Reliability / life of used cams?
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iTrader: (11)
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 12,604
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From: East Central Florida
Reliability / life of used cams? OK, so I'm a bottom-feeder...
I know back in the day with flat tappet lifters
you'd be nuts to install a used cam. But I see a
lot of low to moderate mileage used cams pop up
for sale and wonder, how long does a decent-mfr
camshaft last in our applications, and how many
miles on a camshaft should make you think twice
before buying? Are there any bed-in issues with
roller lifters on somebody else's worn-in cam lobe,
that kind of thing?
Specifically I think I'd wait for a TR224 / 114 cam
to come up cheap, if manufacturer matters.
I know back in the day with flat tappet lifters
you'd be nuts to install a used cam. But I see a
lot of low to moderate mileage used cams pop up
for sale and wonder, how long does a decent-mfr
camshaft last in our applications, and how many
miles on a camshaft should make you think twice
before buying? Are there any bed-in issues with
roller lifters on somebody else's worn-in cam lobe,
that kind of thing?
Specifically I think I'd wait for a TR224 / 114 cam
to come up cheap, if manufacturer matters.
I was wondering the same thing, and it was explained to me that with the new roller technology the wear is almost not a factor at all. There are however the problems, like having bad lifters, where it wears the lobe, mushrooms the sides etc. But the problems are much less. I have sold my old TR224 and the buyer now has about 5K miles on it, I had about 8k on it. Neither had problems. But I have also seen a cam come out of an engine and although the lobes were fine, the journals were not. There was definate brazing of the bearing surfaces. Overall, if you buy over net, get a pic of the journals and lobes, and hope the seller is reputable is my advice.
The hydrolic roller cam will last a very long time. As long as there was caution used when installing and removing it, it should work fine for you. BTW, I will have my 228/228 .588/.588 112 out within a few weeks.
