Cam gears for V6. Add power AND mpg

Tell me more about this tune. Are you supercharged or have any other mods on your truck?
I want to get a reflash on my truck. It’s a 2015 and I understand that they are tuned to be “smoother” off the line.

my 2006 4Runner felt a lot more peppier then this tacoma

 

I’ve got the -3° cam gears, but otherwise stock on the engine.
The tune gives way better throttle response, feels like better shift points, maf calibration. I’m really enjoying it.
I’m sure @Boltripper or @JustDSM could give better details.
https://overlandtailor.com/

EDIT: add in one of the tune threads. There’s another in that section too.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hptuners-the-tacoma-faq.705981/

 

I was able to get the new cam gears installed this past Sunday with my fiance's help. It was URD's one since it didn't seem like mightytacoman was putting out more GB's. After reading the entire thread, the install was straight forward. I mean, URD's instructions was straight forward, but this thread helped answer some other questions and give me a bit more confidence to rip apart my engine top.

The install took shamefully longer than I'd care to admit, but the main thing was everything was done right and all the little things got put back where they belonged. Everything...everything was labeled. I'm very meticulous about taking something like this apart (and installing the gears as it should) Breaking loose the cam bolts was fine. I had long breaker bars and my fiance wanted to be the one to break them loose. That said, the hardest part was the SAI system. F**K that thing. I did not realize how much of a pain it was going to be to disconnect it. Particularly that metal pipe flange connection facing the passenger firewall. ho lee chit. I imagine there's a technique to doing that area, but I didn't really figure it out. Somehow I got it back though and moved on.

Now to the results. I have to say after all of that, I barely notice anything. I don't really notice any power bump or throttle response. The engine might be running quieter, but I don't think I would've noticed it if no one told me. The one thing I did sort of notice was a little less engine braking. Which is a double edged sword for me. I can see how this could help save gas, however I've gotten used to using this stock feature to save on gas. It's just a change in drive habit for now. The exhaust fumes smell different too.

I haven't put many miles on the truck since the install so I'm just trying to give it more time to see if I notice anything different. Unless someone can share some advice as to what I might be going through?

It was a fun project overall even though it was hard work. Thank you to @mightytacoman for all the information, feedback, and advice given throughout the thread. Also thank you to all who have posted back here with your experiences, for the good and hard times.

Definitely happy the truck started in the end, haha.

 

It took me a long time to do my cam gears too. But we got it done.

I can’t remember when I noticed results. Mine felt like it had more pep from a start pretty soon after. And about a month after install I was able to compare mpgs on a similar route and saw improvement.

 

I think I'm starting to notice more pep like you said. My commute in and around town is pretty short so maybe it's taking me longer to notice some things.

Last night I checked my cam covers to make sure it wasn't leaking. All was good.
I remember during the install I was reinstalling my coils and found I couldn't push one of them in all the way to seat against the spark plug. I was like "what the heck?". Turns out the O shaped gasket got unseated and pinched during the cam cover install and was sticking out. That sucked since I had to remove things again, clean my gasket maker and reapply. It was just a good reminder for me to be patient. I replaced all of my gaskets and cleaned out my throttle body. I have 62K on my truck and the original gaskets were still in really good shape actually. All of them. Replaced them anyway of course.

 

I'll be tackling my cam gears here in March; just gotta schedule a time with @gpdx get it done! Speaking of which, I should read through and see what tools I will need and if I'll need anything extra

 

Just took the longest drive so far since I did cam gears last year. Ultra gauge read 16.4 average MPG which is the best I’ve ever gotten out of the truck since regear on 285s.

So all highway miles sure, however my drive was about 220 miles from the inland empire down to San Diego, CA which consists of quite a few hills. The part that amazes me was not the MPG, but the fact that my heavy truck never had to downshift. The 4.0 feels better than ever with the cam gears. Almost a year since I got them and I’m still impressed with how it pulls through the rev range.

 

@greenEFSI is the guy to talk to in SoCal about the cam gears. He’s the one who installed mine.

 

Glad to hear it man.
One of the trends I think I've picked up on with these is weighted down trucks be it armor, gear, huge tires etc- seem to notice these a bit more than the guys with closer to stock setups.

 

I wanted to update my original post here since I feel like things have changed. After I initially installed it, I remember not noticing much change at all in power or MPG's. I don't drive much during the work week, but I do monitor my scangauge MPG's like a hawk (for what that's worth). I remember thinking my mpg's hadn't changed much (even dropped some) on the drives to and from work and wondering if a highway run is where I would see the difference. I still have yet to do that.

It's been a little over a week now and I change my statement earlier about barely noticing anything. I do definitely feel more power on acceleration, from a stop, or when the truck downshifts to 2nd or 3rd to accelerate. Like the truck definitely yanks harder. Two days ago I started to notice that my mileage jumped back up to same or better figures from before the cam change.

For those of you familiar with the early 2nd Gens (auto), they were tuned a little differently than the 2.5 Gens. You could feel more low end power from the get-go. This mod makes it feel like the early 2nd Gens, but better. I not only feel more yank from the push of the pedal, but mid-range power has increased too.

So I'm not really sure what I experienced. I'm starting to think that my truck needed time to adjust or something. Or maybe my butt and body was numb from spending a lot of time in the engine. Or maybe a combo a both. Either way I really do enjoy what the gears did.

 

Just curious- did you disconnect the battery during the install or no? It's not a "necessary" step per say but I wonder if it has effect on butt dyno immediate results.

 

Hey mightytacoman, yup, I disconnected the battery from the start. I didn't want to take any chances even though a lot of those electronics aren't live until you start things up.

 

Resetting the battery like that will reset the KCLV for all three RPM regions. Depending on the tune, the truck will take time to have the KCLV learn up as it will with the cam gears. As it learns up, the ignition timing can continue to increase (in areas) which will contribute to the "increased power over time" perception.

 

My experience is 100-150 miles of highway driving for a commute. I pull out on a highway drive 26 miles at 55 to a freeway and drive to whatever town we are working in and get off on an exit and drive across town to a job site. I gained 1.5 mpgs. I don’t hot rod around try to keep my Rpms around 2k when cruising. 1.5 mpgs to me is about $20-$30 a week in fuel at $3.70 a gallon. These cam gears save me well over $1k in fuel every year.

 

If you're doing it somewhere local, I'd love to lend a hand. I've been wanting to do this for awhile if I'm being honest. A total cost of like 210 with new gaskets and everything for a little boost in power would be sweet. I have a feeling I'd notice it more in a manual too.

 

Sigh, Guess I'll order a pair...... Gas prices in my area right now are 4.90 for mid tier

 

There's someone selling a set of the URD ones. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/urd-4-0-1gr-fe-new-fuel-pump-cam-gears-and-t-stat.758047/

 

Dammit I'm poor!

 

Looks like we’re digging into it on Sunday. He’s in the Vancouver, wa area.

 

Ah, that's far