I've been told by a few friends that while roller rockers will help with power that they are a pain in the butt in the long run because you have to adjust them too often. I know theres a lot of people here using roller rockers, so maybe you guys could give me an idea of how often they need to be adjsted, and if its worth it. I dont drive this car on a full time basis only as a weekend warrior, maybe 4k miles a year.

One of the guys telling me that the roller rockers need to be adjusted more often uses them in a door slamer drag car, and he sais something like every 30-40 passes he has to adjust. He runs much higher rpms than my car will ever see, and his engine spends a lot more time at WOT as well.

I guess what I needs info on how roller rockers are on a daily driver.

Thanks gang!

 

Roller rockers have nothing to do with frequency of adjustment of the valvetrain.

 

You adjust the valve lash on solid lifter cams. If your car has a hydraulic lifter cam they will be just like any other rocker arm set and forget.

 

I put roller tips in my 406 and with 35,000 miles they haven't needed adjustment or shown signs of wear.

 

the only reason u have to keep adjusting rockers is if your running a solid lifter cam... and then its still not very often... on street with a hydraulic setup.. no worries set them the first time and u wont have to touch them again

 

Thanks guys!

And my shopping continues,...

 

I check the adjustment with my solid roller cam once a year. It's been 2 years since I've adjusted them and that's only because I did a head swap at the time. Many years ago when solid cams were common in factory performance cars, rocker adjustment was recommended at least once a year. Even today, the majority of diesel engines use solid cams and rocker adjustment is still recommended once a year. Some need adjustment, others stay within specifications.

Roller rockers have a couple of advantages. They reduce friction which will give a little bit more HP but don't expect to see huge gains. The roller tip will roll instead of slide across the valve tip. This decreases side load on the value guides. Roller rockers because of their design, can easily allow bigger valve springs and allow higher lift cams without the rocker maxing out and hitting the rocker stud. Lastly, they have more uniform tolerances. 1.5 rockers with all be 1.5:1. The factory stamped steel rockers can have wide variations in the ratios which will translate into different amounts of lift for each cylinder.

If you have a rocker requiring adjustment with a hydraulic cam, it's not the rocker's fault unless it's broken. Losing an adjustment could be a loose rocker nut but roller rockers have a jam nut with a set screw inside which applies force to the top of the rocker stud. This secures the nut from loosening off. A loose rocker could be from a pressed in rocker stud pulling out of the head or a collapsed lifter but never from the rocker itself either stamped steel, roller tip or full roller.

Roller rockers however because of their size, may not fit under OEM valve covers. Depends on the rocker design.