Hello guys,

I have a few questions to ask. First I will start off I will tell you what I know/have been told. I was told that the 5.0 in my 1995 F150 is a 5.0 HO, I know my first two plus are 1 and 3 so I assume that would prove its a HO, but is there any other way to check to make sure its a HO, cause if its a HO then I need to buy a HO camshaft.

Secondly, talking about Camshafts, I was told that the computer will relearn the cam, so I assume any HO can I buy the computer will be able to adjust to, or is there a cam spec I shouldn't go past, cause I am all about power. I am looking at a Ford E303 camshaft. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FMS-M-6250-E303/ Can I use the cam? Cause it doesnt say its for a HO. So I assume I cant



Third, I have seen where the rocker arms can be bought in 1.6 or 1.7 ratio, does it matter which one I go with? Any reason to go with the 1.7?

Fourth, I want to go with cam riming GEARS not a chain, can I do that? I have been told you cant use gears on a engine with a knock sensor, IDK if are engines have knock sensors on them, or if you can use gears on them. I just dont want to throw a check engine light.

Fifth, whats the biggest injector I can run, will there be any gains (Like throttle response, etc) cause I would like to put a new set of injectors and sone fuel rails on my truck.

Sixth, Talking about fuel rails, could I use fuel rails made for a mustang, or do I need to find a fuel rail made specifically for my truck?

Thats all the questions I have, I ask these questions so I can learn and build up my bank of knowledge.

I appreciate yalls time. I hope to be able to pay you back. Take care.

 

Get whatever cam you want. Your truck is MAF, right? As long as you stay below 230 duration you should be fine. No worries with the E303 cam, although there are much better grinds available nowadays.

Don't waste your money on a gear drive. All you need for the engine you're talking about is a double roller chain - and you really don't even need a double roller. Maybe if you're planning to spin it to 9,000 rpm. Ditto 1.7 rockers, especially if you're changing the cam.

You're looking at maybe ~240 hp with a new cam, the stock injectors are fine. Fuel rails are fuel rails. The Mustang rail is probably identical to the truck. At least they pretty much look the same to me...

 

Well do I have to find a HO cam specifically? Thats whats got me cause HO cams cost way more then a regular cam. And yes my engine is MAF, and 230 Duration? You mean the duration a .50 inches? If so then you sir have made my day.

Also I like the sound of those noisy gears, so I will go gears if I can. To me gears make it sound a little more aggressive.

 

As long as the cam is HO/351 firing order it's fine. Without heads and exhaust I'd go smaller on the cam than 230 @.050 for sure, maybe ~210-214. Paul knows more about how EFI reacts to different cams, but so far as I know the whole point of a MAF conversion is to give you more flexibility with cams.

 

Who is paul? Whats his username? I will shoot him a PM, and I appreciate your help BaronVon.

 

No you don't have a HO motor.. they were never installed in trucks, but the truck motor is capable of making just as much or more power so don't lose any sleep over it.

As far as cams and injectors and all that stuff you need to slow down and explain what your goals are. It's no problem to get lots of HP out of the 5.0 but the motor isn't really suitable to a larger truck.. it dosn't generate much low rpm TQ compared to a 5.8 even, so if big tires are in your future you may want to look at an engine swap first.

 

the difference is the truck engine has a flat tappet cam and the h.o is roller.
if your currently using the truck intake and computer ditch it quik.
the maf,intake and heads are the limiting factor when talking about 302 hp
aftermarket heads,aftermarket upper and lower intake,c&l mass air and a a9l mustang computer is all you need to make 300hp

double check your firing order 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8

 

No.. not since 1991.
No.. definitely don't do this.
No.. only the heads are on the truck motor.
No.. all you need are GT40 heads and a little more cam.

All truck motors from 1994 on have this firing order.

 

i wsnt aware the truck 302 became roller in 92 thanks for the correction.

sure you can make 300hp with the stock truck intake but its just to easy to go with the aftermarket support and price of the mustang toys, that's where i was going with that.
im aware it is tuned for torque and has the computer programing to match but the op asked for big hp and i assume he had more ponys lined up for the future.

the c$l meter is cheap and uses the stock elctronics bringing the id up from 50mm to 68mm.

im new to the truck game and keen to learn but ive been a h.0 5.0 guy since birth so i know what the limiting factors are if you want to tune the 5.0 for hp.

