aluminum rods

[Jon Lane]

I was just merely saying that even if the test did occur, the rods in a daily driven DSM would see a lot more abuse. I'm sure the rods in the work truck saw very little power and verly little/no detonation. Both of which are going to be factors in metal fatigue as well as all the heat cycling. The small gains are defiantely not worth the risk to me. I am all for you to try it though

Assumptions need regular challenging, in this case that (1) alloy rods that already hold up to enormous horsepower (2) may or may not still face the historical challenges of fatigue and dimensional stability over time.

According to folks who appear to be in a position to know the problem isn't the rod, it's the repeated tension put on the bolts by aluminum's higher coefficient of expansion. Put conventional aluminum rods in a low power street motor and run it 100k miles of on/off daily driving and I'd bet they'd fail before they would in a racer's average season. When there's guys making thousands of horsepower making dozens of passes, I'd say the racer angle has some substantial supporting evidence ... that should apply to your mighty 4G63.

At any rate, I don't believe I said anything about my trying them although I would if I were a racer in the market. The point is that when a discussion devolves into speculation it seems logical to put the stated facts on the table and leave the it'll-break-cause-conventional-wisdom-says-it-will argument at home.

 

[GVR4592]

Bringing this thread back, are there any update on this situation? I'm in the market for some rods and am thinking about these Grodens.

My brother started this thread but since he doesn't post her much anymore I'll update the situation. Basically girlfriends and mortgages are expensive, and the car is not yet running. It is close though, probably won't be done until at least late fall.

I did speak to a local shop about these rods and they said they have used them in a few engines they have built. They said that they have seen no problems with extended street use. One of the cars had put quite a few miles on the engine and was still running strong. I don't have exact hp numbers for the cars but I would expect them to be above 500whp considering the cars that are normally in their shop. These are V8 engines, not 4g63's.

Speaking with Darren at FFWD, he says to check the rod bolts and replace them as necessary. I don't know how often that would be but if it was my car it would be every few thousand miles.

Basically I don't listen to what anybody has to say about aluminum rods or anything else for that matter, unless they have first hand experience. You will get a lot of bs and quotes from a guy that knows a guy, who knows a guy that had aluminum rods in his mustang back in the early 90's and they turned into powder after 10 minute of idling.

 

[greycar]

ok first hand I ran GRP rods for 2 seasons thus far on 700+ horsepwer, this winter I remeasured everything and I had no stretch twist or any abnormalities at all. I would recommend GRP rods for any racer. Slowboy has the GRP rods.

Evan Cline
Exedy Clutch USA

 

[GVR4592]

Any street use? How many passes at the track?

 

[Slowboy]

ok first hand I ran GRP rods for 2 seasons thus far on 700+ horsepwer, this winter I remeasured everything and I had no stretch twist or any abnormalities at all. I would recommend GRP rods for any racer. Slowboy has the GRP rods.

Evan Cline
Exedy Clutch USA

We now have one new option as well, we had ten sets made so we could bring to market at decent price point. These rods are proven to hold more than 1200 WHP on a DSM.

http://www.slowboyracing.com/more.php?id=5557&

As far as street reliability goes, I always suggest a non aluminum rod, however if you are going to drive on the street, GRP and now MGP have a good piece to work with. I would not quote any mileage guarantee... but I know of people well over 10k miles on the GRP rods with out any issues (these are 400-500 WHP daily driver DSM's)

Mike Huml

 

[danamo250]

I think the big point is money. The only thing that keeps most people from putting all out race components in their engine is they don't have the money to maintain it. Of course you can run aluminum rods but is the extra cost gonna be worth the couple hundred grams of rotating and reciprocating weight you'll save. Thats just my 2 cents.