# Cam upgrade?



## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Thinking about upgrading the cam in my plow truck. It has a Chevy 350. Looking for a little more power. 



Can't decide on a good duration. I know longer duration means more power. Any comments welcome.


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

The advertised numbers don't mean a thing. Look at the duration at .050. Keep the intake around 200-204 at .050, with a 112-114 degree lobe separation. 

What year engine? Flat tappet hydraulic, or hydraulic roller?


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## NICHOLS LANDSCA (Sep 15, 2007)

Where is the none of the above for your poll? What cubicinches said more info would be good. I know of a cam to make a small block pull like a diesel But like a diesel it's all over around 3500rpm


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

NICHOLS LANDSCA;1030440 said:


> Where is the none of the above for your poll? What cubicinches said more info would be good. I know of a cam to make a small block pull like a diesel But like a diesel it's all over around 3500rpm


Thats the one to get for plowing.


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

Check out this old thread...

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=91923

Seems to be some engine builders in that thread... maybe they've got something for ya.


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

GMPP makes some nice cams for the tbi and vortec 350's. Most come idle to like 5250 rpms which is what you want. Summit Racing has them


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

NICHOLS LANDSCA;1030440 said:


> I know of a cam to make a small block pull like a diesel. But like a diesel it's all over around 3500rpm


You know he's going to ask, does it add "Diesel-ness"? :laughing:


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## Midwest BuildIt Inc (Nov 14, 2004)

B&B;1030813 said:


> You know he's going to ask, does it add "Diesel-ness"? :laughing:


:laughing::laughing:


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## sven_502 (Nov 1, 2008)

Subscribing just to see where you go.


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

127 views, 8 replies. NO VOTES! I don't know what to do. I am, however, very interested in this cam that makes my truck feel like a diesel. Will I have to plug the truck in at night if I put that cam in?

I could start a new thread. Pics of gas trucks with diesel cams.....


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## sven_502 (Nov 1, 2008)

2COR517;1031227 said:


> 127 views, 8 replies. NO VOTES! I don't know what to do. I am, however, very interested in this cam that makes my truck feel like a diesel. *Will I have to plug the truck in at night if I put that cam in?*
> I could start a new thread. Pics of gas trucks with diesel cams.....


:laughing::laughing: 2cor you're too funny.


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## FisherVMan (Jan 5, 2010)

517 You must be bored stiff .......................... and if you are thinking of a cam you certainly made alot more this winter than we did!!!!! I am putting my spare money into an outboard motor to heck with the plowtruck!


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

Those durations are enormous!!! Your valvetrain, and torque converter would not even begin to handle that kind of duration. Guys over on the LS site Im on have 228 cams and they have to throw a stalled converter in there. You for sure dont want that on a plow truck. Im not sure of the duration stock, but it isnt no where near that. My LQ4 6.0 only has a 191 duration intake/exhaust and makes plenty of power. 210-213 is about it with the stock trans/torque converter. I wouldnt go over .480-.510 lift at .50 either. But if your truck is the 95 newer Vortec 350 then I would highly suggest a custom tune first. That will open you up quite a good bit and you may not even want to upgrade the cam then


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Sydenstricker Landscaping;1032043 said:


> Those durations are enormous!!! Your valvetrain, and torque converter would not even begin to handle that kind of duration. Guys over on the LS site Im on have 228 cams and they have to throw a stalled converter in there. You for sure dont want that on a plow truck. Im not sure of the duration stock, but it isnt no where near that. My LQ4 6.0 only has a 191 duration intake/exhaust and makes plenty of power. 210-213 is about it with the stock trans/torque converter. I wouldnt go over .480-.510 lift at .50 either. But if your truck is the 95 newer Vortec 350 then I would highly suggest a custom tune first. That will open you up quite a good bit and you may not even want to upgrade the cam then


What's a "stalled converter"?


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

Sydenstricker Landscaping;1032043 said:


> I wouldnt go over .480-.510 lift at .50 either.


