Cam gears for V6. Add power AND mpg

Want more power, better gas mileage, and improved reliability? Read on.

Currently not making these.
U R D is finally selling these at a fair price (currently listed at $115.) So I'll let him have the business so long as his prices remain fair.
I'm still active on this forum and willing to help anyone with questions on these as needed.
link to his product here: https://urdusa.com/urd-exhaust-cam-gears-4-0l-v6/

Bonus: add coupon code forummember for an additional discount on his products.

More usable power, better gas mileage, and increase the reliability of your truck? Sounds impossible I know. Intakes and exhaust are cool n easy to do and all but if you're willing to dive a little deeper- you'll find these work better than both even when you combine the other 2. If you're an engine novice I assure you this isn't impossible but does take about 4 hours to do- I do my best to be available whenever anyone has questions and have walked many people through the install.

These are NOT snake oil or some gimmick. Many here have tried these over the years now (I've sold hundreds). Read some of the reviews and posts here if you're still hesitant. Not a single negative post yet.

So what I do is I take a brand new toyota cam gear and machine a 2nd keyway into it that's retarded 3°. Simply pull your stock exhaust cam gear out. Install these gears using the new keyway that retards the cam and reassemble.

These work with all the 1GRFE single VVTi (V6) engines. 2005-15 Tacoma, 03-09 4Runner, 07-09 FJ Cruiser, and the 05-09 Tundra as well as many other vehicles found in foreign markets.
Tuning to maximize the gains associated with this mod is recommended but not necessary. (just like an intake, exhaust or other performance part)


What exactly do these do?
"The exhaust cam gears retard the exhaust gear timing by 3° in relation to crank angle. Allowing the cylinders to empty more completely on the exhaust stroke. On the intake stroke the cylinders will fill with more air and fuel increasing the overall volumetric efficiency of the engine. There will also be less hot exhaust gas left heating the incoming air and fuel and reducing it's knock potential. This is very advantageous with forced induction conversions." -URD

Myself and many others are now running these gears with great success (with and without superchargers). It increased my mileage and has notably more power in the low to mid rpm range. Plus the engine just runs happier and idles smoother. Before and after datalogs shows an increase in knock threshold (tables proving this are located on a page 2)


Big thanks to @nd4spdbh for doing a before and after of his MAF numbers with no other changes made at the time. About a 5% measured increase across the rpm range. MAF numbers are proven to directly relate to actual Horsepower (MAF in g/s * 1.18 = ~HP for our engines)

Orange line = after install of 3* cam gears
Blue line = stock cam gears
Bottom axis = engine rpms
Left axis = MAF reading in lbs/hr

Here is an install video.
https://youtu.be/YmwXtpukhFU

Another link to Gio's awesome video taking this step by step.
https://youtu.be/xNV_3Iy56tY


Here is a link for valve cover removal instructions. (Pre 2012 models)
http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?p=186857
here is the pdf install instructions from URD
https://www.tacomaworld.com/attachments/urd-1gr-cam-gear-installation-v-1-1-draft-pdf.3283622/

THIS GEAR IS UPSIDE DOWN. You want the timing dot to be at the bottom


"F" for front. Gears sent out willl have this "F" . I recommend drawing with a marker or whiteout etc. a line to the tooth that is most closely aligns to (this line is drawn for you starting with GB4.) (GB16 onward- the "F" is removed and only the line is drawn)



PAINT WORN OFF AND YOU CANT TELL WHICH WAY IS CORRECT?
Looking at the gear with the timing dot at the bottom (machined keyway upward)
The machined keyway should be slightly to the left of the tooth it most closely points too. If it is slightly to the right than you have the gear flipped and install would lead to a 3° advance instead of the desired 3° retard.



Here is the stock gear with the keyway facing up (yellow arrows). If you look closely at the chain itself, you can see a link on the backside that is painted orange from the factory (under blue arrow). The orange chain link is from the factory and wont align perfectly with the keyway with every turn of the crank so you might have to turn the engine over by hand via the crank pulley a few times to get this orientation. Once in this orientation, the chain is already marked for you for which link the newly marked keyway/tooth will go into.
Update 3/19/21
In order to get the smaller chains to line up "perfectly" it takes 18 revolutions of the cam gear per perfect line up. (That's 36 crank rotations) Getting all 3 chains to line up took me 108 cam gear revolutions. It could take even more as it wasn't perfect when I started counting on the engine I was working on.


