from blanks, as opposed to regrinds?

I know in the dodge world, we installed a f1 cam in a 04.5cr with stock injectors, silver 62 turbo, and tst/smarty stack. The cam lowered egts very considerably, improved spool up some, and maybe broadened the powerband. As far as dyno numbers, we have not dynoed it since but i doubt youd see a big difference in the peak numbers. That being said id love to try a cam if it can do the same thing for a 7.3
 
#8 ·
i got a di cam. if i had a stock h2e to run i could compare cause the cam and turbo is the only two things i changed.
 
#9 ·
Stock cam seems to work just fine.




Over 640rwhp at 3400rpm, 600rwhp at 3600rpm and 500rwhp at 3800rpm. Uncorrected Dynojet 248c.

The rev limit was set at 3800. I didn't do any work from 3800rpm on. That session was meant to work between 3000 and 3600. The green line was the first pull I made for a baseline that day. That was with an absolute ton of full pulled out down low for torque management. I had the scope running the entire session and never scoped over 2ms of pulsewidth.

Cam shmam.
 
#11 ·
Stock cam seems to work just fine.




Over 640rwhp at 3400rpm, 600rwhp at 3600rpm and 500rwhp at 3800rpm. Uncorrected Dynojet 248c.

The rev limit was set at 3800. I didn't do any work from 3800rpm on. That session was meant to work between 3000 and 3600. The green line was the first pull I made for a baseline that day. That was with an absolute ton of full pulled out down low for torque management. I had the scope running the entire session and never scoped over 2ms of pulsewidth.

Cam shmam.
Charles
I don't want this to be taken as argumentative here, this can be a good learning discussion for everyone including yourself.

How can you compare compounds to a single with a cam?
What is the purpose of installing a cam in an engine?
are the Cummins guys making big power really that stupid?

Seriously this is one time where a novel would behoove us all instead of your simple 2 word answer above.
Now if you actually don't know then just say so and we will understand.
 
#10 ·
Charles are you saying the right cam will not make more horsepower in your truck with all things being equal?


Last time I checked compounds didn't do much for helping the exhaust get out of the engine.
 
#19 ·
So if you are moving into the full build engines is an aftermarket cam something you want to move into?

I understand how it works and I know the original post was it there added benefits with useing an aftermarket cam.

Never mind on my post The Charles posted before me.
 
#20 ·
i would have loved to get on a dyno last year but never did, now i have a cam. but if some one wants to lend a bone stock h2e w/ a 19cm housing to me i would gladly put the cam swap on a sotp dyno and look at egt's, spool-up, drive pressures ect. it only tkes me 20min to get my turbo off so its not like it would take me long.
 
#22 ·
SOTP is beyond worthless. Especially for something like this.

I have thought I was doing better and been 100 low and I've thought I was doing piss-poor and been a 100 high too many times to count now. SOTP is a worthless measuring stick.

An engine dyno is the answer. I was actually talking with Dave last week about how to develop a cam testing program for the engine dyno. It's something that needs done. IMO everything else is just pissing in the wind and wasting time/money.

Fwiw, that's not to say David's profile doesn't work, just that it's a shot in the dark, not a tested (with numbers David.... numbers) and fully developed unit. And in fact, if that shot in the dark does work, and work well, it speaks highly of his understanding over what the engine wants.
 
#24 ·
I was hoping this would stay enlightening, not my cam is best, your cam sucks, his cam gives a reach around etc...

i have next to no experience with cams, besides putting in a few f1 cams in the cr dodges. I know what i experienced installing those and am very anxious to learn about what people have experienced with the 7.3 cams. If you talk to Don M, hell tell you his cams arent going to give you giant hp increases and if youre looking for hp alone, dont go looking at the cam. His cams are made for other purposes and adding some power is a nice benefit.

Im very curious in trying an aftermarket cam and would love to learn about whos cam does what, and why.
 
