which camshaft edelbrock or crane? 4x4

[ilandaze]

going to buy a camshaft for my 2.8 motor for now but planning to put into my 3.4 once i find a block. i have an holley 390 cfm 4 barrel carb , headers, exhaust and edelbrock performer manifold. which cam should i get the edelbrock 3790 to match to carb and manifold setup or the crane powermax 2020. any others you recommend? on the freeway i usually run about 2600-3000 rpm. 4x4 so looking for more low end and towing power. have 31" tires and 3.73 gearing

[SappySE107]

The 2020 isn't much better than stock, so I would go with the edelbrock. They should have matched the cam with their other products as well. Normally don't get a lot of people wanting to tow so I can't really tell you if there is a different cam that would be better suited than the 3790.

[geoffinbc]

Stay away from Crane Compucams. I have come to the conclision that most are defective. Almost every 60* V6 CompuCam (also called powermax cam) owner complains of noise. Mine sounded like a diesel. I'm currently talking with a guy on S-series with a 2020 cam and he is removing it in favour of the GM Crate engine cam. Which by the way is the one I suggest you get.

[Cannonball]

Those crate engine cams that GM sells are actually made by Crane.
The compucams are junk. They're barely larger than stock or, the bigger of the two, is a single pattern cam which gives little gain on top and somewhat hurts low end. The Crane 260H and 272 are far better choices for power. I even have an article from Car Craft showing a 15HP gain on a 2.8 with the 272. I hadn't ever heard anything about noise from the compucams until now but that's just one more good reason not to use them I guess. At any rate, the 260 and 272 cams are split pattern cams. The V6 seems to respond better to split pattern cams then single pattern.
I have a friend with the 260 and he has no noise and it works good. I believe the 260 and 272 are also under the powermax label too but they are far better than the compucams.

[oil pan 4]

Crane 272 all the way.
Use stock 9:1 or higher compression.
I would never waste my time with the little cams because most people that get them are not at all impressed with what they do.
I have never herd of an unhappy crane 2-272-H owner.
To bad my motor and cam got burned up in a fire before I could install it.

[ilandaze]

am i going to gain anything on the lowend. is it going be better than stock all around or am i going to lose some power at some rpm ranges. the cruise rpm on just about match my freeway rpms but i dont know about street. and will it work well for my 3.4 later down the road

[ilandaze]

what about the comp 260h. is the 272 more towards to end? i think i rev mostly in the 2-3000 range regularly but dont now when i get on the gas.

[geoffinbc]

Go with the 260 cam. Will keep the bottom end happier. The 270 is very rev happy. Find one that fits your operating range. Especially for a truck. It is not a race car

Crane cams are fine. But just not the compucams

[oil pan 4]

Just rember that duration is where you make your Hp.
Lift is how much you torque you will make.
If you get a cam that has the same lift but more duration it will give you more high end and less low end.
If you replace 1.5 rockers with 1.65's you will increase your torque through out the rpm range but you will still make high and low end in the same place.

[geoffinbc]

Um no high ratio rockers will increase duration at the valves, aswell as increase lift. Giving you more torque and moving the power upwards in the RPM range. Your description about lift and duration in WAY too vague. If you increase lift you will increase HP aswell. Torque is part of the horsepower equation aswell. Also if you increase the lift but not the duration of the valve you may gain more high end power. If the valve is open more, then more air and fuel can get into the cylinder. This has a limiting point however, there is a point where more lift is no longer effective because you port becomes the restriction.

[ilandaze]

260 then? wheres the cheapest place to buy?

[Cannonball]

Probably Summit Racing or Jegs High Performance would be cheapest.
260 part# = 253902 is for cam and lifter kit.
272 part # = 253941
I think Summit has a code they put in front of the Crane part numbers like CRN- or something like that but that's the part numbers from the Crane catalog.

[geoffinbc]

Or try a local big name parts store or speed shop. Sometimes they are as cheep or cheeper than mail order.

My local speed shop sell stuff with only an 18% markup. I usually pay less in Canadian dollars then summit or jegs has stuff listed in American dollars. Example my rear sway bar is $144 American on summit racing. I paid $119 Canadian.

[dbtk2]

The Crane 260 is the same as the GMPP cam...I got mine for $150.77 from the dealer with lifters. I have the part number here somewhere... But I cant tell if your talking about the Crane or Comp 260, so this might be a useless post.

Shawn

[ilandaze]

confused, which cam do i want the crane 260 or the comp 260h or 252h?