Jeep Strokers

In the last 4 years I have been through 3 cams. The first was the fault of Crane who recommended and sent the wrong springs and retainers and flattened the lobes. They sent another cam. Was great until the replacement chewed up the dizzy gear. At this point I tore down the motor and rebuilt it from scratch. Used all Hesco parts that were touched or turned by the cam. Springs, retainers, oil pump, dizzy gear, double roller timing chain, lifters. This was great for 6k miles and then I chewed a dizzy gear. It was bronze. It was supposed to die. At this point I learned from Hesco that the oil pump was too much for the gear to handle with the weather being between 9 and 30deg during the winter. So I put in Amerilube 0w-40 which they recommended. Worked for a while then the 2ed bronze gear died. I installed a factory steel gear and with in 4 months it was chewed up. They sent a revised oil pump with a squirter for the cam gear. When I had the pan off replacing the pump the cam gear looked rough and Lee from Hesco recommended using the bronze gear. Well a week ago the 3rd bronze gear died. I need a new cam

I am now looking for new cam options. Hesco is willing to stand behind their product but dont know which cam to go with. Stick with Hesco or go to a different company. I had a Crane 705901(Cant remember #s exactly) and liked it but wanted more. My Hesco 264 just died and I liked it better than the Crane. I want more cam. Am looking at the Hesco 274 or other possible options. What are my options? I have read through some goods posts but still dont understand what all the numbers mean.

The Jeep is a play toy. I have a car that is used for daily driver use. Jeep is lifted, cage, race seats/harnesses, stak 3 speed transfercase, has bigger axles, 5.13s, 35s, and lots of other custom crap. It gets used for offroad woods running, love to hit hill climbs, try to avoid mud, and play in the snow. I rarely find myself running the motor below 2k RPM so I dont think I want an RV cam. When it gets driven down the highway the motor is running around 2800rpm give or take. In the woods I run it between 2500 and redline.
Motor is a 96 block, hasnt been decked. 4.2L 12cw crank, 4.2L rods, sealed power h802cp pistons. Rotating assembly has been balanced. CR is 9.44 Head is a 91 that has been home ported and polished, not decked and has Hesco springs and retainers. Currently has the factory ECU and Apexi SAFC2 but a Megasquirt is on order.
Thanks,
AARON

Sorry to hear of the Hesco cam failure along with the dizzy gear. I too just switched to a steel gear after eating two bronzes. Hopefully the cam will hold up.

I am running the 274/480 Hesco cam. Advanced 4 degrees. Good lopey idle but still pulls decent vacuum. A little flat off the bottom but really comes on the pipe at around 18-2000 rpm. With 5.13`s the bottom end doesn't bother me much.

Consider the XJ ECM to add more timing. Both intail and a stronger curve.

Thanks jsawduste. Anything else weird or funny about the 274 cam other than the inital lag down low? Wish you had done something different? What ECU are you running? Have you done any other mods for tuning the motor?

I too have 5.13s and currently sit on 35s. Power down low has never been a problem and the motor is always typically spinning above 2K when in the woods or bashing through the snow. Since the Jeep is now a play toy, I have ordered a Megasquirt to handle engine management. I like electronics and cant help but tinker.

My dizzy gear failure has been identified as too much load from an oil pump with a max psi of 60# trying to pump 10w-30 in weather that was typically between 40deg and 10deg. Hesco helped me figure this out and sent out a different pump set to 50# max and also provided a oil squirter to provide forced oiling on the gears. Was running 0w-40 but this fix was too late to save my Hesco 264 cam.

AARON

What are the spring seat loads like?

Since you eat cams for breakfast maybe you should try 505 Performance's roller cam. Its not a true roller as it is a standard cast blank ground with a roller profile. They claim life to be between 70,000 and 150,000 miles. While short for a roller cam, still better mileage than most are getting with the flat tappet cams.

BTW, I remember you from JU and Hesco's forums.

Yea I have been around for a while on several forums. JU being the first.

I dont remember the spring seat pressure off the top of my head but I do know my machine shop was slighty freaked out when they read the directions from Hesco and had to mill a good portion of material out of the head to get the proper clearance. They are a very good shop but did stock rebuilds or chevy performance stuff, no Jeep. I had them call Hesco and after they talked machine shop it was good to go. I remember Tony, the owner, took me back and tested a few of them so I could see and it was right on the numbers from Hesco. The 264 cam died at the cam gear, not the lobes. The first Crane cam died at the lobes due to too stiff springs from Crane. The second Crane died at the dizzy gear from too high psi and wrong oil type. I will check into the 505 stuff.

Thanks,
AARON

Aaron, I'm amazed at your patience given the rotten luck you've had with your stroker. Since Hesco are a stand-up company, I'd suggest you get another Hesco cam (jsawduste's Hesco 274 sounds good for your Jeep's gearing set-up) and ask them which dizzy gear they'd recommend to go with it.
Hope it all works out for you bud.

Hey Dino! Its been a while since we spoke. Ya I am getting tired of dealing with the Jeep motors but I just cant drop the $3k and swap in a LS1 or similar motor at present nor do I have the garage or tools. But a LS motor would net another 150hp plus 100# lighter in my truck would REALLY get me into trouble Its bad enough with my current setup

I just got off the phone with Hesco and we discussed my options and possible solutions. They are standing up behind their product and have provided lots of advice and assistance. Way better service than Crane ever provided. I still have a new in box Crane cam in my basement but I refuse to use it cause they sucked so bad. Once the weather warms up and the foot of snow here goes away I will tear the motor down and get everything setup with a new 274 cam.

AARON

MrShoeBoy wrote:Thanks jsawduste. Anything else weird or funny about the 274 cam other than the inital lag down low? Wish you had done something different? What ECU are you running? Have you done any other mods for tuning the motor?

I too have 5.13s and currently sit on 35s. Power down low has never been a problem and the motor is always typically spinning above 2K when in the woods or bashing through the snow. Since the Jeep is now a play toy, I have ordered a Megasquirt to handle engine management. I like electronics and cant help but tinker.

My dizzy gear failure has been identified as too much load from an oil pump with a max psi of 60# trying to pump 10w-30 in weather that was typically between 40deg and 10deg. Hesco helped me figure this out and sent out a different pump set to 50# max and also provided a oil squirter to provide forced oiling on the gears. Was running 0w-40 but this fix was too late to save my Hesco 264 cam.

AARON

Aaron,
Happy with the 274/480. Did degree it in @ a true 3.74* advanced. Eagles with Diamonds @ a zero deck. SCR works out to be 9.54. I feel roller rockers are a must. Went light on the spring pressures. Don`t recall the numbers but they were lighter then Bennie suggests. Engle SBC marine app. No valve float up to the ECM rev limiter.

Typical head porting and multi angle valve job. 99 up intake with a 64mm TB. 24 lb injectors at around 40 psi.
Edlebrock coated header in a 2 1/2 exhaust.

XJ ECM for a bit stronger timing curve,

Been very happy with how it runs.