roller or flat tappet cam

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Feb 17, 2026 | 03:23 PM

1971F250 highboy

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Trailering

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roller or flat tappet cam

in a 93 f150 will the cam be a flat tappet or a roller if so what year did they put roller cams into the f150 302s

Feb 17, 2026 | 03:28 PM

charlie g

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From: sussex county, nj

yours should be a roller issue is It's a speed density truck one needs to be careful with the grind

Feb 17, 2026 | 06:57 PM

Hit Man X

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From: North Texas

93MY block is a roller ready, what is in there is anyone's guess after near 35 years. Pluck the intake on a weekend and take a peek

Feb 17, 2026 | 07:32 PM

90project5.0

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A little less intrusive, remove valve cover and measure a pushrod. Roller cam will be around 6.2” (I think) and flat tappet will be around 6.8”.

Feb 17, 2026 | 07:34 PM

Hit Man X

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Excellent tip!

Feb 18, 2026 | 04:43 AM

manicmechanic007

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From: Near Salt Lake City

You could also watch the pushrods at idle and see if they are rotating

Feb 18, 2026 | 08:11 AM

torq'ta 5 8

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Why does a roller, push rod not spin, but a flat does?

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Feb 18, 2026 | 09:43 AM

wwhite

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Quote:

Originally Posted by torq'ta 5 8

Why does a roller, push rod not spin, but a flat does?

They do spin, they all spin, just flat spin faster, roller spin slower.

If they are not spinning there are other problems, like lack of or too much lifter preload as an example.

Last edited by wwhite; Feb 18, 2026 at 09:45 AM.

Feb 20, 2026 | 12:16 PM

#10

Conanski

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From: Ottawa, Ontario

A '93 truck 5.0 motor should have a roller cam in it but as mentioned after all these years who knows what is under the hood... it may or may not be the original engine and even if it is original these trucks were a "dumping ground" for unused inventory towards the end of production. Any E7TE or later block is roller ready though so even if your motor doesn't have a roller cam now it can use one with the factory spider retainer assemply.