Ok I've got 2 ls1s ( 2000, 2002) the 00 i'll be spinning to around 6300ish and the 02 to 6800. The 00 has 117,000 and the 02 has 75,000. Do you think that arp bolts would be necessary or a good investment in both of them. Thanks

 

No you'll be fine spinning both those to that rpm. I wouldn't rev the 01 any harder then that though just to be safe. A lot of people rev the 01 and newer bolts to 7k though without problems. I myself like to stay on the safe side so I set my rev limit on my 01 to 6800 also.

 

2000 and older cars seem to be fine reving up to 6500 without problems.

 

just replace them. they are notorious for random failures...its always a good idea to replace rod bolts. period.

 

How big of a job would it be to swap them out? And what are the best brand bolts ARP?

 

if your going to do ARP bolts, the rods need resized, this requires pulling the engine totally and disassembling it. to do it in the car, you should use Katech bolts, however, i wouldnt do any bolts personally without resizing the rods.

 

why not?

 

The rod bolts are always blamed when somebody spins a rod bearing that doesn't mean they where the real cause. It could be as simple oil starvation or dirty oil.

GM set the rev limiter on 01+ Z06's to 6600 so you can be sure they can handle that all day everyday. Thats why I feel fine shifting at 6600 and setting my rev limiter at 6800.

This guy really doesn't need to bother with them for what he wants to do. My cousins weaker stock 98 ls1 rod bolts lived several years shifting at 7200 rpms before they stretched and spun a bearing there really not that weak im sure they will be fine shifting at 6300 on his 2000.

 

Ive been tryn to figure out the whole rod bolt situation too. Resize, dont resize im not sure i checked on katech bolts today and they are on back order. And i was told that if I go with ARP i have to resize them

MPFD were in KS are you?

 

You have to pull the either pull the engine or drop the k-frame to do them. Katech bolts are known to be the best.
If I was you I'd leave yours alone.

 

I'm running ARP's and I didn't resize. It has spun past 7000 every pass for the last year/15,000 miles.

 

good to know ill have to get a set ordered, im gettn read to drop the motor out and thorw a LS6 intake torquer3 cam kooks headers and a 3600 stall on my TA. sense i have to send the heads in to get done for the cam ill put some arp bolts in the bottom end

 

just because your cousins car lasted that long, doesnt mean everyone elses will. also, if thoes rod bolts were "fine" for your cousins engine, they wouldnt have stretched and spun a bearing. your cousin should have upgraded instead of skimping to save a buck (im guessing) and causing more damage and $ than would have been if he had just upgraded. who is to say the OP's engine will last "a few years", what if it only lasts a few weeks? thats the gamble you take when you dont upgrade, so why wouldnt you upgrade? is it worth the gamble? what happens if the bearing doesnt just spin, what if the rod bolt totally fails and takes everything with it? then your really SOL. its so simple and cheap, its not worth it to not upgrade.

GM sets the rev limiter at 6600 on LS6 engines, because they have different rod bolts than the 97-2000 LS1 engines. the 01+ got the LS6 rod bolts, and *should* be fine to 6500 RPM's.

but just because the rev limiter is set at 6600 doesnt mean it can be safely ran that high. thats why the factory redline on the vehicle is 6400 rpm. fuel shut off is at 6600 rpm to keep idiots who think bouncing it off the rev limiter is cool, from destroying the engine.

just like the factory redline on the LS1 vehicles is 6000 and the rev limiter is 6200.

 

same principles apply with the factory GM 10 bolt, some last years and years on slicks, some last only a few thousand miles on street tires. the only difference is, if the 10 bolt goes, big deal. replace it with another 10 bolt, 12 bolt or 9 inch...if your rod bolts go, you dont have another 300 dollar option to just replace it. its going to cost you thousands.

 

re read what I said I didn't say 01 rod bolts where good for 7200 rpm. I said there good to about 6500. I also said upgraded 01+ rod bolts handle 6800 without much trouble. Many people spin them to 7k all the time and never have trouble. OP does not need rod bolts in either car for what he wants.

My cousins car was just mentioned as an extreme example and yes of course 98 rod bolts will at some point stratch when being spun to 7200. But they did last for years which shows there stronger then you say. You act like there glass.

 

Just cap the rev limiter at 6700 or less and don't worry about doing anything with rod bolts, 100 more RPM's isn't going to make the car night and day anyway.

 

Op just plans to spin the 00 to 6300rpm he will be fine at that rpm even with the weak bolts factory redline is 6200 and you can be sure gm tested those rod bolts at redline for hours. Same goes with ls6 rod bolts 6600rpm is its fuel cutoff so you can be sure gm has tested them to that rpm for hours.

 

your a dumb *** for spouting off information that is false. congrats that a handful of cars go to 7200 rpm, 6500 RPM etc...but it doesnt change the fact they arent reliable.

anyone who raises the rev limiter much above stock on any LS engine with stock rod bolts is living on borrowed time. if your too stupid to realize that, then thats your own problem. dont be spreading it as gospel to everyone unless your going to fork over some cash when/if their engine lets go because they followed your bad advice.

no your right, you dont *need* rod bolts if your going to spin it higher, just like you dont *need* hardened pushrods when you do a cam. but if your going to push thoes pushrods much harder than what they were designed for in stock form, they WILL fail you at some point or another, just like the stock rod bolts. period, end of story.

 

I agree.

A little side note, I built a LS/Vtec motor years ago in my turbo integra, the bottom end's redline was 6800 (all factory parts with over 140k miles), I spun that motor AT MINIMUM once a day to 8000, 2 years and a good 20k or so miles later it spun a rod bearing running 8000 RPM in 5th gear, that was a long long pull at that RPM, but I later found out there was only 2 quarts of oil in the motor, I still to this day put my money on the low oil being the cause of the spun bearing.

It seems that LS1 rod bolts are a bit less tolerant, but are in fact tolerant. I have spun mine to 6700-6800 on many many occasions and now have 187xxx miles on it and it is doing just fine.

 

you know, you remind me of someone's sig quote i seen a while ago...

"built using information advice from the internet; runs 14's"