mlaudon

Well im just wondering if roller rockers are worth it. if nothing else is roller. or should i just go stamped rockers
thanks

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

"It"?

Depends on what "it" is.

Sheet metal rockers are a joke. If your valve springs are working, even stock ones, they lose around to 5% of total valve lift by bending.

Worst of all, they're very inconsistent. Their "measured" ratio usually comes out to somewhere between about 1.42 and about 1.46, and their "actual" ratio, of valve lift to lobe lift, usually comes out to somewhere between 1.38 and 1.43. Pitiful.

So there's one HUGE benefit of better rockers right there; they're far more solid, so they don't flex as much, so you get much closer to all the lift your cam card says.

Roller tips reduce the wear on the valve guides.

Roller trunnions reduce oil temps, as ball fulcrums have ALOT of friction, and generate ALOT of heat, which is then transferred into the oil flowing over them. Rollers don't heat up the oil as much.

F-BIRD'88

Wether they are worth the cost over a stock gm rocker depend on how you will be using them. On a stock or very mild motor, the power gain is very small. less than 10hp.
A more radical valvetrain that revs above 6000++rpm can show 15 to 25hp gain.

If you'll be running more than .520" valve lift and exceed 6200-6500rpm on regular basis, then a roller rocker should be on your short list.
There are very good aftermarket hi perf replacement ball/stud stock type rockers than fill the gap between a stock OEM rocker and a full roller valve train.
These heavy duty replacments are generally better quality then OEM with much more accurate rocker ratios.
Crane, Elgin/Pioneer and Federal Mogul and Comp Cams make some good quality HD examples of stock type racing rockers that work well and make more power and last way longer than a OEM rocker.
Watch the offshore cheapy stuff. The metallurgy and critical heat treat is questionable. You get what you pay for.


The actual cam lobe lift/net valve lift ratio seen at the valve, from any rocker arm is expressed as an average nominal ratio. The measured lift ratio seen at the valve changes +/- as the rocker sweeps thru its arc travel from 0 lift to full valve lift and back again.
The designed geometric position of the pushrod seat relative to the rocker pivot C/L and valve tip point has a often unperceived, unaccounted effect on the varying real rocker ratio thruout the valve lift curve.
Not all roller rockers (or stamped steel) are created equal.

mlaudon

Thanks so yes it is going to be a high reving engine. i guess roller is the way to go. The cam will be a little higher than a .520. For horsepower reasons it is worth it. Thanks for the info guys

awilson82

A good set of harland sharps or any other good rocker is worth the money for the strength alone. Even with a mild cam and spring that arent much stiffer than stock you can punch a pushrod through a rocker real easy belive me I know. I had a slight miss in my car years ago and I couldnt figure it out. I put plugs, wire, dist cap, and rotor on it....nothin. Couldnt figure it out. Then my trans started leaking bad so I decided to do a new motor and trans and when I yanked the motor out I pulled the Vcovers (which I just never though to do) Hey look theres pieces of metal in there...I figured if I punched a rocker itd have a dead miss but the pushrod welded itself to the rocker so the valve was just not opening all the way.....In short put a rocker on it gain a few horse and be happy.