I have enough money to get one or the other. I have a daily driver and do not intend on doing any head or exhaust work in the future. I would like to have a little more fun and occassionally take it to the track. Which would give me the most fun for my money? Also which would be least detectable to the wife since I have to do this on the DL. :)

Well of course the cam is going to give you more powerwise but consider downtime for install, re-tuning (more cost) and any issues that may arise from the cam or install work.

The valve body is a 1-2 hour install and only time you will notice it is at WOT the shift will be insane plus it comes with a warranty.

Depends on the cam specs for the most part, really on the wife factor. A cam would be fun and add some power but if you do not plan on any other supporting mods, IMHO go with the valve body...hands down

You will notice an immediate difference in the shifts, it will help prolong the life of the tranny and at the track it will shift MUCH better. Daily driving will not be much of a difference and the wife (depending on her) will never know a thing. Dealership will prolly not be looking into that either therefore (most likely) keeping the warranty intact!

GO WITH THE VALVEBODY

With only 4000 miles on the car now maybe the Valve Body is the way to go and do a cam later. Does the VB clear up the low speed shifting problems? It seems to not know what gear it wants to be in.

It helps but combine that with the sprintbooster and it should be pretty wicked, I do know the VB got rid of that lag when turning corners and you get on it response is much better.

With only 4000 miles on the car now maybe the Valve Body is the way to go and do a cam later. Does the VB clear up the low speed shifting problems? It seems to not know what gear it wants to be in.

I've asked the same question and it appears the VB will make shifting better and more responsive but that 'hunting for gears' is the TCM not the VB. The VB has other benefits which I think are well worth the investment I'm planning to make and a good foundation for additional mods to come.

I think if the TCM adaptives can be reset, that may help as it re-learns your driving habits BUT, we're going to be stuck behind traffic that will dictate slower 60' times on the street where this issue occurs most so it may re-learn the same nasty habit of skip-shifting.

I have enough money to get one or the other. I have a daily driver and do not intend on doing any head or exhaust work in the future. I would like to have a little more fun and occassionally take it to the track. Which would give me the most fun for my money? Also which would be least detectable to the wife since I have to do this on the DL. :)

Get the cam. This will give the most for your money. You are no were near needing any trans upgrades, with the exception of a stall converter.

I'd have to agree with Eddie. Although I love my VB, the cam made more of a difference. If you're worried about the chick, then get a 114 or 115 LSA and she won't really notice it. I noticed more of a bang for the buck and 1/4 time difference with my cam. Getcha a FRI Littleboy or something. You'll love it. The midrange difference is amazing with a cam. You won't feel any difference with the VB unless you're at WOT. With the cam, you'll feel it all the way around.

Get the cam. This will give the most for your money. You are no were near needing any trans upgrades, with the exception of a stall converter.

I'd have to agree with Eddie. Although I love my VB, the cam made more of a difference. If you're worried about the chick, then get a 114 or 115 LSA and she won't really notice it. I noticed more of a bang for the buck and 1/4 time difference with my cam. Getcha a FRI Littleboy or something. You'll love it. The midrange difference is amazing with a cam. You won't feel any difference with the VB unless you're at WOT. With the cam, you'll feel it all the way around.

i totally agree!...then you get to have people always asking you "man did that thing come like that".

I will probably be going with the cam is which one? The following have been recommended to me so far based on my mods (current and future) and the daily driving aspect of the Jeep.

Spartan
FRI Little Boy
???

I am not going to be doing any head or exhaust work. After the cam I am done with the engine. This is my DD and I have two young kids that drive in it just about everyday.

Check out this thread. It should answer all your cam questions. http://www.cherokeesrt8.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31268&highlight=cam

I will probably be going with the cam is which one? The following have been recommended to me so far based on my mods (current and future) and the daily driving aspect of the Jeep.

Spartan
FRI Little Boy
???

I am not going to be doing any head or exhaust work. After the cam I am done with the engine. This is my DD and I have two young kids that drive in it just about everyday.

