Cam Ideas
Not too long ago I took part in freshening up a 5.2 magnum and I had a 1988 model factory 360 roller cam I donated to it. The specs of the LA 5.9 cam and the Magnum roller cam are the same. This was worth a 10 degree increase of advertised duration over the 5.2 magnum cam and some extra .050 duration and exhaust lift with the 1.6:1 rockers. Works fine with the stock valve train. This was engine went into a 1988 LWB W-100 with NP-435 HD four speed and 3.21 gears with 31X10.5-15s to be used for heavy work and towing, mostly scrap metal hauling. We curved a stock distributor for 18 degrees mechanical and 17 degrees of vacuum advance and installed a five pin electronic ignition, off-brand air gap manifold, and 650 Edelbrock and a pair of '68 318 truck manifolds.
As far as the end result, it runs a whole lot better than it should! I'll post some late night video of airing it out in the eternal third gear but it's a really happy combination. It's really perfect for what the truck does, the owner is tickled to no end with it. He claims that even when "grave yard loaded" with the first load of scrap steel and iron and pulling a likewise loaded 18 foot twin axle trailer that there is no shortage of torque, that it pulls just about the same as unloaded except for having to give yourself extra stopping distance.
For your goals, a stock regrind type LA 360 roller cam is the first step camshaft that will provide considerable grunt. Or if you want to go all out stump puller with high lift and Casper Milquetoast duration and LSA, there’s the stock 318 LA roller cam. With the 1.6:1 rockers would give you .461 I/E lift (your usually safe up to about .470, but always check retainer to guide clearance!). It would probably run out of breath at 4000 rpm in a 5.9 magnum but would have the idle sound your looking for and outright stupid ”Tow Truck Torque”. Here are the stock LA cam specs vs the stock Magnum cam specs if you want to crunch the numbers with the 1.5:1 vs. 1.6:1 rocker ratios. The Magnum cam numbers are identical to the hydraulic roller cams, but have shorter lobe lift because of the 1.6:1 ratio rockers.
As far as the end result, it runs a whole lot better than it should! I'll post some late night video of airing it out in the eternal third gear but it's a really happy combination. It's really perfect for what the truck does, the owner is tickled to no end with it. He claims that even when "grave yard loaded" with the first load of scrap steel and iron and pulling a likewise loaded 18 foot twin axle trailer that there is no shortage of torque, that it pulls just about the same as unloaded except for having to give yourself extra stopping distance.
For your goals, a stock regrind type LA 360 roller cam is the first step camshaft that will provide considerable grunt. Or if you want to go all out stump puller with high lift and Casper Milquetoast duration and LSA, there’s the stock 318 LA roller cam. With the 1.6:1 rockers would give you .461 I/E lift (your usually safe up to about .470, but always check retainer to guide clearance!). It would probably run out of breath at 4000 rpm in a 5.9 magnum but would have the idle sound your looking for and outright stupid ”Tow Truck Torque”. Here are the stock LA cam specs vs the stock Magnum cam specs if you want to crunch the numbers with the 1.5:1 vs. 1.6:1 rocker ratios. The Magnum cam numbers are identical to the hydraulic roller cams, but have shorter lobe lift because of the 1.6:1 ratio rockers.