Which cam to buy? Looking at Mopar and OEM while I'm rebuilding engine...

I've been looking at cams lately. Reason being, my engine will be going to the machine shop in the next week and upgrading a cam will be cheap while the motor is apart. After doing a lot of reading, I want to stay with a cam that has 2/3" wide cam lobes which leaves me with the options of OEM or Mopar cam. I don't want to hassle with a custom ground cam.

My priorities in a cam are (in order with 3 and 4 nearly tied):
1) Reliability
2) Cost
3) Fuel efficiency
4) Low to mid-range torque

MOPARTSRACING.COM sells two Mopar cam which look like they'd work. P4529228ad with (240 duration/.430 lift) and the P4529229ac (248 duration/.440 lift). I would probably opt for the P4529228AD because I spend almost all of my time below 4700 rpm and the torque curve for this cam is advertised to work from idle to 4700 rpm. I want to keep the factory style hydraulic tappet lifters to save money.

So... how would the Mopar P4529228AD compare with a stock '98 camshaft? Who sells a stock camshaft with 2/3" wide lobes? Am I OK using stock springs? I'd like to keep camshaft wear to a minimum and get the spring pressure somewhere that prevents both excessive wear to the camshaft and prevents valve float if I do put my foot in it. If necessary, MOPARTSRACING.COM advertises that Mopar P4529214 springs work with the 4.0L, but I've read that the 4.2L and 4.0L kits are often advertised together but the spring seats are different sizes.

Daily driven vehicle
1998 4.0L (all original motor)
206k miles
AW4

Thanks for any help you guys can offer on this decision.

Cam selection is not mearly a number race. You are tuning a system.

Auto or Manual?
Daily driver? If so, are you more interested in low end or high end power?
Strictly Off-Road? Again, crawler (Low RPM idle -3K) or 1/4 mile (High RPM idle-5K)
Are you going to stroke it or leave the stroke stock?
Do you want a roller cam or tappet cam? What Intake or Exhaust changes?

In general though:

Roller cams allow higher lift with low duration, which increases fill rate and greater performance further into the rpm range.

Shorter duration cams are used for lower rpm applications, but because they don't breath well at high rpms. Match the manifolds and exhaust system to the applicaton.

Longer duration moves the torque and power up in rpm. The longer the durration, the less eficient the engine is at lower rpms, but more efficient at the top end because they allow more flow. Again, match manifold and exhaust system to the application.

In general, I like to use MP Cams on Mopar engines. They are known qtys. MP catalogs used to have build lists for performance levels for each engine.

-Ron

Are MP cams stock (2/3") lobe width?

Here's my Jeep in a nutshell:
- APN header
- Plan on buying a new Walker downpipe
- Magnoflow high flow cat
- Flomaster 50 with 2.5" tailpipe
- Stock log-style intake
- Will be buying 4-hole injectors
- Intake is cut open on the front to suck cold air

I will not stroke it.
Jeep has an AW4 auto tranny.
It's a daily driver and will stay a daily driver.
I want to keep it a tappet cam. I don't need anything aggressive right now.

I'm not sure if you actually read my initial post, but thanks for reminding me about a few details I forgot.

Make sure to upgrade your valve springs

Sorry about missing the performance parameters you stated.:banghead:

The bolt on mods you stated really don't do anything except make the exhaust sound sexier, which is cool; but it's stock

I did some research and found this site:
http://www.angelfire.com/my/fan/Jeep4.0Camshafts.htm

and this one:
http://www.jeep4.0performance.4mg.com/tech_specs.html
with this note:

The stock '96 and later Jeep 4.0 camshaft is a dual pattern cam that produces more torque at lower rpm and a wider torque spread.

Click to expand...

Something tickles me from my LA318 engine days, something about MP @.050 duration numbers. I would see of you can find a spec sheet on both cams and compare @.050 duration to stock.
My initial thought is that the 228AD would provide an upgrade to the stock cam, especially given that it has so many miles

-Ron

WB9YZU said:

Roller cams allow higher lift with low duration, which increases fill rate and greater performance further into the rpm range.

Click to expand...

I'm not even sure why you are bring that up. There isn't a roller cam for our 4.0L. Unless you consider that POS 505 has.

You may mean well Ron, but my question is about OEM or Mopar cams. I'm a tight budget for my rebuild so no rollers, no trick cams, nothing that will hurt reliability. I just want to look at my options for power and cost compare from people that have first hand experience with the Mopar cams.

I think my biggest concerns in doing more reading....

What valve springs will fit with no machining to the head? They will need to control valve float above 4,000 RPM, not put excessive pressure/wear on the cam, and control lift up to .440 with a safety buffer (to avoid binding).

Does anyone have experience with the Mopar cams mentioned in my original post? I'm curious on driveability differences between the .430 lift and .440 lift cams. I don't want to put all this time and effort into rebuilding the motor to second guess my decision down the road. I'm only doing this rebuild once.

There is a chart with the cams as to which springs Mopar recommended. Many people use the Mopar spring setup listed below. They work well with many aftermarket cams, install at stock height and IIRC have 110# on the seat when closed.

valve springs #5249464
retainers #4452032 (8*) 8mm
locks #4529218 (8*) 8mm

As for which cam to go with, the Mopar ones are fairly tame. So, personally I would go with the 29AB cam.

Talyn said:

As for which cam to go with, the Mopar ones are fairly tame. So, personally I would go with the 29AB cam.

Click to expand...

I'm bringing this back from the dead...

I've seen multiple recommendations for the 29AB cam but had trouble finding it and couldn't figure out why. It's been discontinued:
http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=373

Can anyone provide insight on my choices for P4529228ad (240 duration/.430 lift) VERSUS P4529229ac (248 duration/.440 lift) VERSUS stock '98 camshaft?

The engine is at the rebuilder now and he's specing out parts so I need to start making some decisions.