You and I are in the same position bro...my wife can not stand any kind of "race" mods that make it loud, make it burn more gas, sound different, ride different, etc...I have 2 small boys (3 and 1 year olds).

Trust me after you get the cam and finish getting the tune dialed in the wife and kids will know and be able to tell a difference just in the daily driving of the thing. Been there done that...many times over with just the Jeep

If you are going cam only the Little Boy is prolly the way to go. Read some of PatrickG's old threads about his, he had great luck with it

The good thing is the wife doesnt get in it every day:) She sees very little seat time in the Jeep. If she ever does drive it I don't think she would tell a difference since she is the exact opposite of a lead foot.

Get a Cam

You need to make more power before you need to worry about the tranny

VB doesn't add HP to your motor

Hate to be the devils advovate here but who cares how loud, obnoxious or harsh the jeep rides. Its YOUR jeep and if she doesn't like it then she doesnt have to ride in it or drive it. My girl HATES the mods I do to the jeep and no longer will drive it now since it is loud as hell with a big cam......just the way I like it:D

Hate to be the devils advovate here but who cares how loud, obnoxious or harsh the jeep rides. Its YOUR jeep and if she doesn't like it then she doesnt have to ride in it or drive it. My girl HATES the mods I do to the jeep and no longer will drive it now since it is loud as hell with a big cam......just the way I like it:D

I completly agree with you...then again your not married with kiddo's. WAY different when that happens

I'm married with 3 kids. My wife doesn't drive my Jeep anymore.:D When I first bought it she wanted to drive it ALL THE DAMN TIME!! She actually has more kills in it than I do dammit!:mad: Since I put my resonators back on.... she'll actually ride in it again. She still won't drive it though!:rocker:

CAM
The fri little boy is a nice one :)

This will giver power all the way through the rpms, not just when the truck shifts. But rmember, a good tune is necessary

Cam now, make more power, get addicted (catch the mod bug) then you'll start aching for more hp and as the $ comes in it'll go right into the Jeep. Then comes the Valvebody. . . along with the HighTorq NAG1, 3800 Stall, 1000hp axels lol, who knows, maybe a rocket on the back ;) GL either route, it'll be fun one no matter what you do :)

I guess in a perfect world I could do whatever I wanted who cares if someone else doesn't like it. I am not going to do any exhaust work or head work but do have money to add to my fun factor. So a big cam that sounds tough probably isnt the best choice. I rarely go racing. So some stop light street fun is what I am looking for. This is my daily driver and needs to be undetectable to the untrained ear. I will probably go with a Spartan, spartan max, or ...

Guess I got it good. The JEEP is wifey's ride, and, she's lookin to add Mo'Powa....Need to close a few more houses....

My question is, how the hell did you get a 0-60 time of 4.1 on your EVIC display? Even after my mods and tune I have only gotten a 4.6 at best. I havent tried many runs, but I dont see it scratching off half a second any time soon from a better launch. Maybe going downhill!

I made 374HP to the wheels on an AWD dyno ... how are you getting a full .5 second off your 0-60 ? I have tried brake stalling, T/C off, etc... best times are in autostick off idle.

Is there some secret I dont know about? Take a pic of it man... lol

My question is, how the hell did you get a 0-60 time of 4.1 on your EVIC display? Even after my mods and tune I have only gotten a 4.6 at best. I havent tried many runs, but I dont see it scratching off half a second any time soon from a better launch. Maybe going downhill!

I made 374HP to the wheels on an AWD dyno ... how are you getting a full .5 second off your 0-60 ? I have tried brake stalling, T/C off, etc... best times are in autostick off idle.

Is there some secret I dont know about? Take a pic of it man... lol

Yeah I seen the 4.1 as well. The other day I ran my with the dash Hawk but it was with MOPAR CAI and no 180 T-stat and I got a 4.55 in auto stick mode. I have not done it with the dash hawk now since I installed my Volat and Jet 180 Stat. My question is how close would the dash hawk be to the one in the performance display in the dash?

the jeep is for sure my ride. I am just saying that the wife doesnt want me to spend any more money on it. So the cam must be undetectable.

