I read on one of the other boards that they arent strong enough for long term use on the street. I heard that they had a major recall of the Crane ones. I think they were on the LT-4 motors not sure of that though.

I have a brand new set of aluminum roller rockers for my 406. I dont want to use them if they are going to fall apart and ruin my new engine. I need something thats going to last for 100,000 miles at least. Are aluminum roller rockers okay for long term street use? Any brand that will last a long time? Dont they make them in stainless or something?

What do you guys think?



------------------
Black 90 IROC, L98, A4, 323 gear. SuperRamed 406 in the works!

 

I've heard the same thing too, but speaking from personal experience I'll go out on a limb and say that's false. I have Crane Gold narrow body 1.6 roller rockers and have had no problems. While I don't have 100,000 miles on them yet, I've had them on since 1997. I usually drive my car hard and have taken numerous long distance road trips, and they still haven't given me any problems. I get to change cams this January so I'll see if my rockers really are falling apart. Maybe the recall was just a bad batch of rockers from Crane?

Perhaps if you had ungodly valvespring pressures or rev the motor really high a lot, I could see how they could fail prematurely. But IMO you'll be just fine with aluminum rockers on the street. BTW, Comp Cams and Crower make stainless steel roller rockers if you decide against aluminum. I'm not sure quality wise how the other brands of aluminum rockers are but I'm happy with the Crane Golds so far.

------------------
1989 IROC-Z, ZZ3 shortblock with some bolt-ons.
13.20 @ 108.69, 2.2 60'

 

I feel better knowing you have had no problems with them. Maybe it was just a bad run of them, it happens. I dont plan to spin this thing past 6000 rpm. The ones IM using are proform not the highest priced set but they look like there well made I dunno.

Wouldnt the stainless rockers still have the same roller bearings though? I know stainless is a stronger metal ? What would make them last longer over the aluminum? The metal itself?

------------------
Black 90 IROC, L98, A4, 323 gear. SuperRamed 406 in the works!

 

The problem with aluminum is that it just breaks after lots of stress cycles. It gives no warning, no cracks that grow over time, etc. Just one day out of the clear blue... boom. You won't see them falling apart until, well, they literally fall apart. The airplane people know this all too well.

Steel rockers can be made lighter and smaller for the same strength and longevity. Aluminum is simply not the best material for moving parts. Comp and Crower both make a superior product to Crane IMHO, not that Crane is bad or anything, those others are just better.

I do have 100,000 miles on a set of Comp steel roller-tips ones (1416s), in fact I just cleaned them up and put them on an otherwise mostly brand-new motor the other day. I don't believe I could have done that with aluminum ones. I have never seen a set of those last anywhere near that long.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

IM sitting here looking thru Jegs,the cranes are at least billet Aluminum. The ones I have are cast so I dont think IM going to use them.

Would it be worth it to use the full rollers? Or just the roller Tipped ones? IM wondering if the roller fulcrum is designed for high mileage? I dont plan on going past 6000 rpm. Its going to be my daily driver for the most part.

The other thing IM wondering about is the ratio. Should I go with the 1.6s? I see You are using them RB, is that on your 400? Ive read the larger smallblocks like higher ratios. The thing that worries me about using higher ratios is faster guide/valve wear. Would this be a problem using the 1.6s over the 1.5s? Looks like they have worked well for you though.

My cam could use some help in the lift department because its a flat tappet. If i go with the 1.6s.. on lingenfelters site it says my lift would be 496 intake and 520 exhaust. IM using a set of Trickflow 23* heads. My paper work says the springs IM using are good to 520 lift. The heads max out around 500/550 lift so there might be some power there.

What do you guys think?




------------------
Black 90 IROC, L98, A4, 323 gear. SuperRamed 406 in the works!

 

aluminum will develope stress cracks over a period of time. naturally the small stress cracks get larger, quickly ,and you have major parts failure then. for long trm durablity i'd use steel rockers, the ones from comp are lighter than aluminum and stronger.

------------------
ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd
MM Black Diamond 538 F&AM