What brand & model did you go with?
What MPG improvements if any?
What improvement to overall power and where were the gains in the RPM band?
Was the truck stock or heavily modded?

 

Somebody has had to do this! I would think that the gains would be great considering that these engine are so emission orientated.

 

There are several on here that have swapped cams just probably haven't seen your post yet . I too have been looking at Don M and Scheid's cams figured while I am geting studs installed might as well add a new cam and since I am in there new injectors ....... followed by stiffer springs ........ !!! I need to join a support group to curb my new addiction !!!! Guess I could go buy a Ford ............... would be so busy trying to keep it running I wouldn't have any time to " bomb " it !!!

 

Talk to Don M about his helix 2's and spring upgrade.

 

e-mail John_P, he can give you some insite.

 

Private messages are fine and all, but I think the beauty of forums are to let everyone share experiences. Don M, John_p you out there?

I am not looking to replace my cam right now. But I would be more apt to replace it before say a turbo, intercooler, etc. upgrade if it netted significant gains. I guess i'm old school gasser thinking when it comes to emission controls. I feel that all other mods are not seeing 100% of their potential until the poor valve train timing is corrected.

 

I have the PDR cam in my '03 installed almost 1 year ago. If I had to do it over again, I would in a heartbeat. Based on observed driveability improvements a cam swap is now a "no-brainer" mod for me. The improvements I noticed:

-mileage up 1 to 1.5 mpg on average
-makes a bigger turbo spool like the next size turbo down. i.e. less lag. Cam makes the engine breathe better so if they breathe better and make boost earlier, the truck will fuel earlier to get the turbo going. With a bigger turbo the cam lowered the surging rpms (when I had the SPS66 for a while) as compared to others with stock cam and SPS66 due to better air consumption in the engine.
-this also equals more useable "luggability" down low, kind of how a big rig CAT motor starts pulling for lack of a better way of describing this.
-EGT changes were hard to quantify, but I would say 25-50* for sure.

These observations for an '03 so I don't know how it would work on your newer truck.

Did I need a cam? No. I'm not a heavy tower, drag racer, street racer, sled puller.

Why did I install it? Because I could!

 

Eveyone that has installed the Helix 2 cam has increased their mileage. Most have reported about 2 MPG!!!

The Helix 2 valve lift and duration is higher than stock on both sides. ( intake and exhaust ) Considerably so, but uses slow enough opening and closing profiles to control valve bounce and stem wear. It is ground from a brand spankin new chilled iron billet and has harder lobes than any cam on the market. 51 RC!!!

Hp increases are as high as 30 with a modified engine over stock cams.

EGT = 75 degrees cooler with a stock truck and up to 200 with a modified truck.

Don~

 

Here here!

No dyno results yet, but have 1.5 to 2 mpg increase (before the EZ), 100* drop in temps (with the new intercooler too), and can hit 18 on the boost gage with the stock turbo.....while sitting in the driveway in neutral!

 

i have always wondered what the specs are on the cams for our trucks...both stock and aftermarket...i guess i just always wanted to compare them to the cams that i have been through in my LS1's...anyone want to share or is it pretty secretive?

 

You will probably laugh, someone told me the specs once and they were mild to say the least. I run a .644 lift in my Charger!!

 

I think stock lift is somewhere between .200-.300.

 

.325 in/ .395 exhaust is what I have heard

 

Then I guess I'm old school gasser too! This is just what I've been thinking. It seems like (except for the long procedure of installing a new cam) this should be one of the first mods on anyone's list. It sure is on mine.

Just think if they forgot all the emission controls and made a Cummins that would be as fuel efficient as possible. Wouldn't burning a lot less fuel be the best kind of emission control?

 

Now you are thinking against the grain. It is kind of like the commuter lanes that are empty. Would'nt it be better to open them up to help traffic flow faster so emission levels would be lower on all those cars that are going so slow and using more gas

Does anyone have the specs on say a marine Cummins vs our 3rd gens. Marine engines have to have good low end power and I would'nt think that they would be hampered/detuned in the camshaft area as much as us.