98Camarod

iTrader: (43)

I haven't heard of rod failure, but bearing failure after replacing them with arp I have heard of.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

That can easily be attributed to many things such as improper tightening of the bolt, which is very likely since most people that replace the bolts with the motor in the car dont use a stretch gauge to tighten the bolts, which is the way you are supposed to do it according to every manufacturer and engine builder. Improper tightness of the bolts is much more likely to cause bearing failure than a bolt making the rod oval shaped.

Also when people replace the bolts on the stock motor it usually already has a lot of miles on it anyway. People replace the bolts and then just assume 7k+ rpm's is going to be fine, even on the old stocker rods and bearings.

98Camarod

iTrader: (43)

Either way, I'd rather take my chances with the stock bolts until they fail. If you do that **** wrong, you'll have the same result of putting in a new motor. I'd feel more comfortable with the katechs since they specifically state that there are ok to install.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

Thats what i say too.

DaveX

I can pretty much guarantee you that if you take a motor with some miles on it that has factory rod bolts and change them to either of these the rods will then be egg shaped. Even if you took a new set of rods that were sized with factory bolts and changed them they likely won't repeat. The bolts will be better but you run a greater risk of spinning a bearing. Some get away with it and some do not. I would not change them without a rebuild and doing it right.

Just my .02.

ZMONSTER!

iTrader: (9)

Ive seen too many threads about people spinning rod bearings right after a rod bolt install to try it. My power curve tapers off at 6500 anyway, you must be running a big cam to need to spin that high.

silverbeast

iTrader: (16)

really? its funny that this info came from the guys at Katech ...smartass.

LSxPwrDZ

iTrader: (4)

Another thing to throw out there in this is you can't resize a "cracked" rod. If you can I sure would like to know!!! There is no surface between the cap and rod to machine down to then resize it so how do you resize the rod with a rod bolt install?