Best 12v Cam?

BottleFed

BottleFed

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Dec 10, 2009
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Well i finally got enough coin together to start the re-build on my 96 12v. Did head studs and surfaced the head when i bough it thinking that would be more than enough. One thing led to another and it turns out 57 pounds of boost was too much. :bang
Long story short the hole motor was tore down today and sent to the machine shop to be balanced and the block decked. I wasnt going to put a cam in it being that money is short but i think i will just bite the bullet and do it while im there. Any input on a good cam. I did some searching on the forum and hear good things about the Hamilton cams and also the Haisley cams. The truck is my daily driver and do some light towing with it nothing major. EGT's get a little high pulling the boat once in a while. Any help on picking a cam and who to talk to would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Nick
 
First:
This is the off topic area.

Second:
You didn't find a "best" cam in any of the threads you found searching, what makes you think everyone will agree now?

Third:
Most people that buy a cam are happy with theirs. Kinda makes me think they are all at least decent options. Call some vendors and talk to em. Go with the one that makes you feel confident in their products and service.
 
Well first:
I am new the the site, i hade worked on my truck all day and it was 2:30 in the morning and yes i placed this thread in the wrong area and i am sorry!

Second:
No i didnt find a best cam but you rarely if ever find a part that everyone will agree on its all prefrence but you do often find a product that most everyone says is a pile. Thats what i dont want to end up with!

Third:
Every vendor is going to talk there product up. I dont want to buy a cam because a guy is a good salesmen i want to know it will work. I know a decent amount about cummins but not enough that i can listen to someone ramble on about any one cam how it work and what it dose. To be honest i probably woldnt know if he was telling the truth or full of S**t. For this reasone i was wondering if anyone did have a bad experience with a cam or better yet a very good one! Or has possibly ran more than one kinda of cam and prefered one over the other. A few guys saying ya that cam is in my truck and runs great cant say a bad thing about it means a lot more than someone telling me a bunch of number and specs because at this point they really dont mean anything to me. Hopefully one day i will be educated enough to know but not quite yet :/

Once again displacedtexan my bad on the wrong forum ill try and make sure it dosent happen again!
 
Anecdotally I've noticed that you see more aftermarket cams being pulled and replaced with Hamilton cams than anything else. Not that that proves anything. Just something I've noticed.

And honestly I think if you have realistic expectations you'd be happy with any of the cams out there. Most guys love theirs. Regardless of who made it.

What are your goals for the cam? What do you want it to do for you? What do you do with your truck? What is the rest of your setup?
 
The truck was going to be a street driven sled puller but i have decided to buy another truck so i dont have to worry about being broke down with no truck. It is a 2005 F350 with a 96 12 valve cummins. Its all getting balanced and .20 over pistons right now. I did a little pump work 4k Gov. spring kit, DDP laser cut DV's, and a #10 fuel plate. DDP 150 injectors, 60lb valve springs, and right now i am running a Super B Special S300 that i plan on building into a twins setup with an s480 this next fall. I also am having the block drilled and tapped for 14mm head studs and the block fire ringed.
I dont pull super heavy a small goose neck with a car or truck sometimes and a boat every now and then. Being that i will have another truck soon i want to make a reliable decent powered truck that is going to last. It needs to start well in the winter and keep the EGTs as low as possible during the summer. There is a 150 degree temp diff between summer and winter here so it makes it a little interesting. I really dont expect a lot from a cam just something i think i want to do while it is torn down. O the truck is also a 6 speed manual and i run a snow performance stage three water meth kit.
 
I don't have a dog in the fight, or a cam, so I'm not gonna make a suggestion.

I will say if I was in the market I'd look real hard at Zach's cams. The fact that he tries so hard to put info out there and to help people understand cams impresses me. And a good buddy of mine swears that the cam is the best thing he's done for drivability.

Honestly, sounds like you'd be pretty happy with a drop in cam from any of the vendors.
 
I can't wait to try out my Diesel Pros cam... I wish I could have some more input here, but I don't. I will say it was nice talking to Fletcher about my cam and other work last weekend.. I feel very confident in what I am getting and how the truck should perform when it's back on the road.
 
Hamilton all the way.

There installation instructions are kinda cool too....
 
i'll be talking to zach hamilton when i buy my cam soon. heard nothing but good things about him.
 
Sounds like Hamilton is a good cam i will give him a call tomorrow thanks guys! If i do end up getting it i will make sure and post my thoughts when i get the truck going here in the next few weeks.
 