At .50 what?


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

cubicinches;1032050 said:


> At .50 what?


I meant .050 inch lift


2COR517;1032046 said:


> What's "stalled converter"?


Stall speed --- the rpm that a given torque converter (impeller) has to spin in order for it to overcome a given amount of load and begin moving the turbine. When referring to "how much stall will I get from this torque converter", it means how fast (rpm) must the torque converter spin to generate enough fluid force on the turbine to overcome the resting inertia of the vehicle at wide open throttle. Load originates from two places (1) From the torque imparted on the torque converter by the engine via the crankshaft. (This load varies over rpm, i.e. torque curve, and is directly affected by atmosphere, fuel and engine conditions.) (2) From inertia, the resistance of the vehicle to acceleration, which places a load on the torque converter through the drive train. This can be thought of as how difficult the drive train is to rotate with the vehicle at rest, and is affected by car weight, amount of gear reduction and tire size, ability of tire to stay adhered to ground and stiffness of chassis ( this is from tci auto's web site.....I dont have this memorized, lol)


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

So is my current converter not "stalled"

How do I have .480" lift at .050" lift? Which is it?


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

2COR517;1032056 said:


> So is my current converter not "stalled"
> 
> How do I have .480" lift at .050" lift? Which is it?


The .050 is the lift at the valve I believe and the .480 would be the lift on the cam lobe itself.

No your current converter is not stalled. When you hit the gas, the truck takes right off. With a stalled converter, pending stall rpms, would hold you stationary until the rpm speed is met for all the parts to spin and lock up. Meaning of you had a 2500 rpm stall converter, the engine would need to be at 2500 rpms before everything would hook up and go.

And if I am wrong on any of this, then I stand corrected and apologize in advance for any incorrect information.


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

So the cam lift is .480 and the valve only moves .050? Where does all that travel go? Must be absorbed by the hydraulic lifter?

And my truck idle at 700 or so. When I take my foot off the brake it doesn't launch immediately. Sometimes I have to get it up to 1200 or 1500 to move if I'm on a hill or hauling a big trailer. I'm still confused


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

2COR517;1032065 said:


> So the cam lift is .480 and the valve only moves .050?


Ick! That doesn't sound good...


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

2COR517;1032065 said:


> So the cam lift is .480 and the valve only moves .050? Where does all that travel go? Must be absorbed by the hydraulic lifter?
> 
> And my truck idle at 700 or so. When I take my foot off the brake it doesn't launch immediately. Sometimes I have to get it up to 1200 or 1500 to move if I'm on a hill or hauling a big trailer. I'm still confused


Im still learning the whole measuring and figuring out the cam/valve lift thing myself so dont hold it against me if there is something wrong.

Again still on the learning curve here myself. The stall controls when the turbine and stator transfer the engine rotations to the transmission its self. Having a load against the truck will require higher rpms to move, stalled converter or not. It is just the weight of the load acting like resistance against the driveline. 1200 rpm or what not is where the driveline finally overcomes the resistance and can begin moving the weight. If you are building a performance engine and it has a power band from 2500 rpm to 6800 rpm, you dont want to wait for the lag from idle to that 2500 to get going. The stall converter holds everything till the engine hits that 2500 rpm point, then it transfers the power from the engine to the trans and goes.

If I am wrong here, please someone correct me!!! That is the only way I or anyone else will learn. I hate being way off on things, lol.


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

cubicinches;1032078 said:


> Ick! That doesn't sound good...


Maybe negative ratio rocker arms?


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

2COR517;1032092 said:


> Maybe negative ratio rocker arms?


.1042 Rocker arm ratio....

.480 X .1042 = .050016 valve lift.

Man, .480 is one helluva hydraulic lobe. How about if you ran that with a stock 1.5 rocker arm... You get .720 lift.


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

That sounds good to me. That will make the truck pretty loud, right?


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

2COR517;1032099 said:


> That sounds good to me. That will make the truck pretty loud, right?