The 4.1 was run in about 30 degree weather here in the Chi Town winter. I didnt have my camera with me at the time, and just recently learned you can save your best times. Believe me, it was a 4.1.

I have a pic of a 4.3 run done before AJ's tune. Look into my previous posts under installed cai and predator ran 0-60.

I have a pic of a 4.3 run done before AJ's tune. Look into my previous posts under installed cai and predator ran 0-60.

Cool bro! Yeah cooler weather will definitely give you a faster time.

I have a pic of a 4.3 run done before AJ's tune. Look into my previous posts under installed cai and predator ran 0-60.


Hey! Just curious what did you Beast run with your mods and AJ's new CMR Tune on your display? How does AJ's tune feel compared to your canned tune? Thanks!

0-60 after AJ tune was 4.1 in 30 degree weather. I love the tune. You will too.

SRT Max cam on a 114lsa. This is what Inertia recommended. Thoughts?

SRT Max cam on a 114lsa. This is what Inertia recommended. Thoughts?

114 will definitely smooth out the idle. However, I feel there are better choices for cams. Just my .02

114 will definitely smooth out the idle. However, I feel there are better choices for cams. Just my .02

How about recommending one to help him out. This isn't a vendor thread. Please give opinions. Some people on here won't keep their mouth closed you are just the opposite. :roller:

Thanks Chad. Thoughts would help. Pm's work too. I will be buying a cam this week to have installed in the next few.

ordered an SRT Max on a 114 lsa today. I will have it installed in a fewweeks and will provide a detailed write up. Thanks for the feedback.

ordered an SRT Max on a 114 lsa today. I will have it installed in a fewweeks and will provide a detailed write up. Thanks for the feedback.


Cool! Let us know how it goes.

ordered an SRT Max on a 114 lsa today. I will have it installed in a fewweeks and will provide a detailed write up. Thanks for the feedback.

Good deal man! That thing will be a beast:D Be sure to post some results.

its been a few weeks.. :)

im curious to know if the wife sniffs it out... gonna be funny the first time shes in the rig and your waiting for her to say something...

hope things work out for you

The cam hasn't come in from Inertia yet. Hopefully soon. I am mildly sweating it out. :)

The cam hasn't come in from Inertia yet. Hopefully soon. I am mildly sweating it out. :)

Did you get the Crower adjustable timing kit with it? You will need it. I'm sure Stu has got you covered.

Cam is going in about three weeks. Here is the direct quote from Stu

"I spoke with Crower last night and I ended up getting custom cores made from another source because the standard source wasn't getting me a date. The good side is they are premium 8620 cores which are nicer than the standard stuff. Down side is the cores require copper plating, rough grinding, heat treat and final grind which will take about 3 weeks."

I finally can add some input to this thread.. too late ofcourse but i can now say speaking from experience that you made the right move going with a cam

theres no doubt in my mind your wife would have felt a transformation of the jeep if you went with the valve body... i had my bb's vb installed yesterday and im so stoaked.. i never realized the lack of confidence our rigs tranny had before the install.. its so night and day words cant describe the improvement across the board..

so if there is ever a day you get kicked outta the house get that vb asap!! :)

The funny thing is a couple of weeks ago I was pulling out of the garage and she was walking out of the house. She said "Is your truck always that loud". I was like yes. Our engines are kind of loud. So when the new cam is installed I will have to come up with another excuse if she thinks it sounds loud. I was thinking of a couple:

The engine gets louder as it breaks in
I removed a silencer from the air intake
I had the tuner revise the tune which altered the idle

Any other ideas??

