96 f150 5.0 4x4..

Okay let's start with the performance i'm looking for, This truck is more of a weekend toy, might get driven 4 times a week +/-...

I have minor upgrades already, k&n, exhaust, ignition upgrades.. But as everyone knows the 5.0's are weak unless they have gearing or a good cam..

I definetly want the noticeable cam idle. Looking for lowend torque, as this wil be driven in town mostly 80/20 city/hwy..

This is where im confused. The motor that is in the truck isnt the stock truck engine. It has truck heads and intake but I think its an explorer 5.0 block but im not 100% sure..

Lastly is this something that is difficult to install.. The front clip is off the truck so getting to it would be simple, I think.

Would I need to change anything else?

Is it just a simple swap?

 

You'll have to pull apart all the valve train and pull out all lifters, aka pulling lower intake as well..

Any cam you choose the truck is still gonna be a bit of a weakling off the line.. Just the nature of a 3" stroke...

Do you have MAF or speed density?

 

MAF.. it probably doesn't matter but its the 4r70w tranny

 

No.. A 5.0 in a truck is weak unless it's got gearing and a cam.

Then start looking for a 5.8 to swap in.. ain't gonna happen with the 5-Slow.

Well aside from the heads and intake the Explorer motor is identical to a truck motor so it really doesn't matter.

If you want a good cam with a noticeable idle get the one I have.. the Comp 35-349-8 or even the 35-320-8, but use 1.6 rockers with it or you'll have valve spring coil bind problems and bent pushrods. These 2 cams are identical except for Lobe Separation Angle(114 vs 112) and make great topend power without totally destroying what lowend power the motor has.

 

do cams not give anything in the low end at all? I have been looking for a 5.8 hard, but none worth the coin. If I just get the cam and rockers what would I notice? I also will have new long tubes

 

They help but 5.0's just are naturally weak bottom end.. They have a 3" stroke... More stroke, more tq putting it in a basic way..

 

A cam with increased lift will help the low end. Duration will increase accordingly as well, but overlap kills lowend where intake centerline advance helps low end. If you want to maintain the top end and beef up low end, you need to get a grind with a few degrees of advance ground into it, then minimize overlap. The more duration the more overlap, unless you go to a custom grind. Lift I am unaware of lift specs for a 5.0, I am a big block guy, so can't help much.

As far as the sound, the idle chop, that generally comes from overlap, meaning a good low end cam will not have much of an idle chop. The more of a lope or chop, the more overlap it has. Hard to find a good compromise. I would rather have the smooth idle then be able to leave the line like a bat out of hell than have a 1000 rpm idle that lopes and loads up then gets cold blooded, then have a 7000 rpm motor that needs a stall converter to even get moving at all. Your truck, do what ever makes you happy. good luck. I think with the front clip off, you can get to the cam easily enough.

 

well im putting in 4.56 gears, long tubes and a shift kit.. so that should help with the lowend a lot.. I mean it's not a drag truck by anymeans but I want it to hold its own.. I mean that's asking a lot with the 5.0 so i'm completely on your opinions on this one.

 

4.56 gears will help a lot getting out the hole.. But will make cruising rpms go high..

I'm planning 4.10 or 4.30 gears if I can find them, stall convertor somewhere in the 2500 range depending on what PI converters says..

 

would I need to get stall? And as for the idle I think the choppy cammed sound is beautiful but what would I be sacrificing?

 

It'll be sacrificing low end, and also the choppier ya get, the less vacuum, so driveability suffers.. And if you go too far braking quality suffers as not enough vacuum for the power brakes..

 

.....The thing is if you want a choppy idle you need to use a cam that has more duration like a mustang cam , if you had a light truck like a reg cab sb i would say go for it , you would need to have some good heads and lots of other things , a dyno tune and larger injectors would be a must , with 31 tires you need 456 gears , the 4R70W has the wide ratio gear sets so ist and 2nd are lower , this will help , with a tune you can get you TC stall at about 2000 rpm , with that type of cam its going to start making good power from 2500-6000 , so if you don't haul or tow anything that may work for you , just something to think about.....i used the E303 cam with 1.7 RR in a light truck and it had enough bottom end that i needed to run drag radials or the thing would just go up in smoke from a standing stop....

 

So would either of these make my low end worse?

 

OK, cam choice depends on what it is going into. Your engine power band is determined the components there in. Cam selection just lets it all work together for the type of driving you are doing. If you have big valve big port heads and high compression like 10:1 and you put a small lift small duration cam in you will have a pooch of a motor, because the heads flow way more and the venture effect in the exhaust and the velocity of the intake charge is compromised. This in turn kill all capability of useable power.

The same goes for having high compression, big valves, big ports, cam to match, good exhaust, but you put like a edelbrock performer intake on it, you will have little of nothing because the intake can't feed the big air demands and therefore you lose more than you gain. An engine is an air pump, it has to be able to pump air effectively to build power. The more air pumped, the more horsepower. I always think like sucking a drink from a straw. The little 1/4" straw works fine, now if you did a 1/2" straw, it would probably work but you might choke from it. If you have a straw that is 2" diameter at the top, and 1/16" diameter at the bottom, you will get nothing out of it, no matter how hard you try, same as an engine.

If you are after more low end torque, you need to match that with a good cam for low end torque. If you want the chop, then the low end torque will suffer. No matter which one you pick, make sure you match it correctly with your engine components. DO NOT over cam. You will stop having fun.

It sounds like a roller cam might be a good choice for your application. They will provide broader torque curves with more aggressive profiles than flat tappet. That means that a flat tappet hyd. profile might be good from 2000-6000, where a roller cam of similar lift and duration might provide a torque curve from 1800-6100 and not have the big lift and aggressive overlap like the flat tappets utilize. It looks to me like comp cams 270 magnum might be a good choice for you or the one down that was previously recommended.

 

That actually explains a lot.. I mean as long as long as it has a noticeable idle i'd be okay with it.. most people hear a cammed vehicle and think holy s*** that's a monster (at least that's what they think around here) so it doesn't have to be a crazy choppy idle just definitely not stock.. Im more worried about low end off the line then the idle..

Would that be all I need? just simply pull old cam and put new in? Conanski what do you have to say about this?