3rd Gen Cam upgrade

[AH64ID]

I broke down and ordered a Cam. Its a Colt Cams Stage 1. Its their mildest grind, but since I dont have big power plans I am not worried about bigger grinds. It also is the same cam that PDR sells with their name, and it gets good reviews, espeically with stock turbo's and exhaust brakes. Should be good for 100-200* EGT drop, 200-400 rpm quicker spool, and 1-3 mpgs. Its getting installed on the 26th. I'll be sure to do a good review post once I get a few miles on it.

[Mopar1973Man]

Oh! Do tell about it... I'd love to hear about your results with your 3rd Gen...

[guesswho512]

post the cam card(ie the duration and lift)

[white01]

quicker spoolin'......

[AH64ID]

Stock on a 3rd gen is INT 163* 0.237, EXH 191* 0.299 with a 98.5* lobe sep.Stage 1 is INT 175* 0.251, EXH 206* 0.297 with a 103* lobe sep. Very similar lift/duration to a 2nd gen, and lots more intake than any stock cam.

[guesswho512]

i hope your install goes smooth. if you get a chance, snap some pics.

[AH64ID]

I just spoke with Amsoil.. They cannot say nothing bad will happen to their oil with the ZDDP added.Anyone ever done it?And for normal operation the AME starts with 1377ppm of Zinc and 1267ppm of Phosphorus, which is more than adequate for normal cam operation. For cam break-in its recommended to have at least 1000 ppm for cam break-in and a my last UOA I was at 975, so I need to do something.. just not sure what. My preferred method would be add ZDDP to the AME for break-in, then change the oil pretty quick... any thoughts?Doing the math 3 bottles of ZDDP would give me 2176ppm on Phosphorous and 2900ppm on Zinc.. should be good!

[AH64ID]

Cam has been in for about 1000 miles now, over 600 of which have been towing. So far I am quite happy with it. The changes are very minor, as we expected. But I have noticed the following..Turbo spools a little bit quicker, and seems to get to 25 psi much faster than before. From 25 to 30 is about the same as before, but with the intake valve being open 12* longer with 0.014 more lift 30psi now is much more air than it was before, so really its moving more air at a faster rate. The truck is much smoother at low boost, due to the increased air. It also seems to pull from lower rpms easier. Thou I lugged it a little in 3rd yesterday with a 15K lb dump trailer and blacked out an intersection in 2 seconds (8mph in 3rd), quick downshift made the smoke disappear and the truck scoots!Bottom end smoke is reduced slightly, not as much as I was hoping, but I think that has more to do with Smarty Jr timing than anything. No real honest reports on mileage, it appears to be up a little but I have been towing a lot, and not using the truck as a DD anymore. I also went to a M/T tire just before the swap so more changes. Towing the EGT's seem to be a bit lower 75* or so when pulling hard up long hills. Crusing they are maybe 25* cooler. I had to change the TQ management on my Smarty Jr from default to TQ3 (less aggressive) for timing rattle that really increased with the cam. I also went to SW2 and it decreased more. I am now running SW2 TM2 TQ3 and it really likes it. The exhaust is still a little 3rd gen raspy (mostly the exhaust manifold), but it does sound better. Overall I am quite happy, I would like to get some cruising time in to see how it does on the hwy, but nothing is planned.

[dorkweed]

If you're flowing more air, you're gonna see lower EGT's.............if fueling stays the same. Not knocking you, but it sounds like you were "EXPECTING" a bit more from this cam. Am I wrong????

[AH64ID]

I wasn't fully sure what to expect. There isn't a lot of data out there on such a mild cam, I knew there would be improvements in EGT's, spool, and hopefully mileage. I have seen the EGT and spool improvement, and just dont have enough miles for the mileage to be sure. EGTs are lower for the same boost level thats for sure. I am sure the HE351 doesn't take as huge of an advantage of the extra air as a 62/65/12 would, the 9cm housing is working for all its worth with the stock cam. I did a no load test of boost and DP and this is what I foundStock (Boost/DP) Cam1500 0/1 0/.5-.752000 2/3 2/3 2500 4/8 5/93000 7/14 9/18So as you can see the air it moves it quite a bit more. Honestly in day to day driving its not really even noticeable, and I was expecting to see a little more in a DD situation, but when I think about it the grind is quite mild, and more of what it should have been from the factory and not a huge performance gain.. Which is exactly what I wanted.So in having driven it and know what the results and specs are, its exactly as expected.. Its only about 90% of pre-install expectations.. if that makes any sense. I would do it again in a heart beat, I really like the feel it gives the truck with a load.