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cam for (99)5.0 ex

99-5.0explorer

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March 7, 2004
Messages
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City, State
Schenectady,NY
Year, Model & Trim Level
99 Explorer 5.0 AWD "SVT"
im thinkin of throwing a cam in my ex... lookin for someone to point me in the right direction..

want good mid to high power/tq(do some towing)

lobey idles are always cool :D

sound clips of a camd 5.0 at idle would be great, cant seem to find to many on youtube(347 SC a few of them)

thanks guys mike
 



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Have you given any thought to adding tourqemonster headers?
 






I was planing on asking the same question sometime today. I would ask for a cam that will give a significant improvement in power and torque but does not cost very much.

As far as i know (information from reading this sight) if you truly want to be satisfied you need to go with a custom ground cam. Anything that is off the shelf will not take advantage of the GT-40 heads. An explorer weights 2 tons. It needs a lot of low end torque to get going.

You could go for a ford letter cam. They don't cost to much. But they are designed for top end power. The intention was for the cam to be put in a 5.0 mustang. Fox bodies only weight like 2500 pounds. They don't need the lower end torque because they are light and if they did have low end power they would have traction issues.

CompCams makes some nice cams. They will have something that you could buy off the shelf that will give you a decent increase in low end power. But it still wont be as good as a custom ground. They are also pricey.
 






yes but alil $.. and alot of time to install... plus i read good and bad things about them(just like everything else).. im sure ill be doin that mod sometime down the road..
 






Well, i think the tourqemonster headers would be the place to start. You already have opened up most of your exhaust system, why not the real power robbing culprit? Go take a look at the stock manifold and then go look at the headers. A world of difference. When you do go with that new cam, you will squeeze more out of that as well with the headers already installed.
 






Explorer Cam

Comp Cams will recommend p/n 35-512-8. I bought one from Summit and my 5.0 likes it, though I can't argue with the custom cam argument...my next one will be custom.
 






i thought my 99 had coil packs? will the E303 still work?
 






E-303

It will work, but the consensus is that the letter cams are outdated and not a great choice for a heavy vehicle like an Explorer. If you're going to go through the trouble of switching cams, save up some coin and get a custom grind...it's probably only a couple hundred bucks more.
 






i read the specs on ur cam.... how do you like it? idle? power etc
 






Comp Cam

I'm still breaking in my motor so I haven't really opened it up. But I can tell you the idle is smooth and it will smoke tires all day long. Of course, not all that power is coming the cam, but I'm pleased with the results.
 






mods?
 






Mods

Torque Monster headers. Cold air intake. Flowmaster true dual exhaust. Ford Racing roller rockers, 1.6.

It sounds good, pretty loud but I don't think your going to get a lopey idle since the lobe separation is high on that cam...114 degrees.
 






so am i right when saying a 110 or 112 would give a lopey idle?
 






You would be correct assuming you would get a "lopey-er" idle with a smaller LSA. I think 110 will get you there, though. That's what the LSA is on the E-303.
 






Does the E303 cause any power loss at low RPM?

Example: The explorer cam only gives .4 inches of lift or so. The E303 gives almost .5. So say at 1200 rpm the engine makes 150lbs of torque, at 4000 it makes 285lbs with the stock cam. And at 1200rpm the engine makes 175lbs and 315lbs at 5000 with the E303. It would still be better to have the E303 rather than the stock cam. But if the E303 only makes 125 pounds of torque at 1200 then I would suggest not getting it.


We know that a custom ground cam (expensive) will improve low end torque quite a bit and it will also improve top end some. I don't know what an E303 (cheaper) will do to the low end torque. I do know that it will improve top end.

Will the E303 improve low end torque at all, or will it reduce my low end torque compared to stock?
 






now i dont know about improvement in explorers because ive never done it, but i have built a ton of mustang in which still have some now.. its been awhile since i have just had a base gt40 headed motor but i was really impressed with the trickflow stage 1 cam... its a good all around cam with great power.. i currently have two stangs one with a 331 on nitrous with a custom ground jay allen cam and then i have a 94 cobra twin turbo car with a custom grind cam as well... but i say for a out of the box shelf cam, the tfs stage 1 would really wake your truck up... in one of my stangs i had a gt40p motor from an explorer i added a tfs stage 1 cam, matching springs and pushrods... intake spacker, 1.6rr, 24lb injectors, throttle body, full exhaust, and a speedydyno sct tune and put down 312 rwhp.... i was really impressed with that set up, in which might i add had 132k on it...
 





















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E-303

99-5.0explorer,

The only other thing I can tell you is that I went through the exact same thing you are early last year. I spoke with James Henson (Henson Performance) and he said the E-303 cam is not a good bet for the Explorer. It's been a good racing cam for years on the Mustang but its power starts after 2500 RPM and along with the additional Explorer weight it will be a dog off the line. James stated (and I still have the email) that I'd be much happier with the Comp Cam for a DD Explorer...or in my case, Ranger.

Good luck.
 






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