the cam does seem pretty restrictive, but i don't see myself pulling the cam out anytime soon. i would go for the low end torque simply because if i were to turbo charge it it would make the turbo spool sooner and then the turbo could carry it out up the upper rpm. also with the torque down low i think you would get better fuel economy.

i think i would be happy with a 1500 peak turbo cam.

(i am not too sure on this theory, but to me it makes since lol)

what are your plans for the truck?

 

In my case I am taking a 1986 F350 4x4 Crew Cab and chopping it down to a SWB single cab. I will be using it to pull our 1960 streamline camper (see photo gallery) and for back country travel in the southwest. Since everything is far, I have to be considerate of fuel economy yet make sure that I can hold a decent pace when towing the camper up mountain grades.

In its current configuration the truck bogs down to 35 mph and blows clouds of black smoke. I will be doing a partial or complete overhaul depending on what the engine looks like inside, adding a Banks wastegated sidewinder, possibly fitting a 7.3 PSD intercooler on it and putting in one of the two cams described here. I'm liking your reasoning behind choosing the torque cam. Makes sense with the fuel economy and boost. Also seems like bottom end power would give it nice acceleration, and nice back road crawling characteristics.

Other considerations... I want to run tall gears. Right now I have the T19 with 0.78 Gear Vender overdrive and 4.10's, (gives me 3.20 final axle output) and I want to either swap in a ZF for double overdrive (2.45 final output) or do a R&P swap to 3.55's (2.77 final output). At 3.20 the engine still feels like it needs one more gear at highway speeds. Kind of thinking the less radical R&P swap is what I want. I will be staying with stock (31") tires to leave room for snow chains if needed. Tall gears will drop the rpm's, another argument toward the low end cam.

Sorry to hi-jack your turbo thread and turn it into a cam thread! Along the lines of your original post, what turbo pipe upgrades would you recommend for the Banks sidewinder?

 

sounds like you have your answer on the cam lol

how do you like the gear vendors unit? i was thinking about getting one...
i also though about the zf5, but i am thinking i would be better off with the cast iron t19

hey, it's a 6.9l customization thread, not a turbo thread :P

as for the up grades, i don't know. i am going to try and run my up pipes like a powerstrokes and get rid of some of that extra tubing down there (ats kit)

i need to rework my numbers on tubing diameter i think, but all of my turbo kit is going to be custom

if you read though Garrett's "turbo tech" pages it will give you a suggested flow rate and how to calculate it.

 

Honestly, if I were starting from scratch I would not buy the Gear Vendor unit. Mine was in the truck when I bought it, but it is quite expensive to buy new. It is well made, described as "bullet proof" by some, but...

the shift is rough compared to an extra gear, it drops out of OD at low speeds (like when you clutch and coast to a traffic light you hear it clunk as it goes back to 1:1 gearing) and it's easy to loose track of where you left the push-pull lever in stop and go driving. No big deal but more awkward than a 5th shifter position. The push pull lever on mine rattles from tranny vibration and drove me NUTS until I rigged it with a rubber band

Everyone tells me how lucky I am to have split gears, and how great this is for towing, but the reality is this: you can't split first gear because you have to be going 25 mph or more for it to engage. For that matter, you have to be revving pretty good to split second, and the diesel T19 has close gears already. Split third is where you would really use it for towing, but on the diesel T19 split 3rd is almost identical to 4th (1.1 vs. 1 ratio). Trust me you can't feel much difference and you loose more than you gain by clutching and shifting. I think it would be more useful on the wide-range gasser T19 because the gears are further apart and you would have more advantage to splitting them.

At any rate, my GV unit is essentially a noisy, rough shifting 0.78 overdrive gear. It helps (a LOT) with the 4.10's and I'm glad it's there, but I would prefer the 0.76 5th gear of the ZF. Also, I don't really care for the narrow range T19, and the F450's had the wide range diesel bellhousing ZF. This would be great, as I like the gear spread of the granny gear transmissions where you start out in 2nd 99.99% of the time. With my current configuration and narrow range T19, you really need to use 1st all of the time, even if briefly.

The T19 is cast iron, but the GV unit is not. It's plenty strong enough, (no huge aluminum bellhousing to crack) but the replacement rear half of the transfer case on the 4X4 kit is aluminum, as well as the entire case of the overdrive unit.

I don't dis-like the GV per se, but I wish it had smoother operation, I wish it was geared a little taller (say 0.70 or so) and $2500 to $3000 for a new unit is too much, especially since splitting gears on the diesel T19 is so redundant. If you're mainly looking for the overdrive, I'd get over the aluminum bias and go with a ZF. Just my 2 pennies....

 

The torquecam pulls all the way thru 21-2200, my fueling and the turbo is the restriction. But that will be fixed soon

 

You got the wrong guy...I don't have a cam yet. The cam you are thinking of is the "J2 powershaft" from "racinndrummin" and " 1badb2" (nmb2)

 

Turtleman what are your plans for the engine as far as mods go? And what are you planning on pushing for boost?

 

are most of these cams made for the n/a engine?

as far as the engine goes, i think i am going to try and increase the oil pressure a little (as soon as i fugue out how lol)
head studs
new manifolds for the exhaust at least, i would really like to make a set for the intake and get rid of some of that volume
power stroke style up pipes
turbo obviously
intercooler
turn the pump up and advance the timing a bit
i'd like a set of Al or even steel return caps
speeding up the water pump a bit would also be nice, but i have no clue how fast it can go before it start cavitating.

port matching is always good

i plan on running 20 lbs of boost, and if the engine can't handle it i will cut the pistons down like my pops did and crank it up to 30 lbs (i am sure you know dave)

 

Dave S? Is that who ur talkin of? If so how is he? Been MIA for a while

 

indeed dave s lol
pretty good, but way to busy. he hardly has time for anything.

 

nice tell him to stop by every now and then! BTW how is that motor of his running? sorry to get off topic but just curious

 

his 6.9l? great, never stops unless the batts go dead (electrical leak somewhere)

 

right on! after your done with your build here you plan to dyno it im assuming? well tell pops to put the 6.9 on there too!!!! there was alot of interest in that build a while back...and still probably is..

 

well, i know i will be doing an extensive test on the but dyno (i don't know where any dyno's are around here unless i take the engine out).
if i come across one i will see if i can get her on it as well as his, i am curious of what his is putting out.

 

Both those cams work well on turbo applications although the J2 cam was thought up more with the turbo in mind. Iirc the type4 cam was used on old logging trucks to add more low end grunt. Type4 can correct me if I'm wrong but it does work pretty well for our engine.
As for increased oil pressure, you can talk to NMB2 over at PSN. He tightened his journal bearing clearance and used oversized bearing to increase pressure. From what we have talked about it has worked really well. I'm sure he would give you more info if you talk to him too.
Also, if you want to reach 20psi with that turbo you are gonna need a crap ton more fuel than a stock pump can provide. At minimum, you will need the Dps turbo cal pump. That provides 90cc of fuel and will spool the turbo a bit better. Also there are like three 150cc+ pumps out there being tested. One is actually being tested by NMB2 over at PSN. He has a few videos up of his truck too. You can see how it runs on that.