Give Zach and Ryan a call at Hamilton. Tell them what your goals are etc and they will steer you right. Cant wait to drive my truck when I get it back together. Goodluck with whatever you do go with.
 
IMO If your gonna do alot of drivin with you truck i would not run a reground cam. spend the extra $$ and buy a new billet one .We tried a regind for our blown alcohol mini rod and it was trash after one season about 20 pulls less than 5 hrs run time ! but thats a diffrent animal altogether basicly we were trying 2 cut corners . IMO a cam is not a good place to cheap out on a cummins !! especially if your gonna run 120lb springs! Hamilton and Colt are both good cams from what i here...
 
So what about all the trucks for the past 10 years that have been running reground cams with no issues. Every cam company on this website sells regrinds and would stand behind them 100%. We pulled out one of our regrind cams that has over 100k miles on it and 750hp running low 11's and has been doing it on the same cam for 4 years. Cam looked perfect, if you do not have the right oiling and properties in your oil or you have ground past the rockwell hardness then you will have your issues.
 
Hamilton cam's all the way. I freaking love mine almost as much as my tranny.
 
TMONEYDIESEL said:
So what about all the trucks for the past 10 years that have been running reground cams with no issues. Every cam company on this website sells regrinds and would stand behind them 100%. We pulled out one of our regrind cams that has over 100k miles on it and 750hp running low 11's and has been doing it on the same cam for 4 years. Cam looked perfect, if you do not have the right oiling and properties in your oil or you have ground past the rockwell hardness then you will have your issues.
Click to expand...

Every company sells regrinds except Hamilton Cams. Geoff with Colt Cams can and does do regrinds, but Hamilton sell ONLY NEW cams. Why would you go to a regrind when you have your own cores? Regrinds are fine in some situations as long as the grinds are fairly mild and the centerlines are not changed much, but that paints you into the mild cam corner for sure. Regrinds have a higher failure rate than new cams, that is just a fact due to the softer material being exposed. I have seen them go a lot of miles on mild regrinds, you are correct. Wild race grinds with high miles, I have not seen that one yet. And the fact that you say every cam company stands behind every regrind 100% either shows your ignorance or your inexperience. There are some people on here that have not had 100% satisfaction from their regrinds, I promise.

Bottlefed- with where you are wanting to go with the truck, I would suggest a cam in the 175-185 @.050 on the intake on a 99centerline and an exhaust between 210 and 218 @.050" with about a 105-108 Lobe separation angle. If you are wanting to do it on the cheap with a regrind that is not a horrible thing. If you start with a 24v (98-02) cam core you will be able to keep the basecircle the largest and the lobe face the hardest due to the fact that it is on a close LSA to what most performance cams have. A lot of the other regrinds either have very small basecircles that have exposed softer metal, narrow lobes that don't wear well under high stress or both. There are several companies that do regrinds, my vote is for Colt because he is older, anal, and super meticulous when it comes to cams.


Zach
 
Thanks for the info Zack i call today and i think i spoke with Ryan? After speaking to him and what everyone else has said about your product i am goign to go with a Hailton cam. The only draw back is that they are on back order! lol not a big deal like i said before the block is still at the machine shop and i have a few days of polishing to do on the head still. Any clue as to when you might possibly be able to send one of those big sticks my way? Could you PM me a price on the cam also i dont know that we talked about that? Thanks again!
 
Are you saying Hamilton Cams have never sold a regrind cam? Or that there are no Hamilton Big Stick regrinds out there? Don't worry I'll wait......

The comment that every company will stand behind their regrinds is true as I believe ever cam company will stand behind their product. If you are saying you won't then I apologize for speaking for you. But you are correct their are people that have had issues with regrinds just as any product just as you have had lobes wipe off your cams even on your NEW cores and their soft rockwell have seen failures. There are a few members on here who could admit to that.
Fletcher has many wild regrinds out there that are having great success as your well aware of, Im sorry if your having troubles with your cam builder or your regrinds.

I will not post on these matters further, Your attitude towards others is growing old.
 
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We have done regrinds in the past, but we stopped selling them almost two years ago. Of course with you calling my new cam cores soft, you know I am going to ask you to post a full explanation with data and pics to back up your claims. Feel free to discuss that one further. Please don't just throw up a bunch of rubbish and then duck out so soon. I do have an attitude when it comes to mis-information......you are right on, I hope it gets really old.

Zach
 
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