On their website LCE notes that a stage 3 cam "will not work with the stock 22re computer. Requires stand alone engine management for fuel injected applications".

So, how stock is the rest of the engine and it's electronics?

 

 

 

Well congrats on the good deal. Sounds like someone may have thrown some fancy racing parts at a stock setup and sold it when it didn't work. That's ok, now you get to make it right. Buy a stage 1 or just stock cam (nothing wrong with stock parts believe it or not, Toyota knew what it was doing!) and get that engine back to running condition.

 

 

Normally you'd want to replace the headgasket if you're pulling the valve train (held down by head bolts) to access the cam underneath. But, if you run a few ratchet straps under the rocker towers and camshaft down around the entire engine, you have a workable shortcut. Use the manual to loosen and pull the head bolts in the correct order, yes it does matter or you can warp the head.

​​​​​​If you were to release all the pressure between the head and block, then the head gasket will shift slightly and never seal right again. Strap it down and you will be able to loosen the 3 cam caps and install the right part. 14 ft/lbs, iirc and use a good torque wrench, it's well worth it to get those values right.

 

 

Ask more questions if there's anything you're not sure of. I read a thread on yotatech some years back about strapping the head down to replace a cam. I did it and so far so good thousands of miles later.

 

 

A cam won't give you any more power, what it's actually doing is just moving the power band.

A cam made for low-end torque should help a little bit from a dead stop, but with 35's you really would do best to regear.

 

Alright thanks

 

 

Engnbldr has the 261c crawler cam, which is made to prioritize low-rpm torque. I don't know if they have those in stock right now, but any mild cam meant for a rock crawler will be your best bet.

 

 

I have no idea how many contributing factors there are going on with your truck, but I know that your cam isn't meant to work with the stock ecm. That alone would have me wanting to change it out for something closer to stock, but it doesn't guarantee that things will all work great after it's in.

 

 

Along a similar line to what gps said. Some cams require other parts that work best with the cam for instance - bigger valves or rocker arms (and perhaps with a different ratio). And, that, or those, different part(s) may not be compatible with a stock cam/motor. Also, has any porting or other machine work been done on the head? .