2nd Gen Ram Tech 1994-2001 Rams: This section is for TECHNICAL discussions only, that involve the 1994 through 2001 Rams. For any non-tech discussions, please direct your attention to the "General discussion/NON-tech" sub sections.

Best heads and Cam

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
  #1  
Old 07-30-2018, 02:43 PM
jmhd1989's Avatar
jmhd1989
jmhd1989 is offline
Veteran
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 297
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Best heads and Cam

Ok so with my Level 2 Viper I will be putting in a new cam and aluminum heads. Also Hughes Airgap and Double roller timing chain kit from Mopar. So I know about the air gap and double roller but where should I get the aluminum heads and cam? Also Hughes? I want complete heads, and a mild cam for towing. Also what would a good distributor be? Was planning on taking to a tuner to tune it afterwards as well of course. thanks fellas

5.9L 1500 4x4 will be paired with 35" tires on 17's and 4.56 gears with truetracs front and rear. 5" lift. Towing 20ft trailer at 3,00 pounds plus a quad and dirt bike in the bed.
 
  #2  
Old 07-30-2018, 02:50 PM
MoparFanatic21's Avatar
MoparFanatic21
MoparFanatic21 is offline
Legend
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 8,035
Received 307 Likes on 299 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by jmhd1989
Ok so with my Level 2 Viper I will be putting in a new cam and aluminum heads. Also Hughes Airgap and Double roller timing chain kit from Mopar. So I know about the air gap and double roller but where should I get the aluminum heads and cam? Also Hughes? I want complete heads, and a mild cam for towing. Also what would a good distributor be? Was planning on taking to a tuner to tune it afterwards as well of course. thanks fellas

5.9L 1500 4x4 will be paired with 35" tires on 17's and 4.56 gears with truetracs front and rear. 5" lift. Towing 20ft trailer at 3,00 pounds plus a quad and dirt bike in the bed.
I heard bad things about Hughes (and personally won't use them myself after to many bad experiences) and you can find aluminum heads by other companies. If you get a stock head with the same lift duration (so basically a stick head but is aluminum instead of cast) then an RV cam will work. But if you got bigger lifters with more duration then you need to find a cam to work with the lifters. Any brand distributor will work as long as it has BRASS contacts instead of aluminum, could pair with with an MSD ignition box and coil.
 
  #3  
Old 07-30-2018, 10:49 PM
AtomicDog's Avatar
AtomicDog
AtomicDog is offline
Champion
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Central VA
Posts: 4,399
Received 342 Likes on 323 Posts
Default

Edelbrock Performer RPM heads (#61775) for the magnum motor are a good choice for aluminum heads. You will need small block Chevy roller rockers (stock mopar rockers don't work with these heads), hardened pushrod guide plates and a set of heads bolts to run them. For more information, check Edelbrock's web site.
 
  #4  
Old 07-30-2018, 10:58 PM
2bit's Avatar
2bit
2bit is offline
Record Breaker
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,362
Received 35 Likes on 34 Posts
  #5  
Old 08-01-2018, 02:35 PM
dapepper9's Avatar
dapepper9
dapepper9 is offline
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Iowa/Nebraska Border
Posts: 427
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes on 7 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by jmhd1989
Ok so with my Level 2 Viper I will be putting in a new cam and aluminum heads. Also Hughes Airgap and Double roller timing chain kit from Mopar. So I know about the air gap and double roller but where should I get the aluminum heads and cam? Also Hughes? I want complete heads, and a mild cam for towing. Also what would a good distributor be? Was planning on taking to a tuner to tune it afterwards as well of course. thanks fellas

5.9L 1500 4x4 will be paired with 35" tires on 17's and 4.56 gears with truetracs front and rear. 5" lift. Towing 20ft trailer at 3,00 pounds plus a quad and dirt bike in the bed.
Heads+cam go to Hipotek. Pretty much the best place to go for them. Call them for cam recommendations based on what you plan to do with the truck. Distributor isn't going to gain you anything. There's nothing to improve upon and not really any reason to replace it. As for tuning, talk to Ryan at frptuning about Syked ECU or SCT.

Originally Posted by MoparFanatic21
I heard bad things about Hughes (and personally won't use them myself after to many bad experiences) and you can find aluminum heads by other companies. If you get a stock head with the same lift duration (so basically a stick head but is aluminum instead of cast) then an RV cam will work. But if you got bigger lifters with more duration then you need to find a cam to work with the lifters. Any brand distributor will work as long as it has BRASS contacts instead of aluminum, could pair with with an MSD ignition box and coil.
Stock head with same lift duration? That doesn't make any sense. Cam controls duration. There's not aluminum versions of a stock head. Edelbrock is the only brand of aftermarket aluminum head that works on these without major modification and is VERY much more than stock. Valvesprings are the big thing that will determine if an aftermarket cam will be compatible.
Bigger lifters? I think you mean rockers, lifters are the tappets that ride on the cam lobes themselves. Higher ratio rockers will change valvetrain geometry and hardware requirements while adding more lift. If you're not careful you can have piston to valve clearance.
Your distributor recommendation is better used for distributor cap.