 

I bet a lot of Mustang guys would run the 5.0 truck intake if they could fit it under the hood, it's basically a Systemax lower. The heads will be holding you back before you're moving enough air for the truck intake to give out.

When I win the lottery I'm going to dyno test every manifold and post the results.

Of course, the EEC would need to be tuned to fully take advantage of any serious mods.

 

I got nothing against using aftermarket performance parts but unless the change brings more power or durability it's money wasted IMO. Some things need updating on these trucks right away, but unlike the Stangs the intake isn't one of them.

Well the stock truck MAF is 70mm, so it's already plenty big enough for this power level. Swapping the stock sensor into another meter is not the right way to increase capacity either, that trick does work but it's more because of the adaptability of the EFI computer than anything.

Most of the things that work on the Stangs will work on the trucks, but the trucks have a few key advantages with the giant intake and larger MAF meter, so all they really need is a cam and exhaust to start knocking on the 300hp door.

But I got to tell you, a 300hp 5.0 is nothing very remarkable when it's pushing around 4500-5000lbs of glass and steel. The 5.0 will never produce anything close to what I would call sporty performance in a vehicle this big, that takes more displacement simple as that. In a reg cab 2wd truck with lots of gears.. yeah.. just ask Lew, but in anything bigger it will be something less.. but maybe that's good enough for some people.

 

Ummm the Firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8, which makes it a HO (Asked a few Ford Techs) cause if you want to go with a cam for the 95 and later (I have a book that syas its the 1995 and later trucks) use the 351 firing order, which is also used by the 302 HO, plus my heads are E7TE, which is HO heads, so I know its a HO now. You guys can argue all you want but I have had techs tell me its a HO. And I just want to run some 35's, but before I can run them I will have to gear up from my 3.31's to 4.11's. And I want off roading power. I mean I am not super into it, but I want to be able to have some low range torque.

 

No it's not a HO.. and yes that means I'm telling you those Ford techs don't know what they're talking about.. wouldn't be the first time. Here's what makes a 5.0 motor a HO, you truck motor has a different cam and intake and doesn't have forged pistons, it does however have E7TE heads which are truck heads BTW.. that's what the T stands for. The fact that these motors share the same firing order means nothing.

HO was only found in cars
Unique 5.0HO intake with "HO" plaque on top.
HO roller cam 0.444/0.444" lift, 266/266 deg duration
Forged pistons(1986-1992), Hypereutectic after that.
E7TE heads

 

Well all and it it doesnt matter I can use a HO Cam or a 351 cam am I right? And as far as it goes, it has alot of similarties and as it does opposing facts.

 

Yes... after all that it doesn't really matter, all small block Ford motors use the same cams so you can install any Ford or aftermarket cam designed for this series.

So now that we got that cleared up lets get back to the questions at hand. The E303 cam will work but it's designed more for a light car so it will leave you with really sluggish performance of the line unless you install steep gears.. like 4.56's or more. The Comp 35-320-8 is much better suited to a truck, it will deliver almost as much peak HP as the E cam but lots more TQ so you won't need as much gearing.

Roller rockers are a good addition because they reduce friction, but whether you can use 1.7 ratio or not depends upon the cam you select and if the valve springs can handle the extra lift they will generate. The springs on the stock heads can only handle a little over 0.500" lift so aftermarket springs would be needed to use 1.7's on these with a big cam. The cam I mentioned above will work with 1.6 rockers and adding 1.7 and new springs won't buy you any more performance because the heads don't flow any better beyond 0.500" lift.

Your truck will have knock sensor so a gear drive is not recommended, and it's not needed anyway.

The stock 19lb injectors are good for 300+ hp so there's no need to upgrade unless you also upgrade the heads. The stock fuel rails will support even more HP so they're fine too, the fuel pump is usually the first part of the fuel system you will find lacking as you make more and more power.