Any increase of more that a couple pounds means the bearings are worn. Next let off the fuel so the truck is holding back while watching the oil pressure gauge.

Choose any gear, 7th or 8th may be best, have the truck in a slight pull and check the oil pressure. It has been a fun ride If you’d like more details about keeping your Big Cam IV cool, call us at (724) 360-4080 or visit our website at today. Here’s to 16 more years with 10-4 Magazine.

A good way to check for worn main bearings is to get the engine hot and drive it on level road. If you’re ordering a new truck, or repainting an old one, take some inspiration from the vintage trucks of the 1970s.

Listen for knocks, look at the oil pressure, check for excessive blow by from breather pipe. Something that can happen to all engines is for the liners to get pin holes from not having treated antifreeze in the engine, and liner packing (o-rings and seals) failing from many miles of use, or from sitting too many years with no use. Things that can happen to them is stress cracks around the head bolts, counter bore around the top of liners. Most all of the NH/NTC engines will leak water around the heads.Ī small cam will not have the torque of a big cam engine, not will it get as much fuel mileage. If it is not, then find out which Big Cam it is from the tag on the accy drive housing or see if it is stamped in the side of the block somewhere.Īs far as the small cam engines go, they can be rebuilt many times. The best mileage was an L8000 Ford that I used to have with a 8.3 Cummins 250 hp I got as much as 9.25 mpg driving exactly by the speed limit, but usually 8.75 to 9 mpg was the standard, so if you rebuild it keep us posted and please don't call them come apart, I have more faith on those old engines than any other, specially the new tech, my next truck will have a BCIII loaded to the gills.Check first to make sure it is a small cam. I love these motors and let me tell you how fuel efficient they are, down here where I live (Florida Keys) we go to Miami for all our loads,flat sea level ground second the best fuel mileage that we have experience here come from a Big Cam III 350, 378 Pete dump truck 8.5 mpg that's loaded one way with 70K lbs but consider that City driving, this truck has now over 2 million miles and 1.3 millions on the last inframe, still put 450 to 500 miles a day and only use a gallon of oil betwin oil change which the last four or five years have been at 20k miles, there are a few other trucks with them Big cams reporting 8 mpg, same roads same loads.

350 big cam cummins