ROFLMAO no
 
  #6  
Old 08-01-2018, 02:54 PM
MoparFanatic21's Avatar
MoparFanatic21
MoparFanatic21 is offline
Legend
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 8,035
Received 307 Likes on 299 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by dapepper9
Heads+cam go to Hipotek. Pretty much the best place to go for them. Call them for cam recommendations based on what you plan to do with the truck. Distributor isn't going to gain you anything. There's nothing to improve upon and not really any reason to replace it. As for tuning, talk to Ryan at frptuning about Syked ECU or SCT.


Stock head with same lift duration? That doesn't make any sense. Cam controls duration. There's not aluminum versions of a stock head. Edelbrock is the only brand of aftermarket aluminum head that works on these without major modification and is VERY much more than stock. Valvesprings are the big thing that will determine if an aftermarket cam will be compatible.
Bigger lifters? I think you mean rockers, lifters are the tappets that ride on the cam lobes themselves. Higher ratio rockers will change valvetrain geometry and hardware requirements while adding more lift. If you're not careful you can have piston to valve clearance.
Your distributor recommendation is better used for distributor cap.


ROFLMAO no
You can get a can with bigger lobes. The l valves can only open so much with a stock cam and you can get bigger lifters with an aftermarket head (did it with my Hemi). I didn't know if they made an aluminum head with stock specs.
 
  #7  
Old 08-01-2018, 02:57 PM
HeyYou's Avatar
HeyYou
HeyYou is offline
Administrator
Dodge Forum Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Clayton MI
Posts: 82,555
Likes: 0
Received 3,396 Likes on 3,136 Posts
Default

Bigger lifters won't change lift/duration, just pushrod length. Different ratio rockers will change lift/duration numbers though.
 
  #8  
Old 08-01-2018, 03:04 PM
dapepper9's Avatar
dapepper9
dapepper9 is offline
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Iowa/Nebraska Border
Posts: 427
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes on 7 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by MoparFanatic21
You can get a can with bigger lobes. The l valves can only open so much with a stock cam and you can get bigger lifters with an aftermarket head (did it with my Hemi). I didn't know if they made an aluminum head with stock specs.
Yes you can get a cam with bigger lobes. That wasn't the problem. Yes valves can only open so much with stock cam (0.410" with a 360). Lifters are not how you change that. Rocker arms, like Harland Sharp 1.7, will bring factory .410" lift with 1.6 rockers to about 0.436". It's something but not very substantial. Rockers won't change duration enough to really see anything on a dyno.
 
  #9  
Old 08-01-2018, 04:03 PM
HeyYou's Avatar
HeyYou
HeyYou is offline
Administrator
Dodge Forum Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Clayton MI
Posts: 82,555
Likes: 0
Received 3,396 Likes on 3,136 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by dapepper9
Yes you can get a cam with bigger lobes. That wasn't the problem. Yes valves can only open so much with stock cam (0.410" with a 360). Lifters are not how you change that. Rocker arms, like Harland Sharp 1.7, will bring factory .410" lift with 1.6 rockers to about 0.436". It's something but not very substantial. Rockers won't change duration enough to really see anything on a dyno.
I think max lift on stock springs is .480. Not that I would want to push the stock springs that hard.

Another member did a dyno run before/after doing his rockers. He picked up 10hp/tq pretty much across the board. No. Not really something you would 'feel', but, every little bit helps.

Rockers won't change 'advertised' duration, but, it does give more duration at .050" lift. (simply because they open faster, and stay open longer, due to the rocker ratio.)
 
  #10  
Old 08-01-2018, 04:25 PM
dapepper9's Avatar
dapepper9
dapepper9 is offline
Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Iowa/Nebraska Border
Posts: 427
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes on 7 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by HeyYou
I think max lift on stock springs is .480. Not that I would want to push the stock springs that hard.

Another member did a dyno run before/after doing his rockers. He picked up 10hp/tq pretty much across the board. No. Not really something you would 'feel', but, every little bit helps.

Rockers won't change 'advertised' duration, but, it does give more duration at .050" lift. (simply because they open faster, and stay open longer, due to the rocker ratio.)
.480 on stock springs and 10hp/tq is spot on. Not huge gain but it's something to add to the pile. When I did mine it almost seemed like the truck revved quicker. More than likely due to me looking to see if there was a difference but hey who knows right?
Yeah they won't change advertised duration but it's also not duration at 50 they change either. There's a minute change in dynamic duration due to the fact that the valve is opening further and as such has to travel further. It's like maybe 3 or 4 degrees max. Nothing noticeable. The power increase comes from the lift increase.
 


Quick Reply: Best heads and Cam



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:56 AM.