Hey folks i am looking for a new cam for my 01 z and one of my friends said to take a look at the T-rex cam. The hp numbers with the cam and LT's seemed wicked. does anyone out there have one and what is your opinion? Any info would be great.

 

Shortly after the T-Rex was released, I read where a few guys installed them and dyno'd after, and nobody could get the ~451 HP that Thunder Racing got. I think guys were getting in the ~420 - 430 HP range or something like that?? I (obviously) don't have first hand experience with one, but I think they're borderline "too radical" for a street cam, and you'd be better off with a less aggressive cam that will have better street manners (unless you want a cam for racing??). Don't take what I'm saying as your "final answer" though...maybe there are a few guys who have had success with the T-Rex cam.

 

Damn, only 420-430 RWHP on stock heads instead of 451 acheived by professionals. Id be happy if my LT1 was capable of those numbers.

 

i've heard that it is a bit too radical as well. .600" plus of lift is alot.

heard several instances of spun bearings too, but that could be here-say.

what are the goals of you car? streetable? track only? dyno queen?

if you want power go with a mid 230cam with stg2 heads

 

I know of one guy who made 442whp with is through a 12-bolt w/ 4.56s, and slicks. Put street tires and a 10 bolt on that car and it will definitely make numbers similar to thunders'.

The guys SN on LS1Tech is SMOKIN01TA I believe, and his car is the fastest Cam only M6.

 

i'll agree...i had a friend who had a t-rex in his car for a short time and it eventually just destroyed his motor (the crazy lift made the valvetrain geometry a little tough to get right and he ended up collapsing and freezing a lifter at the bottom of the bore....engine was toast). keep in mind, just to get the clearance, you have to fly cut valve reliefs into the pistons to run this cam.

his motor was put together competently and something still went wrong. i've also spoken to other people who've had bad experiences with it. on a stock cube LS1, the T-rex seems to be the threshold of how big you can realistically go before you start sacrifing reliability. im sure there are people who will argue about how great the T-rex is, but it just seems like it might be a little over the top for anything but a purpose-built 1/4 mile car.

 

I know who you are talking about, and the TREX had no part in destroying his motor. It was the Comp R lifters, several people have had the same problem. The TREX is a cam that will put down a lot of power, but it is NOT a very street friendly cam. You should check out FMS (www.futralmotorsports.com). His cams make lots of power while having excellent driveability. I have a friend who drives the F19 (246/250) every day on the interstate, and it has no problems. If you want a race cam for stock heads, the TREX will be fine. I'd suggest calling Allan at FMS, telling him what you want. You'll end up MUCH better in the long run.

 

out of curiosity, how did you know who i was talking about???

 

cam's do not cause spun bearings. Over revving the motor to utilize the powerband does.
And you don't need to fly cut with a t-rex unless you are going with some odd valve timing, in which case it's a custom grind and not the off-the-shelf t-rex.

 

Because I bought the heads off the motor, and I talk to him pretty frequently now

 

Hey folks thanks for the replys. the car is pretty much a daily driver (for now) so reliability is key. from what ive got so far i think i will keep searching. thanks

conquering the highways one ticket at a time

 

ahhhhh i see.

 

Consider looking at the futral motorsports "ron jeremy" cam. It is a big cam but, it has minimal surge, only at like 12-1300 rpms. It pulls strong all the way to 7K but he has his limiter set to 6800 now for the safety of his stock bottom end. Here is the specs directly from futural's website.
FM1-RJ-111 FMS Custom Grind Camshaft - 236"/239" .600"/.611" 111LSA - aggressive profile with a 3500-7200 RPM range, rough idle

 

remember that even with milder cams a good tune is a HUGE part of the performance and street manners you want. also cam lift for a mostly street car is not as important as a good duration. we have had huge success with our Annihilator cam(232/238 .595/.585 112 or 114 LSA) very streetable and provides some great power, we went 11.4 at 122mph our first time out using a similar cam(ours was on a 110LSA)
give us a call we can help you make a good decision for your cam.

 

Thats what I was thinking .

I have heard some people complain about streetability with this cam . It is VERY radical .