5.0 Explorer cam options

[Whisker Biscuit]

Hey guys, new here. I've searched all over for reviews on cam choices for these trucks and haven't really found what i'm looking for. I'm about to rebuild my 5.0 (it's kinda tired, leaking a little oil) and plan on a cam swap, roller rockers, and valve springs along with the usual new OE parts during a rebuild. Ideally I'd like to make a little more torque and horsepower and be able to rev a little higher. This biggest factor is going to be reliability and smooth running. I emailed Comp cams about the XR258HR-14 (part# 35-512-8) and their response was.....less than stellar. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this cam? The truck occasionally pulls a couple four wheelers, a small pontoon boat, sometimes even a small car, and occasionally goes on road trips. Again, reliability smooth power delivery is key here. I know the factory cam just flat out sucks, and an E-cam is a little too choppy at idle. Looking at the specs, this is a pretty mild cam and appears to be about the best choice without a custom grind. Thanks.

 

[CDW6212R]

Welcome. The stock engine is a GT40 302 besides the cam, but the cam is not a big restriction. The true restrictions are much more trouble to upgrade. The exhaust issue is huge, and you can find volumes to read about that.

The heads are typical, small, the intake elbow is kind of permanent, the 4500lbs weight is a lot more to move than people realize, and the cam needs to match the package. For the given OEM pieces, the roller truck cam isn't too bad. My two 302's shift at close to 5000rpm, my old 302 HO Lincolns never shifted near 4500.

Unless you will plan to open up the entire exhaust, and do a custom cam, and retune the computer, then the cam choice should be aimed at nearly stock parts. The 302 HO cam is the best choice given the rest being all stock stuff, all OTS cams will be similar or need PCM tuning to use them much. The roller rockers are not worth the cost and noise if the rest is nearly stock(if the heads are just rebuilt, bolt on stock rockers). The gain of 4 to 5 hp won't be felt, but the noise everyone will notice when the hood is up.

I'd stay close to stock(using an HO cam), or plan ahead and upgrade the heads, exhaust, and do a custom cam with PCM tuning. One way is a decent chunk of money, say $2k, but the next step is a good $2k more. The exhaust alone will be half of that.

 

[Whisker Biscuit]

Ok, thanks for the info. I've noticed these jokers are pretty chubby. I've done some reading on the exhaust and that's definitely something I'm going to look into. Is the HO cam different than the stock one? If so anyone got a part number? I've got an SCT X3 which I've used to adjust a couple parameters. Truck runs fine, has been as reliable as a hammer, plugs look good, and engine is quiet. I just thought it might be worth while to stick a better cam in while I had it out anyway. I'm not terribly experienced with details on the internals of these engines, forgive me.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

one thing you might want to consider is re gearing the truck. but that also depends on how much highway driving you do. a lower gear (numerically higher) will give you more "snap" if you like to call it, but it will also increase your rpms as well.

 

[boominXplorer]

I like my XE-264HR-14 I have in my ranger. I pull my 20' car trailer (3000lbs) with light loads on it (>500lbs) all the time and its no problem. I'm also on 35s with 4.88s.

 

[Whisker Biscuit]

I like my XE-264HR-14 I have in my ranger. I pull my 20' car trailer (3000lbs) with light loads on it (>500lbs) all the time and its no problem. I'm also on 35s with 4.88s.

Does it idle ok and make power right on the bottom all the way to about 4500-5k? That’s what I’m looking for. I’m not expecting a race car, I’ve got stuff that’s fast already. I really don’t wanna gear it because I do some highway driving a good bit. I did the 4406 swap so that helped.

 

[boominXplorer]

Wot shifts at 6k and pulls all the way. Idles pretty smooth with a little shake to it. Mine ran on canned SCT tune no problem. From a dig my truck shoots out the hole. The gears make a big difference.

 

[Whisker Biscuit]

Yea that’s exactly what I’m looking for, maybe not so high RPM though. Now if HPTuners will start supporting these I’ll be happy. I think I can tune the idle smooth.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ford only made three SBF roller cams. The HO and Cobra cams are the others besides the truck cam, which was BTW in the 351 Lightning. Those are all lower lift cams and work well with the same stock heads, springs etc.