Here is the re-machined gear installed. 2nd bevel not visible so its in correct orientation. You can see that the new keyway and its closet aligned tooth is right back in on the orange link (marked in red here) After you get this done on both engine banks- you're done and can start re-assembly.

Gear installed correctly here (driver side). Notice the timing dot is NOT in the keyway but opposite.


Correct install passenger side. Note the yellow link is in the front and not in the back like normal. This is my fully built engine and I turned the chain around to better illustrate proper timing.


Another angle that shows timing better.


Including some nice pictures of proper timing. Note where and how each cam is pointed. This is perfect timing for TDC driver side


perfect timing driver side at TDC



Perfect timing at TDC passenger side. This pic also shows where gasket sealer goes. It is about a 1 inch strip where the heads meet the front cover. you need two 1" strips per side. 4 strips of the gasket sealer total for the engine.



Shout out to @Gilmorec61 for some great photos he took during his install

Replacement Gasket part numbers:

• Right (passenger) Valve cover gasket - 11213-AD010
• Left (driver) Valve cover gasket - 11214-AD010
• Surge tank upper to lower intake gasket - 2005-11 17176-0P010 for 2012+ 17176-0P030
• Throttle Body Gasket - 22271-0P010
• For 2012+ with SAIS . The gaskets for the tubes onto the valve assembly are 17377-31010. You'll need 2

Torque values:

• Cam Bolts - 74 ftlb
• No.2/3 Chain Tensioner Assembly bolt - 14 ftlb
• Valve Cover (per side)
  • Outer Bolts (7x short) - 7.4 ftlb (88.8 inlb)
  • Outer Nuts (2x) - 80 inlb
  • Inner bolts (3x long) - 80 inlb.. rubber bolt gromet on these is part# 90210-06013 (3 per valve cover) (I re-use old ones)
• Coil Pack bolts - 7.4 ftlb (88.8 inlb)
• Surge tank (aka Upper intake) to lower intake (2 nuts, 4 bolts) - 21 ftlb
• Surge tank stays / throttle body bracket bolts - 15 ftlb
• Throttle body bolts - 9 ftlb

Optional Stuffs:

• PCV Valve - 20 ftlb - OEM part# 12204-31030
• Toyota recommends their overpriced gasket sealer (fipg) I recommend the permatex ultra black gasket maker. It goes on as a ~1" strip where the valve cover meets the front cover for extra sealing protection.

Video I shot of perfect timing.
Note-my secondary chains have been flipped so colored links face forward when I had the engine on the stand.
https://youtu.be/HEvgPpmnndc

different pdf link for urd install instructions ↓↓↓↓

 

Bump. +1 rep

 

+1
Solid work, fast turn around.

 

Loving mine, crazy fast work too.

 

+1 can't wait to receive mine. Be mindful when ordering your own gears, it will take time. It seems we've exhausted some sources of gears from different vendors already with just our small run of 30 orders.

 

Da Man

 

Awesome product, excellent customer service, fast turnaround! Thanks Kelby!

 

Awesome job, GLWS Kelby

 

Next batch is in.

 

Daaaaaaaaaayum! Going to help a friend install his set.

 

Can I be said friend.

 

Teleport you and your truck.

 

I need a Camry with a good tow package.

 

Just received mine today. Awesome product and service. Thank you sir!

 

Any dyno testing to see what kind of numbers these things will add? Seems like a cool product.

 

A cam gear only before and after dyno test has never been performed to my knowledge. @Torspd have you seen or heard if its been done? Urd has them in the kits they sell and they have full bolt (including these) dynos vs before numbers. Only numbers I can speak to are improved gas mileage, improved "butt dyno" and better driveability.

 

You also have a datalog of better knock threshold. Which allows more timing. Which makes more HP.

There are no dyno's yet, with just a cam gear install. Only your datalogs.

 

Is this for any year Tacoma? I have a 2011 dcsb 4x4 w leveling kit and 33’s and looking for that “stock” power feel again. The better mpg’s is a definite plus.