88 f150 302 stock cam
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More Turbo
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 732
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From: pine city washington
88 f150 302 stock cam
i am in the middle of fixing my long-neglected engine and thought I would change the camshaft while I am fixing things. it is an 88 f150 custom 4x4. with the original camshaft. i don't want a speed demon just more bottom-end grunt. i have heard of an RV cam what are they? and do I have to change the bearings at the same time? i heard the camshaft is one of the biggest bottleneck for power in these engines.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
You have a 302 truck so that's really not going to happen in a way that will cooperate with the stock EFI system. And even of you ditched EFI you still wouldn't suddenly have a tire burner, the motor will still have to rev up to to push 4500lbs or so down the road with any authority.
It is, but all the untapped potential lives above 3500rpm where the stock cam becomes a bottleneck.
What kind of budget do you have? With the quality of new flat tappet cams having gone south the reliable solution would be to convert your motor to use a roller cam... which should be a bolt-in, but it'll be at least twice the cost of a flat tappet setup.
What kind of budget do you have? With the quality of new flat tappet cams having gone south the reliable solution would be to convert your motor to use a roller cam... which should be a bolt-in, but it'll be at least twice the cost of a flat tappet setup.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
Likes: 1,499
From: Ottawa, Ontario
An "RV cam" is a common term used to describe any cam that is designed to be more focused on producing torque than maximum horsepower, cam specs can vary a lot depending on the engine in question and the type of induction used.
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,540
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From: North Texas
Check your build date, my 05/88 was roller block stock, but the nubs were not drilled nor tapped...POS flat tappet camshaft obv stock. My pal's 11/88 (89MY) was drilled and tapped. Not saying yours will be or not, but highly probable if a similar build date. Both 302/AOD trucks.
This guy has a pile of info on the crap flat tappet debacle lately. https://www.youtube.com/@powellmachineinc3179 Real interesting and some good info over at Fordsix about similar issues.
EDIT - Oh, just remembered, that roller 351W camshaft is not a bad unit. Might be worth grabbing one for a budget bump in power. Stock 302 flat tappet I swear is around 177/183 dur. That roller one is quite a bit larger, someone posted its specs...I cannot recall. I think somewhere in the upper 190s, still small but eh prob good for easy 20hp.
This guy has a pile of info on the crap flat tappet debacle lately. https://www.youtube.com/@powellmachineinc3179 Real interesting and some good info over at Fordsix about similar issues.
EDIT - Oh, just remembered, that roller 351W camshaft is not a bad unit. Might be worth grabbing one for a budget bump in power. Stock 302 flat tappet I swear is around 177/183 dur. That roller one is quite a bit larger, someone posted its specs...I cannot recall. I think somewhere in the upper 190s, still small but eh prob good for easy 20hp.
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