The 114 LSA shouldn't be too noticable by the wife. However, if she does notice it, you had the tune adjusted after you removed the silencer sounds like a winner. ;)

I didn't post any recommendations since I did not know what you were looking for. Also, I won't publicly bad mouth a vendor that I have not dealt with personally. I've read plenty of things on the LX side of things that would make me think twice about Inertia parts. All the stuff I've gotten for any of my cars is from Andy at PWR (formerly of PPP). I've never had one issue with any of the parts he's sent me and everything he recommended works flawlessly.
Along the same lines, Matt as well as others have had good luck with Stu's parts. Just make sure the grind is right and it's installed properly. If it's shipped with an offset for the cam gear, make sure it sits flush and fits properly.

I also agree on the valvebody, wife wouldve definitely noticed. I installed my kit from SHR yesterday and it makes a big difference.

The funny thing is a couple of weeks ago I was pulling out of the garage and she was walking out of the house. She said "Is your truck always that loud". I was like yes. Our engines are kind of loud. So when the new cam is installed I will have to come up with another excuse if she thinks it sounds loud. I was thinking of a couple:

The engine gets louder as it breaks in
I removed a silencer from the air intake
I had the tuner revise the tune which altered the idle

Any other ideas??

well whatever you did make her feel shes going to benefit from it :)

less money you spend means the more money she gets to shop with so tell her you improved the rigs gas mileage by a 1/2 mpg... "that may sound like a little honey but WE actually will save 120 bucks a year based on 12k miles... and since it cost me 30 bucks to have done WE will start profiting after the 3rd month... It was the muffler shops idea and the only downside is she sounds a little louder but i can deal with it... can you?.. they took out a resonator (unless she knows the deal with our reso ha) so the jeep breathes better... "

Than she'll instantly start calculating and realize thats an extra pair of shoes in her closet every year all for the jeep being a tad louder.. relationships are all about compromising !! :)

The funny thing is a couple of weeks ago I was pulling out of the garage and she was walking out of the house. She said "Is your truck always that loud". I was like yes. Our engines are kind of loud. So when the new cam is installed I will have to come up with another excuse if she thinks it sounds loud. I was thinking of a couple:

The engine gets louder as it breaks in
I removed a silencer from the air intake
I had the tuner revise the tune which altered the idle

Any other ideas??
Just blame it on the weather...when the air is cooler the Jeep breathes better thus more power. More power = more "noise"

Thanks guys I will keep you updated. It should be interesting.

I didn't post any recommendations since I did not know what you were looking for. Also, I won't publicly bad mouth a vendor that I have not dealt with personally. I've read plenty of things on the LX side of things that would make me think twice about Inertia parts. All the stuff I've gotten for any of my cars is from Andy at PWR (formerly of PPP). I've never had one issue with any of the parts he's sent me and everything he recommended works flawlessly.
Along the same lines, Matt as well as others have had good luck with Stu's parts. Just make sure the grind is right and it's installed properly. If it's shipped with an offset for the cam gear, make sure it sits flush and fits properly.

If you can come up with some of those links I would love to check them out. I have done a lot of business with Stu and he is a straight shooter who under promises and over delivers.

If you can come up with some of those links I would love to check them out. I have done a lot of business with Stu and he is a straight shooter who under promises and over delivers.

Like I said, it's been stuff that I've read and heard over the years. I'm not bashing Stu or getting into that debate. If you really want to know....I've heard of bad cam grinds and cam gear inserts being questionable, mostly through conversation so no links can be provided.
Also, as I have stated previously, I cannot say anything negative because I have not had any personal experience either positive or negative. Therefore, I stated based on what I've heard, I would think twice.
I never said Stu is a bad guy or an a$$. Just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions......
;)

Matt from Michigan Hemi Performance is finishing up the cam installation as we speak. Things are going well. I will post again later with my impressions. I can say that working with Matt is great. First class all the way!

Matt from Michigan Hemi Performance is finishing up the cam installation as we speak. Things are going well. I will post again later with my impressions. I can say that working with Matt is great. First class all the way!


Keep us posted Dan! Let me know if you are down to go to the track on Sat morning. Me and a few others are going to head up there before they close the track this weekend.

Matt from Michigan Hemi Performance is finishing up the cam installation as we speak. Things are going well. I will post again later with my impressions. I can say that working with Matt is great. First class all the way!

