Pros and cons of increasing camshaft sizes?

Asked by Shawn_talktaco2 Dec 19, 2016 at 11:00 AM about the 1999 Dodge RAM 1500 Laramie SLT LB 4WD

Question type: Car Customization

What are the up and downs of increasing the
camshaft on my 1999 dodge ram 1500 with the 5.9
gas?

2 Answers

103,215

Bigger cams gain horsepower and/or torque, but sacrifice fuel economy.

1 people found this helpful.

Big cams often lose torque or move the torque curve up so much that you lose bottom end torque where you need it. If you never haul a load or tow then it should not matter to you. With careful selection of parts you should be able to increase both torque and HP but that would mean head work and other things in addition to the cam.

1 people found this helpful.

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