Uhh.. that's another thread... this is the cam thread.


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

I think it is time to sit back and read for a while. I think I have surpassed fail and ended up on epic fail


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Sydenstricker Landscaping;1032104 said:


> I think it is time to sit back and read for a while.


We all have learning to do about something. Glad to see you man up though, that's rare. :salute:


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

2COR517;1032106 said:


> We all have learning to do about something. Glad to see you man up though, that's rare. :salute:


Well thank you:waving: I know when it is time to stop and let someone with more knowledge chime in. I dont and never will claim to know everything.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

cubicinches;1032096 said:


> Man, .480 is one helluva hydraulic lobe.


Gonna be a little tough to even get that one through the cam bearings. 

Palmer, open your cam catalog and scroll your finger to the last cam at the bottom of the page. Pick that one. That's what everyone else does. :laughing:


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

B&B;1032142 said:


> Gonna be a little tough to even get that one through the cam bearings.


Palmer probably wouldn't mind the extra cost of fitting the block with 55mm roller cam bearings... She'll clear then!


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

So Im thinking a tune will be a better start for him instead of trying to match the right cam? Plus he would most likely need the tune anyways if he does a cam swap


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

A custom tune would definitely be required for a cam swap in a Vortec (96 and up BTW). I'm not sure about a TBI.......


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

2COR517;1032154 said:


> A custom tune would definitely be required for a cam swap in a Vortec (96 and up BTW). I'm not sure about a TBI.......


Especially if you use one of the cam profiles in your poll....


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

B&B;1032142 said:


> Gonna be a little tough to even get that one through the cam bearings.
> 
> Palmer, open your cam catalog and scroll your finger to the last cam at the bottom of the page. Pick that one. That's what everyone else does. :laughing:


Ain't that the truth. I think that's how most guys pick their carb and tire size too


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

2COR517;1032157 said:


> Ain't that the truth. I think that's how most guys pick their carb and tire size too


So what you are saying is a 1000 cfm Holley wouldnt work on a stock 305 and 42" irok mudders wouldn't work too well with a 3.42 open rear?? LMAO


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Sydenstricker Landscaping;1032159 said:


> So what you are saying is a 1000 cfm Holley wouldnt work on a stock 305 and 42" irok mudders wouldn't work too well with a 3.42 open rear?? LMAO


Something like that.:laughing:

Open doesn't matter, but those 42s are going to suck with 3.42s and a V6 with a 5 speed. Of course you could put a spool and 5:13s in your 10 bolt. That's a tough, reliable setup


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## Sydenstricker Landscaping (Dec 17, 2006)

2COR517;1032164 said:


> Something like that.:laughing:
> 
> Open doesn't matter, but those 42s are going to suck with 3.42s and a V6 with a 5 speed. Of course you could put a spool and 5:13s in your 10 bolt. That's a tough, reliable setup


Great 5.13's in a stock 10 bolt with the c clips should be terrific with those tires and a spool, lmao:laughing: Would it still be able to push my 8.2 V on my S10???:laughing: I know prolly a bit far, but sarcasm has set in


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## EFI (Mar 18, 2007)

2COR517;1030423 said:


> Thinking about upgrading the cam in my plow truck. It has a Chevy 350. Looking for a little more power.
> 
> 
> 
> Can't decide on a good duration. I know longer duration means more power. Any comments welcome.


I think you need a " 3/4 Race Cam " to keep up to me .:waving:


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## cubicinches (Oct 19, 2008)

EFI;1032702 said:


> I think you need a " 3/4 Race Cam " to keep up to me .:waving:


Ah, the good old "3/4 cam"... A real 3/4 cam would only have 12 lobes, right?


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## EFI (Mar 18, 2007)

cubicinches;1032712 said:


> Ah, the good old "3/4 cam"... A real 3/4 cam would only have 12 lobes, right?


Then the lobes are flat 3/4 of the way ....


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