Roller rockers only good for 20-30k miles?
 

Can this possibly be right? Read this in a Summit catalog, that professor overdrive section where they usually answer somebody's dumb question, in the new Christmas catalog. Anyway, they told some guy that wanted to put them in his tow truck that they were only good for 20-30k miles. Can anyone shed any light on this, or is it bull?

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'87GTA w/ SLP Cold Air, MSD Coil, Airfoil, Gutted MAF, AFPR, TES Headers, HI-FLOW CAT, Flowmaster Catback, Energy Suspension Master Bushing Kit

Um its basically bull u might of misinterpret him, or there was a misprint, roller rockers are more accurate and since theres rollers on each end they last much longer with less friction than stock stamped steel rockers.

I have over 40,000 miles on my Crane gold roller rockers without any problems. The LT4 motor came from the factory with roller rockers, I don't think GM would have used them if they wear out in less than 30,000 miles.

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Rick89IROC
Black 89 IROC-Z Convertible 305 TPI
13.95 @ 102.18
DGGM 95 Impala SS
13.69 @ 101.70
http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000013347/297412.jpg http://imagem.webphotos.iwon.com/1000013347/299452.jpg

Read a bit more closely, and you'll see he was asking about aluminum roller rockers. I'm sure there are people on this board that have used aluminum rockers on their vehicles for years and haven't had any trouble, but I don't know anyone that used them on a street car and didn't start to have problems after 20k-40k miles on them.

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The Sumbitch is Broken
82 Camaro:350, Erson cam, ported heads,Comp Cams 1.6:1 rocker arms, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Holley 600cfm,
TH350 tranny with 2500 stall, Eibach Pro Kit, SLP 1 3/4" headers with 3" Flowmaster exhaust
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The LT4 roller rockers are aluminum.

Same with the RAMJET crate motor, it comes with 1.6 alum RR's

I read the same article, and I'm looking to get some roller rockers, what kind of roller rockers will last 100,000+ miles? How about the CompCams stainless steel roller rockers?

It's because they are aluminum, I think. The fatigue curve for al constantly drops, it doesn't have a fatigue or endurance limit like most steels. Maybe a aluminum alloy or chromoly rocker is best. I guess it all depends on what your cam profile and valve springs. hope this helps.

Rick, nice looking IROC ragtop!

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Rob P
89RSconvtZZ4TPI Edelbrock Intake
SLP Dual Cold Air Intake 1 5/8" Headers Semi-Siamesed Runners, IROC
suspension, alum shaft. Numerous mods.
92Z28convt5spd (stock)
71Impala convt 402BB
BETTER DRIVING THRU SUPERIOR HORSEPOWER!

this is another one of those hit or miss items, i've heard a few people say there aluminum (again like posted above key word aluminum) full roller rockers have gone way out of spec with about 30,000 miles and i've heard many say there fine for 100,000. a stamped steel rocker will last forever.

originaly posted by Intense92:

If in doubt about using aluminum roller rockers due to durability, just use steel ones like Comp Cams Pro Magnums (Chromemoly) or Crower Enduros (stainless). They cost a little more than most cheaper type aluminums but not much more than better aluminums like Crane Gold Race Extruded aluminum units. They should last the life of your engine. If you are worried about the valve train weight of steel VS aluminum rockers, don't. The wall thickness of the steel is much less than aluminum and still has more strength. The strength of the steel allows using less "meat" around the trunion bearing. The heaviest part of steel roller rockers are the trunion bearing. The bigger bearing makes for a more durable bearing. The trunion bearing is not part of the reciprocating weight of the valve train. Steel roller rockers are lighter on the valve train.
For endurance racing or just long life with lot's of steet mileage they are the way to go.

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Tracy /AKA IROCKZ4me
'86 IROC-Z Camaro
"Cogito ergo zoom"

• 355 cid
• AFR heads
• Arizona Speed & Marine hydraulic roller cam w/ AFR hydra-rev kit
• modified SLP runners
• TRW forged pistons/ceramic coated
• fully balanced
• Edelbrock headers/ceramic coated
• SLP cat-back
• Paxton supercharger
• Nitrous Express nitrous oxide

EFI Performance Club on Yahoo

[This message has been edited by IROCKZ4me (edited December 09, 2001).]

FWIW, I've got almost 80k on my Crane Gold RRs. They're tuff. https://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/biggrin.gif

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Mike

'90 IROC-Z , 5-speed, ZZ4, G1 Trick Flows
Moderator SEThirdgen

I say the biggest reason some people get low mileage out of aluminum RRs is they didn't get the valve train geometry correct and it caused it to "wear" poorly (and prematurely).

I have a set of comp cam's 1.6 roller rockers for sale? I need to sell them because i have just put my new engine together ,with AFR heads and the lift on my cam is more than the springs will take if i use the 1.6 rocker arms:( I really wanted to use these rockers too:rolleyes: Anyway, i have only 5K miles on the rocker arms, email me if you are interested.

Wouldn't a new set of higher-lift springs be cheaper than a new set of roller rockers?

Remember to always calculate your valve events when ordering new hardware... I had to get the upgraded springs on my AFRs due to the same scenario.

I decided to use my stock 1.5 rockers with out the roller tips. This whole project is getting expensive. So I figured that I would sell the 1.6 roller rockers.

Well, if Summit is referring to their own rockers, I guess I'd be a little nervous about them lasting a while too. Summit's rockers look like the same ones made by Proform. I've been running Harland Sharps on one of my rides for a long time now with no problems yet.

A friend and I went to summit the other day and there new catalog is out and in the questions area there is a paragraph on the bottom which reads:
Department of correction
Last issue, we fielded a question from Bill Hunter concerning using aluminum roller rocker arms in a daily driven street motor. We advised him that the rockers would only last 20-30000 miles with an otherwise stock valve train.
Well we were wrong. On a daily driver with stock valve train, most roller rockers will much last longer. In fact crane cams warrenties there rockers to 100,000 miles. on racing engines with high valve spring pressure and or oil restrictors that limit upper engine oiling, rocker arm life can be considerably shorter.
We apologize for any confusion our origional answer may have caused.

So now Summit retracts the answer that caused me to ask this question in the first place. Oh well. I think that I will go with the steel rollers when I do my engine build, gives the extra peace of mind. :rolleyes:

Get steel rckers. They will definitely outlast aluminum.