I am not really up to speed on the lifters available for our motors and which is better than the other. I have been doing a lot of searching the last couple of days and I have not really found anything against an LS7 lifter. I just wanted to post to get some feedback on what other options may be available, or if the LS7 is a good choice. I keep reading about GMPP lifters/Caddy lifters but I can't find any good information on those specifically.

I just want to get a lifter that can handle a high 230s duration cam, be run up to 6800 normally without issue (while being good for a random rev limit tagging that may send it to 7200 or so) and not have too much stress on it from the higher seat pressures of the upgraded AFR springs.

The next important part is the spec on lifter preload so I can be sure to set it up correctly.

 

FWIW I have had a lot of luck with the Comp-R lifters for many years.

 

The only issue is the comp-r lifter requires an adjustable rocker, correct?

After reading on the GM lifter quality issues (yes there may be an easy answer to those, but it worries me) I am leaning towards the Comp OE replacement. My only concerns are how well it may hold up with a larger than stock cam and higher spring pressures. I wish I had the money to spend on the Morels

 

Mike I have comp r and run non adjustable Harland Sharp rockers. 3 years no problems.

 

i had two brand new sets of comp r's in three years cause of failures,not staying pumped up,poor oil flow to top of pushrod,excessive bleed down,last time i pulled them out i had one literally have its guts fall out in my hands,id use the GM caddy lifters,if i was going hydraulic again!theres a reason ii went solid,not that it cost 808$ for just the cam and lifters but sick of the f;'.n issues with my comp r's

 

I used stock rockers with them for close to 3 years. Not even the Harlan Sharp rebuild kit, stock as stock, almost 3 years with the Comp-R's with not a single issue, reving to 7200rpm over and over and over... and over lol

Its all in how you set up the preload. CARTEK set mine up, and I never had an issue.

 

Comp R's require very little preload. To be setup correctly they MUST have adjustable rockers (just read comps web page). Either that or you have to get lucky to nail the preload just right without adjustables.

 

I went with the Caddy lifters this time, if I ever have issue i will def go to Morels, but didnt have the $$ for them when i was upgraging.

 

I would like the GM lifters, but it concerns me with the quality issues I have seen. May be totally unrelated to why they failed, could have been application. The caddy ones sound nice, but I still have my doubts. Plus, I think if the Comps had an issue it would be easier to have them replace them and the cam (if they failed). On the phone with them now to get "application approval" lol

 

I have had Comp R's with Yella Terra 1.7's for 6 years now with no problems at all. This combined with my 977's.....I feel fine reving the motor up to or past 6700.

 

so what you are saying is that I reved them to 7200rpm hundreds of times, for nearly 3 years and 10,000 miles and they were not set up correctly?

I could be wrong on this, but can't you use pushrod length to set preload if you do not have adjustable rockers?

 

No, yours may be setup correctly but to do so you would have to get a pushrod custom made OR just happen to hit it on the nose. They recommend 0.002"-0.004" of preload. Pushrod lengths come in 0.025" increments. All the failures I have read have been due to incorrect preload so I do not feel comfortable running these without adjustable rockers. I think my failure was due to excessive preload, but it took 15k miles to get there. I failed 3 rollers, all in different stages of failure.

 

What quality issues?

Do you mean the very few on the internet out of MILLIONS that are in use.

The GM lifters are fine.

 

Yes, but that is enough to make me have my doubts. I want to be careful with my selection. I know a lot of guys run them without issues, I know few have issues. I know lots of guys that ran stock lifters without issues, I was one that happened to have issues after 15k miles. I just want to make sure I make the best decision. I could do it easy and spend the big $ and get the high dollar ones, but that is not practical for me to do right now and may not be necessary (maybe it is and these others are not sufficient).

This is why I asked the question. Not saying one is better than the other, just looking for feedback. All the failures could have been from something totally unrelated to the lifter, something may have caused the lifter to fail and not the lifter itself. I have found decent preload information on the LS7 lifter but not the caddy lifter. I want to make sure I have the correct technical information to set these up correctly. Seems the LS7 recommended preload is 0.066"-0.097". Not sure on the caddy. Then how is the spec written? For hot? For cold?

 

Fair enough... I was one of the lucky ones then because I did not have custom pushrods. I think they were 7.400 or 7.350

 

I understand but Comp probably sells less in a year than GM puts in the various LS based engines in a month. The incidents per thousand (IPTV) is probably below 1, the LS7 revs higher than your boggy with a 100,000 mile warranty.

The Caddy race lifters are just that, race lifters. They are not designed for long term durability like a true production parts.

For your application the LS7 lifters would be more than enough. Morel's would be my second choice. The GM crate LSx engines even use the LS7 lifter.

 

The only thing I get concerned with for the LS7 lifter would be the higher ramp rates of an aftermarket cam or higher spring pressures (same concern with the Comp OE).

My first thought was LS7, but then I questioned the Comp OE replacement. I guess at the end of the day they both are similar design, it just is one better than the other.

 

I think LS7 lifters are fine with your " mild " cam. You don't have a crazy lift to do a harm.
Many people use them with good results and I've never seen a problem with them.

I'm using them since 5K miles with 7.350 pushrods.

 

by the way the preload on my lifters were set with a dial indicator just the way its supposed to be done.

 

You really should look at Morel Lifters....they are pretty much the best proven lifters but cost a bit more than Ls7's.