Big torque boost from Cam and Ported Intake Manifold

Just wanting to give a report for those considering a camshaft as a bolt-on mod for their Jeeps. I recently had a new cam and ported intake installed at Frank Racing Inc. in Houston. Unlike many cam decisions, I wanted a cam that would give a huge boost in mid-range torque. The reason? Simple. Our heavy vehicles spend the majority of their time in the 3000-5000 rpm range and installing a cam that gave a hero number at 6200 rpm would not make me faster on the street or track.

Keep in mind, I am still running stock exhaust manifolds and cats and the stock catback. As you look at the dyno gains, concentrate more on the delta between before and after. The torque gains are huge for such a small cam.



The cam is the Frank Racing Inc. Littleboy camshaft. In LX vehicles, the cam is a 214/218 .565/.555 114LSA +0 advance, but Steve Frank wanted to try a +4 advance cam for the Jeep to pump up the dynamic compression and boost mid-range torque. It worked. My cranking compression rose from 135psi to 215psi. I have no CELs from mis-fires and my fuel economy has actually risen 1 mpg.

The ported intake probably helped the top end power in the 10 rwhp range above 5000 rpm, but the cam is responsible for the majority of the gains down low. I plan on adding long tube headers as my next mod and will post the overlay of the before and after. I highly recommend a cam like this for those who want to have brutal acceleration with stock-like street manners and better than stock fuel economy. Headers not required!

 

Nice numbers. Congrats.

 

Very cool...thanks for the information! I've given much thought to saying screw the aftermarket heads and headers....those are very good gains.

 

is that your stock dyno chart, stock dyno numbers on the Jeep are about 360 HP / 370 Tq, I'm confused. What gear did they do the pull in

 

Maybe on your dyno, but not on this one. The important thing is to look at the delta between before and after. One your dyno, the after numbers would have been 384/405. 4th gear pulls. This must be a stingy dyno, but the gains were real.

 

Patrick, impressive indeed :salut::worthy: I hate even posting dyno numbers because people either say you didnt dyno correctly or they race the dynograph. While I agree with what Wade said, I agree more with what you said. The gains are what we want to use the dyno for, not the numbers. I know its a tough drive but If you can make it to the track tomorrow we can see the numbers that count.

Im going to try and Dyno to see Longtube gains tomorrow and verify nitrous airfuel ratio. Then Im going to head to track and hope to crack a 11.

John

 

Patrick you should know I'm not one to start a pissing match (check your last thread you posted on about the kooks and see who was there to defend you) I was merely pointing out the difference from the majority of stock dynos and usually a low or higher dyno indicates a wrong gear pull I was just trying to get all that out of the way. The gains are obvious. I'm with you on the stock headers not worth swapping out for LT headers for the PITA factor ( ask BTLFED) and cost plus gains given by them I'm like you and would rather have a high end torque cam that is why I've been talking to STU about doing a custom grind on the SRT Max Cam

 

It's all good. Like you, I use the dyno solely as a tuning tool, not for bragging rights. I used this dyno because it was close to the shop that did the work. While the baseline numbers seemed a little soft, I knew that my previous track numbers were right in line with other GC SRT8s so I wasn't worried. As an experienced camshaft tech person in the LS1 world, I was mostly interested in seeing the torque curve pumped up in the mid-range. This camshaft delivered the goods.

When I start using my hometown dyno, I'm sure the numbers will look more like the rest of the country.

 

Cool man I guess its hard to see our verbal expressions across the keyboard I'm here to look out for you guys and vice versa I've seen a few guys leave dynos after dropping alot of cash only to find out they did wrong gear pulls or did not allow the TC to work before they nailed it in gear, etc....Get that baby tuned, I'm jealous as this is what I want to do as well, I'm curious when you go drive later do a punch at 20mph and 30mph and tell me if that lag is still there, and can you put a cam in an SS chevy truck???

 

20mph punch is noticably stronger now. This is one of the areas that I wanted to address. In regards to an SS Chevy Truck, if it's an LSx based engine, I can spec you a custom cam ideal for your mods and goals.

Just click here for info: http://guerragroup.com/camshaft_help.htm

 

Very nice gains...even the Top end HP was healthy for a mid range cam. Wow.

 

Just wait until we spend more time on the dyno with a WBO2 sensor. Next up are long tube headers. It's gonna be a fun spring.

 

Patrick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_8pQx2kZx4 LOL you left that guy at the tree, I love the comment someone left about him making a sandwich...

 

Nice gain for just a cam and ported intake.

So did you have to upgrade the valve springs? If so did you also remove the heads to install the springs?

 

I think (not speaking for him) the stock 6.1 springs should hold up just fine with a mild cam

 

Heads did not need to be removed. The exhaust springs are stock, the intake springs were replaced with more robust units.

 

Was that an AWD dyno or RWD?

Either way that dyno is WAY off, but that doesnt matter.

Those are good numbers, but you could see a lot better. What are your next mods?

 

Next mods are American Racing headers, then ported cylinder heads. Once this thing's properly tuned, I expect the ETs to drop a bunch.

 

I would honestly shoot for the Stainless Works 1 7/8's LT. I truly feel they are a much better design and the quality is there as well. What catback?

Are you just running the stock computer, or do you have a base tune installed?

Whos heads you going with?

 

If you look at the AR headers, they have many advantages over the Kooks are SW headers. The collectors have high velocity merge collectors with a spike, the 90 after the driver's side collector is much further away (for increased flow) and the down pipe is not placed directly under the trans pan. I will use them with the stock catback for now.

Up until yesterday, I was using the Diablosport 93 CAI tune with a couple of CMR tweaks. But on March 15th, James from Frank Racing came down to Victoria and spent 5 hours on the chassis dyno perfecting my tune. I no longer have the 7 degrees of knock retard at the starting line, my air fuel ratio is no longer in the 10.4-10.8:1 area any more, and my timing is in the sweet spot of what this cam wants. We picked up 10-12 additional rwhp and made even larger gains in low rpm torque.

I hope to have it out at the track on Wednesday.