Guys

I've search through the boards multiple time and their seems to be a lot of negative feed back with using aluminum Roller rockers for a street application. I've read where breakage seems to be very common occurance ranging from 100 miles to 25K driven miles. However there is confussion with in all these threads if the issue is with a FULL aluminum Roller Rocker or those that have only a roller tip and still use a pivot ball at the fulcrum.

When I talk to CRAN, COMP, PROFORM, Hartland and ask them, they think I'n nuts. When you look at the GM Performance catalogs, they offer aluminum Full Roller Rockers as an add on to their performance Crate motors. They also indicate that the 572 comes with Aluminum FULL ROLLER Rockers.

I'm sitting here with a brand new set of Proform 66914 narrow body FULL ROLLER self aligning Rocker arms ready to install on by Vortec headed, TPI, SBC with ZZ4 Cam. I'm now tyring to figure out if I should send them back.

So can someone answer my questions below:

Is is safe to uses an aluminum FULL Roller Rocker on the street?

Has anyone had bad luck with the Proform 66914 Rocker?

Are Roller rockers noisier then an OEM stamped steel rocker?

Is it worth the gamble concidering the 8-10 hp gains I've send posted in some of the magizines?

Are there any other issues that I may need to be concern about?

 

Only tid bit I can offer si , that when they fail ( needle bearings) they can mess a motor up . But some guys put screens in the oil passages so they won't go down into the pan , etc

 

usually a roller rocker is quieter than a stock stamped one.

comp steel roller tip ones are nice, and durable. something to consider.

you should be ok running them, you're about to see a mess of people on both sides of the fence here, some say it'll fail, just a matter of time, and some say they've had them on their motor for x many miles and they're working fine. I don't think comp/crane/any manufacturer is going to tell you their product is a ticking time bomb, bad for business.

IMHO the full roller AL rockers are too pricey, with not enough gains over a steel roller tip, to be worth any extra gains. I've got roller tip stamped ones from summit, and I wish I would have gotten the non-stamped ones from comp for like $40 more....

 

I got the Mgnum tipped ones . Nice pieces. David Visard did a test on them and they were 80% stronger than stock .

 

i had a set of crane energizer aluminum roller rockers i put 40K on with no issues, now they are on my buddies car. they worked great. only reason i got rid of them was cause they didn't clear the centerbolt valve covers without modification, and after modification to the valve covers, they wouldn't seal. i tried everything i could other than grinding on the roller rockers themselves and so i decided to ditch them and go with the comp pro-magnum full roller rockers. they've worked great so far.

 

I put well over 30,000 miles on a set of 1.5 Harland Sharp roller rockers. I know have around 4000 miles on a set of Crane Blue Racer 1.6 rockers with no problems. I wind the motor up to around 6000rpm.

 

I've heard of the aluminum ones having issues with fatigue, but not with stock valve springs. It usually happens with really heavy valve springs and BIG cams. I went with a set of Comp Pro-Mag's for my engine... I don't have crazy valve springs, but they are quite a bit stiffer than any factory stuff, and the cam isn't exactly small either. I got these because they are full rollers, BUT they are made of chromoly steel, instead of aluminum. MUCH MUCH stronger rockers, for the same weight. They weren't cheap at $270usd, but I drive my car all the time, and I'm paranoid, so it was worth it.

 

When I saw the thread subject, the first thought that came to my mind was, "As long as they aren't Proforms."

Any questions?

 

I've seen problems with Proform rockers myself.While it is in a totally different enviroment,my brother in law's stock car had Proforms on it,and he had a lot of problems with the roller wheel on the tips coming loose and falling off.This was also on an engine that got lash settings every week,so it wasn't a lack of maint. issue.
Just my opinion,but send them back,get a refund.The best budget rockers in my own experiance are the Crane Energizers,I've had great luck with them,and they are around $200 a set.I think Jeg's has their store brand for around the same $$.
In closing,aluminum rockers are fine for street use,just get a decent set of them.

 

I run the Comp Pro Mags on both my motors. I love them.

 

A local sprint car engine builder said to stay away from the Proform ones to a friend of mine. I run the Comp Pro Mags and haven't had any trouble with them for over 2 years.

 

Forgot to say with my current rebuild I'm going with the Comp Pro-Magnum 1.6RR rockers. Reason is I will be installing a Comp Cam XFI cam and the valve train needs to be as stiff as posible.