MTFCA Forum

Hello forum. It has been a while since I posted anything but all is well and the T is still doing good. I have moved on to new projects as I need a car I can drive where the Model t can go. I had a 2014 Ram 1500 with the 5.7 hemi at 160,000 miles and it had the notorious lifter tick and low compression and misfire In cylinder 5. I started teardown around March and got it all disassembled by April and discovered that the exhaust lifter on cylinder 5 was destroyed and the corresponding cam lobe was almost completely gone so basically everything except the lower end needed work from that. So basically I think it had a blown head gasket as well as the lifter failure. I bought a new Texas Speed camshaft, MDS delete kit, VVT delete kit, New timing chain components, Hellcat oil pump, Hellcat lifters, racing valve springs, all new seals and gaskets for the whole engine, and a New water pump. I am currently in the process of rebuilding it have the cam and timing assembly reinstalled. What I came on here to ask is if any of you guys know any good outlet where I can get my truck tuned as the cam is far from stock and has higher lift, duration, and overlap. Any information is appreciated.
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Thank you in advance,
Jacob Mangold

Jacob,

I'll start by saying I can't help you with your question. For what it's worth however, over the years, most everyone I've spoken with that has installed a performance cam in a daily driver, (as in, "not a race car"), has regretted it. The complaints have always been that they don't last long. My dad used to say, "A horse that sh*ts fast, don't sh*t long." (very profound, I know...)

Best to you in your project & good to hear from your again!

I found myself in the same situation Jerry mentioned except it was an older car, not a daily driver. As soon as I found a stock NOS cam, I installed that and I'm completely happy with the performance. The so-called high lift cam I previously installed has been in the barn 15 years now.

I'd avoid a hot cam, especially with an automatic transmission. They can kill torque at normal RPM ranges. I think the stock Hemi cam no slouch. What is your engine's original torque/HP rating? VVT is a great thing, if it's reliable.

A 5.7 hemi makes 395 hp and 410 ft. Lbs stock. The cam I have opted for is stock torque converter friendly. It is a Texas Speed Chopocabra. https://www.texas-speed.com/p-18862-tsp ... i-cam.aspx This is the link to the product. I didn’t want to do some crazy cam as I know the supporting mods start getting bigger and more expensive so I decided to go with the one I chose because of its mild performance upgrades. I believe that camming my engine is better than putting it back together stock because I am deleting the MDS system which causes all the lifter issues anyways. I’ve Also heard good things about the cam from people who actually have one too. I will have to see how I like it and if I don’t I can always change it later. I have the skills, time, and tools to do it if I need too. Thank you guys for your advice.

Thank you,
Jacob Mangold

TSP makes a truck camshaft with a torque curve of 1,200 - 5,600 RPM the question is the term tuning ? I will assume that means programing so I
would look for speed shops that specialize in performance programing. I also would think for a truck that a lower torque curve would be better
if you do any towing. I ran a "RV" cam in a 350 cu.in. cheby for years in my service truck that had a 1,000 - 3,800 RPM curve. The truck tipped the
scales @ 8,200 lb. dry & got 12 mpg when I retired that truck it had 380,000 on it. When I scrapped it I kept the engine & trans as I would bet
they have years of life left in them.
Craig.

I had an "RV" cam in an FE Ford 390 with 10:1 compression and an Edelbrock intake & carb. (Lousy stock exhaust manifolds) It worked very well. NO computer to fight, & 4 in the floor, 4.10 axle, twin 2 1/2" pipes, 36" glasspacks, with a crossover just back of the transmission, like a '60s Mustang.

The plan with this truck is to drop it just a little and have a sort of muscle truck so I believe this cam is perfect. It’s a ram 1500 so it isn’t the greatest at towing anything anyways and the most I’ll probably ever tow with it is my 18.5’ bass boat.
Muscle truck is what I’m going for. And yes the question of tuning is programming the ECM to turn off all the MDS stuff and to allow the truck to idle with the new cam.

Update: I have found a tuner in my area that specializes in mopar equipment and have reached out. We have already talked about a plan and pricing. Once again, thank you guys for your help and valuable advice.

Thank you, Jacob Mangold

Just a little update for anyone curious. My truck has ran great for a month so far. It’s noticeably faster and sounds way better. MDS is gone, the engine stays cool, I have plenty of oil pressure with the hellcat oil pump, no fluids leaking anywhere, and zero codes. the biggest struggle I had was getting it ready for smog. In Nevada, you are allowed one under monitor. The one monitor that won’t reset when you have a cam is egr. My Evap system would not run because it is so hot in Nevada. It needs to be 90 degrees or less outside for the Evap monitor to run. I drove the truck around in the middle of the night for three nights straight for the check gas cap and then the cel to come on. I checked codes and I had a small Evap leak and a purge valve code. I replaced the gas cap, esim module, and purge valve. In the process, my oil pressure sensor went out putting it in limp mode however I got it straightened out and was able to pass smog. The next thing I will be doing is lowering the truck a little bit. I’m looking at the Belltech 2/4 drop kit. My Dad used to be into mini trucks and whatnot and he’s never had a problem with their products and I’ve heard good things about them. The only thing I can think of that I don’t like is that my gas mileage is in the toilet but I expected that one. Smiles per gallon not miles per gallon, right? I have a little video on YouTube for anyone that’s curious how it turned out. I’ll link it below.
Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/b-YL8Rn0wY8? ... gQnSH0DaMX

Thanks again, Jacob Mangold

My 04 Hemi is only 345 hp and 375 foot pound of torque.
But it has never failed to tow anything i hook to it, had i had this truck when I was younger, me and it would probably be wrapped around a tree. It has the 8 foot bed and a high top leonard gold crown camper top on it. But when I am on a ramp trying to get onto the interstate and i am doing 50mph or so and I stomp because some jack leg won't let me,, it goes side ways. I don't think i need anymore power!

Haha that’s great. They’re really good engines with a lot of power. The MDS system is its only major downfall causing all the cam and lifter issues. They’re very reliable but most of all they’re fun. I have no problem breaking it loose. Hell it would probably still be able to break loose while going 30 mph down the road. Plus it sounds amazing with the cam and exhaust. Lots of fun for sure.

I'm not a Dodge guy but find this thread interesting.
Same issues with other brands too. VVT, gas caps and evap troubles. Or Diesels and their def juice etc.
Your pickup has a nice rumble! If you like it, that's what counts!