FASTERthanYOU

iTrader: (1)

I was at the local car meet talking to a guy with a Turbo LT1 trans am, the convo drifted to my T/A, a 98, and he said that my car has weak rods and push rods. I've never heard of this. Is this true?

Luna

iTrader: (6)

There are alot of rumors about things being wrong with 98's floating around. If it is true its news to me

camaroextra

iTrader: (10)

eh well all the ls1 pushrods arent as strong as they should be, no worries for anyone with an automatic because you have a rev limiter

but if you have a manual and accidentally put it in a low gear the tires could push the engine past the rev limiter and bend a rod.

if you get a cam or bigger ratio rockers you NEED to replace them

on a stock engine they are fine

camaroextra

iTrader: (10)

and yeah iv heard it too, like the "1 cylinder out of bore" crap. if its true it doesnt effect enough cars to really matter

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Rumors about specifically '98s being 'bad' are just that.....rumors. I've had a '98, a '99, and a '00. My '98 has actually been the best of the group, in more ways than one.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Never heard that one before. I'd say it's though. My '98 uses NO oil at all, and has NO piston slap. On the other hand, my '00 used quite a bit of oil.....

camaroextra

iTrader: (10)

yeap thats why i called it crap

Z28LS1camaroguy

iTrader: (3)

i believe he meant to tell you they dont have the stronger rod BOLTS like the later models do, you just need to upgrade the the ARP rod bolts or Katech and you should be fine. it will strenghthen everything up and give you added assurance against breaking anything, my mechanic who knows everything about these cars told me before i do a cam or heads i need to upgrade the rod bolts to support the horsepower and all that from breaking a rod or completely destroying the engine.

FASTERthanYOU

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, i'm glad i didn't get stuck with the shity model.

'Trust'

iTrader: (24)

Bingo! This man is right! Our beloved 98's are known for bad rodbolts, usually its not the "power" though that causes them to let go, there are many many 450+ rwhp 98's on stock rod bolts, its the ones that spin the motor to 6800-7000rpms that the rod bolts let go, they just arent strong enough to hold on that fast.

Not by a long shot, alot of people argue that 98 and 02 are the best years (of course alot of those are 98 and 02 owners, but hey). If you notice, hardly any 98 owners you'll talk to complain of piston slap, or oil consumption, plus we get bigger injectors, that are reintroduced later, but we had em first You got a good model! And as far as pushrods, yea they are all easily bent, but honestly i dont think i'll not run stock pushrods, i'd much rather bend a pushrod than slam a valve into a cylinder or cause other damage.

Wino

iTrader: (11)

Same mechanic. Same story. Had rod bolts/ bearings changed last year when I had the true duals made. My #5 and #6 bearing were starting to show more wear than the others and my motor hasn't even seen 6500 rpms.
BTW, there is nothing wrong with a 98.

my black ss

iTrader: (7)

there all good i run my 99 hard and no probs yet(give me time) two budys with 98s both threw rods (bolts broke) no ****

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Just wondering,... any idea how high they revved the motor to?

98TwoToneSS

i have a 98 and it has a cam and it used to have the stock pushrods and they never bent, but i changed them so i could rev past 6000 rpms.

'Trust'

iTrader: (24)

We're not talking about pushrods, we're talking about rod bolts, what bolts the rod together around the crank, you can rev high with stock pushrods, they'll just bend ifyou hit the limiter or over rev it downshifting too low, heck my buddy revved his Z to 7200 on stock pushrods, that doesnt mean much. And i used to rev mine to 6500 until i found out it wasnt helping me much, so i backed it off again. Honestly i'd rather keep stock pushrods unless longer ones were required for a set of heads or something, i'd rather bend a pushrod then mess up alot more.

777

iTrader: (21)

Can you tell me what you would mess up more if you had hardened pushrods?

luv2spd

iTrader: (1)

Since the pushrods won't give you'll most likely bend some valves...

my black ss

iTrader: (7)

yes one budy with the a4 was runing a limiter right at 6200 the other god only knows ho high it ran and beleive it or not they both threw #6 rod to and the caps were in the pan and they still looked new

'Trust'

iTrader: (24)

Yup, that was my main concern

luv2spd

iTrader: (1)

I still would recommend upgraded pushrods to those who cam their car because the stiffer valvesprings required will flex the stock pr's and cause deflection. If you want true geometry then you don't want flexing pushrods. Just make sure not to miss a shift!