Lots of people have done very well with the HO cam in 302 Mustangs, pushing 5500-6000rpm with better heads and intake(likely 1.7:1 rockers as well). For the towing and weight the HO cam is probably in the ball park with most mild aftermarket cams, with no PCM tuning. You can gain a little with the right mild OTS cam, but it will need tuning to get the maximum with it.

If you have a flasher to use for the truck, it might be worth the tuning expense to go through that. Examples like boomin's are great to identify good candidates for better cams etc.

 

[Whisker Biscuit]

Ford only made three SBF roller cams. The HO and Cobra cams are the others besides the truck cam, which was BTW in the 351 Lightning. Those are all lower lift cams and work well with the same stock heads, springs etc.

Lots of people have done very well with the HO cam in 302 Mustangs, pushing 5500-6000rpm with better heads and intake(likely 1.7:1 rockers as well). For the towing and weight the HO cam is probably in the ball park with most mild aftermarket cams, with no PCM tuning. You can gain a little with the right mild OTS cam, but it will need tuning to get the maximum with it.

If you have a flasher to use for the truck, it might be worth the tuning expense to go through that. Examples like boomin's are great to identify good candidates for better cams etc.

Awesome. You guys have been super helpful. I’ll kick the idea around before I snatch the motor out. I’m sure a custom tune will be in the future, I’m very familiar with how important tuning is. It would be nice to pick up a set of headers for cheap.

 

[410Fortune]

OBX headers are under $500
I had the FMS E303 cam in my old 96 and it was pretty good for power and sound, however the vacuum power boosted brakes sucked due to lack of vacuum
I also installed FMS 1.6 roller rockers, then later Scorpion 1.6 roller rockers and then removed them in favor of the stamped 1.6 rocker because the pedestal mount rollers were really noisy (drove me nuts all that work twice and still a valve train noise)
I also swapped from stock 3.73 gears to 4.10 and ran 33" tires with a 4406 manual t case. Custom intake and single 2.5" exhaust after the TMH headers that old 96 was pretty awesome for a 4500# SUV!!
the idle of the E303 cam was a bit lopey, had to shut her down at drive through so we could order, I understand there are better cam grinds these days that work well, but before the cam there are plenty of upgrades you can do that will make your truck night and day vs stock.
Headers and gears are huge upgrades on these rigs (pigs)

 

[boominXplorer]

Just to add the PCM likes the lobe separation at 114, it's what my cam is. Here's my cam card.

View attachment 166138

 

[Whisker Biscuit]

Just to add the PCM likes the lobe separation at 114, it's what my cam is. Here's my cam card.

View attachment 166138

View attachment 166139

Awesome. Thanks. Anybody running the trick flow spring kit (part # 2500100)? It’s got great reviews, just want to make sure it works in these motors with a cam this size.

 

[boominXplorer]

I'm running the Alex parts gt40p 550 lift replacement springs. They seem to work well, got about 20k miles on the swap now.

 

[Cheeser96]

Just to add the PCM likes the lobe separation at 114, it's what my cam is. Here's my cam card.

View attachment 166138

View attachment 166139

if you dont mind me asking, what other parts did you put on with your cam? like spring and rod wise?

 

[Cheeser96]

also was wondering, how does it idle? and are you satisfied with it? sorry, looking at upgrading my cam also, trying to get opinions on different ones before i settle on the H.O cam

 

[99SportX]

I would just like to add that I ran the 35-349-8 comp cam in my sport like Boomin’ has. I always felt like it lacked grunt up top in the RPM range. It pulled like hell off the line but seemed to struggle once out of first gear and running higher RPM. I had the TM headers and 3.73 gears with a SCT tune. It was definitely better with the 4.10 gears but I went away from those due to highway annoyance. It could have been the exhaust choking it off and limiting high rpm power. I had the front cats still, no rears and 2.25 duals all the way back to the bumper.

That engine is sitting on the garage floor right now waiting for another project this summer and I have been debating if I want to stick with it as-is or try something different. I was tossing around the idea of a head upgrade, or maybe a eaton M90 for a little extra fun.