#25 ·
Enlightening would be if out of anything from my posts above you could have gleaned the fact that you will not find the information you're seeking because you will not find sums of people having done nothing but a cam swap.

Now I don't know this, and this is a genuine question, but do you have to pull the engine out of a dodge to swap a cam? For some reason I get the feeling you don't. If this is the case, then you have your answer as to why you can find information about cam swaps in Dodges and not Fords.
 
#26 ·
nope engine doesnt have to be pulled.
i know sotp dyno is worthless, its just a shame i never got on a dyno last year. since i am one of the very few that changed almost nothing else. the only thing i could help on is real world benifits such as spool-up and egt's. after all, thats what most dodge cams claim, more so than power.
 
#27 ·
The motor does not have to come out to swap cams on a dodge. Youll find 20:1 ratio of people with aftermarket dodge cams vs ford cams. Reason is more than the labor required to do the swap. There are 20:1 ratio of high hp dodges than fords period.

Someone with a chip intake exhaust isnt going to swap cams, but a guy with injectors, modded injection or hpop, large turbo or twins etc will look to a cam.

I understand you wont find a lot of information on the cam swap, but its a nice idea that maybe someone will share anyways.
 
#29 ·
dave is right he never pushed, or made any claims. only thing he did was told be to ask nate what he thought about it. thanks again for that thing dave:D
 
#33 ·
The main differences that you can see and feel are lower egts, wider power band and the turbo spooling much easier. I tried a Hypermax early on and was not very impressed. I tried 5 different grinds before I settled on the one I currently have. In every truck that we have one in the power band is an easy 1000rpm's wider up top.
We don't run a lot more lift than stock but we do run a split duration.

Hopefully in the next month I'll be able to give you a back to back comparison on a truck with the only difference being a cam swap.
 
#34 ·
What is split duration? Sorry for the stupid questions.

Crower was talking to me once about running a longer pushrod to get a little more lift, and then compensating with the cam to get the longer direction, or something of that nature but i dont quite understand what they meant.

Im pretty ignorant when it comes to cams. Ive never played with hi-po gas motors, or even ever owned a gas vehicle so i dont have anything to compare or learn off of.

On edit, i drove a truck with a hypermax cam and uncut b-codes with .0075 nozzles and a h2e, honestly i cant say it pulled any harder than a 238 hybrid/38r combo.
 
#38 ·
Aggie,

A longer or shorter pushrod is used for getting your rocker geometry correct. If you cut .050 off of a head, you are gonna need a shorter pushrod.

To change valve lift without changing the cam requires a different ratio rocker arm. Something we are limited to with the 7.3 rockers.

Most SBC from the factory have a ratio of 1.5 to 1, there are rocker arms available up to 1.8 to 1 for the SBC. Cam lift stays the same but ACCTUAL valve lift is increased, along with a bit of duration.


Marc
 
#39 ·
i have definetly noticed my turbo spools good. its at least as good if not better than when the turbo was stock.
 
#40 ·
Marc,

I must have been confused with what Crower was telling me, as it was a long time ago. The longer pushrod could not be used in itself as it would leave the valve open even when it should be fully collapsed. They were recommending the longer pushrods to compensate for something they were going to do with the cam.

Does the shorter pushrod work with hydrualic lifters though? On the 6.0s if you order new pushrods from Ford, you will get some that are a tad shorter than the ones they came with and apparently are from the 6.4. They work however as the lifter fills up to compensate.
 
#41 ·
Longer pushrods would be needed if they were going to change the base circle of the cam. Make the cam smaller in diameter.

Yes shorter pushrods will work with hydraulic lifters. The cam never changes position in the motor. The hydraulic lifter does have a bit of room to play, that is where you get your preload at, and the oil takes up the slop and wear.

The shorter pushrods for the 6.0 may be to compensate for head milling??
 
#47 ·
danny had a di cammed truck and seemed to survive his easy sunday only driving habbits:hehe:
 
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