Cool man, get some videos up. I'd like to hear it. You also need to get to the track.

The cam is in and the Jeep started right up. Sounds almost stock which is good. On the ride home I thought i was going to overheat, but i just needed to burp the cooling system. Temps went right back down. I have a base tune from Inertia installed and will data log after 100 miles. Until then i was told not WOT except very brief when data logging. Hard to tell what it can do yet. It drives like stock at part throttle. Also had the underdrive pulley installed at the same time. More to come.

The cam is in and the Jeep started right up. Sounds almost stock which is good. On the ride home I thought i was going to overheat, but i just needed to burp the cooling system. Temps went right back down. I have a base tune from Inertia installed and will data log after 100 miles. Until then i was told not WOT except very brief when data logging. Hard to tell what it can do yet. It drives like stock at part throttle. Also had the underdrive pulley installed at the same time. More to come.

Cool Dan! Glad everything went good with the Cam install. So I take it that you will ot be able to take it to the track then man. Cool! Let us know when you get your Beast dialed in then.

Unfortunately i will not be able to run until the revision. I cant wait to really test it though. For those that are interested to know, the truck sounds about as close to stock as i wanted. Will for sure pass the wife test.

Unfortunately i will not be able to run until the revision. I cant wait to really test it though. For those that are interested to know, the truck sounds about as close to stock as i wanted. Will for sure pass the wife test.

No worries man. Don't want to rush this. There will be other times if not next spring.

Yep, a 114LSA does sound pretty stock. ekaz has a 112LSA and you can hear his lope some.

Solution to run at the track....drive 100 miles tonight, datalog, get revision number 1 tomorrow and drive some more, log some more, get second revision on Friday. Good to go :D

I would love to do that, but I don't drive much back and forth to work. I will try to put some miles on it this weekend. Right now the idle is set a bit high, but I can tell a difference in the sound. An untrained ear would have a hard time though. It think if I reset the idle to about 750 (currently idling at 950 in drive) It may sound a bit different. How hard is it to adjust the idle with the predator?

I would love to do that, but I don't drive much back and forth to work. I will try to put some miles on it this weekend. Right now the idle is set a bit high, but I can tell a difference in the sound. An untrained ear would have a hard time though. It think if I reset the idle to about 750 (currently idling at 950 in drive) It may sound a bit different. How hard is it to adjust the idle with the predator?

Very easy, you go into the idle settings and you can change it in Drive, Park and AC on/off. Its 50 rpm increments. These cams don't need any break-in like older cams did. As long as your AF is good you should be able to run it all out. Do you have a wideband?

I don't have a wideband so we are going to data log with a short WOT then I will put it on the dyno later to adjust AF at WOT. Does this sound right? After the first revision Stu said he would richen up WOT to be safe. What is the stock idle on our trucks set at?

First drive with the wife and passed with flying colors. Saw Knuckles. I reset the idle and it sounds nice. I have to get some video. I will data log tomorrow. I will keep people posted. Pulls noticably harder so far.

First drive with the wife and passed with flying colors. Saw Knuckles. I reset the idle and it sounds nice. I have to get some video. I will data log tomorrow. I will keep people posted. Pulls noticably harder so far.

Yeah saw you as well Dan! I bet your wife that I was crazy:D

What evidence is there to support that the valve body prolongs tranny life?

Nice firm shifts....no doubt

^^^^ A firmer/harder shift doesn't let the clutches slip as much.

What evidence is there to support that the valve body prolongs tranny life?

Nice firm shifts....no doubt
Ask the LX guys that are pushing OVER 500 whp with my Stage II Valve Body.
450 whp in a Jeep is roughly equivalent to 500 whp in an LX as far as tranny life.
Shoot them a pm on the LX site or search there.
UJokin2 has a 300 with my Stage II and is NA running 11.01, 1.45 60'.

It WILL help and there is MASSIVE evidence Paulie.:mad:
Bill