Opinions on cam bearings??

N

Nickh77

New member
Curious to know everyone’s experiences/opinions on having or not having cam bearings in a 5.9 block. Getting ready to put an engine together and don’t know if it’s worth the money right now or not. Any help would be much appreciated!
 
Nickh77 said:
Curious to know everyone’s experiences/opinions on having or not having cam bearings in a 5.9 block. Getting ready to put an engine together and don’t know if it’s worth the money right now or not. Any help would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Probably should let everyone know how much horsepower goal, cam, valve springs combo.
 
4 (maybe 5?) years on a billet Hamilton cam with no cam bushings in my limited pro stock truck. Run good oil and monitor the valve lash constantly and you'll be fine.
 
95cummins5.9 said:
Probably should let everyone know how much horsepower goal, cam, valve springs combo.
Click to expand...

Okay here’s what I’m putting together. Hoping for Atleast 800hp. Ultimate goal would be to break 1000. If that happens with some spray I’ll still be satisfied. Anyways I’ve got a 12v engine im building. I’ve got a steel 188/220 Hamilton cam, Hamilton 165# dual valve springs, common rail tappets and mantons 7/16 pushrods. Stock valves. Head will be heavily ported and polished. I have one head with the shelf cut off but can’t find a good used billet intake and buying a $1000 Intake isn’t in the budget right now so probably going to just stick with a heavily ported stock head. ARP 425 head studs to hold it down. 5x.018 injectors, maxed 180 pump with 5k’s and I have every intention on spinning 5k rpm regularly. I’ve got a steedspeed t4 manifold with a gate port and an s475 to hang from it. Didn’t plan on running a wastegate. Going to watch drive pressure first couple of runs to determine whether I need a waste gate that bad or not. Turbo specs, 75/83 I believe and I have a .90 and 1.0 housing for it. Vin tag on it comes back as a s464 but compressor clearly measures a 75 so idk if that’s why the exhaust side is so much smaller then a normal box s475. The guy I bought it from was a truck puller so maybe it was milled. I’m not sure but it’s like new and ought to move some air! I think that’s about it. Might throw rod bolts and main studs in it while it’s tore down. Most of these parts I’ve collected over the last couple of years slowly so not trying to dump a bunch of money into this thing. Wouldn’t mind doing a girdle just for extra re-assurance if I found a good used one for cheap. Also have a brand new fluid dampner with the arp mounting kit. Thanks for the quick replies guys! Don’t mean to write a book just trying to give all the info on my goal here.
 
Last edited:
bigstacks95 said:
4 (maybe 5?) years on a billet Hamilton cam with no cam bushings in my limited pro stock truck. Run good oil and monitor the valve lash constantly and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...
Bigstack95 when you say good oil are you talking 15-40 rotella t4, t6 synthetic, amsoil?? What’s your idea of good oil? Not trying to be sarcastic here. Seriously asking
 
I wouldn't use a steel cam in a street engine . High zinc oil is a must ,and power driven makes high zinc 15w40
 
I probably shouldn’t have said steel because it could be confused with a billet. It’s a cast cam. Not billet. Plan on it being a street/track toy.
 
blackmega3500 said:
Without going through all the posts and not knowing end goal, I was under the impression 20w50 was primarily competition and shouldn't be street driven?
Click to expand...

Id say 20w50 is primarily for competition however we have a few customers who run it in the summer time with no issue. We just love it for the high zinc content and its availability.
 
It's not a competition vehicle by any means, but I've been running a 20w50 amsoil for about 6 or 7 yrs in my truck. It's not listed in the diesel section, its ARO for the product code. Noticeably smoother running and easier starting than the generic 15w40 rotella I ran before. It's a high zinc oil for flat tappet engines.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
Sorry this if off topic, but can 20w50 be used in a stock clearance engine?
I was always told to stick with 15w40, but mine isn't a daily anymore. I run Brad penn 15w40 right now.
 
If the engine is out I would go ahead and do it just for insurance reasons. I have broke cams in 12v because I did not have cam bearings and was running cast cams, high rpm and pretty healthy springs. If it was me I would put them in. Then there is really no worries later on if the cam is eating the block.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top