So I was bullsh*tting around with this guy last night. He has a 96 Camaro and was talking about his lt1. I had my 01 SS and was showing some of my mods, cam and head work, etc. He mentioned that the reason he didn't buy an ls1 is because they are "known" to spin rod bearings around 150,000 miles. Is this true? Mine has just over 150k miles, and I already had to rebuild the top end and pop a new clutch in it this year. I get up on it every now and then, but I don't drive it too hard otherwise. I don't race it on the strip or anything.

 

no not true

 

If I remember right, the earlier versions of the LS motors had a problem with the rod bolts, you may have one of the revised versions of rod bolts either in 2001 or 2002, I am not sure. Someone else will probably chime in on your question and answer it. I hope you don't spin a bearing.

 

If your that worried about it do your rod bolts with katech rod bolt direct replacement I plan on doing mine pretty sun since its the rainy season

 

if you replace the bolts, just replace the bearings at the same time for good measure.

 

Katech rod bolts are sold as a direct replacement but are not. If you go that far just rebuild the who bottom end. Watch your oil level if you burn/leak any and you should be fine

 

+1

Better off going ahead and using ARP on the mains and rod bearings and resizing the rods back to true with the proper bearing for the new diameter. Shortcuts will end up costing you in the long run. If it is worth doing it is worth doing right the first time.

 

There have been lots of guys to replace rodbolts with katechs and have worked just fine,i think the rodolts were weaker in the 98s,if your shifting at the moon katechs might be a good idea,ya never know when a motor is going to go,mine has high miles as well,im just going to start building a motor now and when thats done swap it out,with 6.0s being so cheap to build thats the best way to go,i wouldnt worry about it to much man,i have seen head n cam ls1s with over 200k,search for the high mile thread if it will make ya feel better, you should have just told the guy you didnt wanna get a lt1 because you didnt wanna replace the opti every other few months lol

 

He was definitely just jealous. I went with an LS1 after having an LT1 because they were known to have opti issues after it rains, lol. They were also known to spin bearings after cam installs.

Note- this is sarcastic to some degree, especially after a rain. Not trying to start a LT vs LS battle, just thought it was funny he said that. I know tons of people back in the day that spun bearings within a few hundred miles of a cam install on a LT. Cheap insurance is new GM pump with white spring.

 

So many rookies and mis-information in this thread. It's really a shame how poor advice spreads like wildfire.

My advice OP, save you up a little change for a rainy day engine fund, and drive it however you want. With good routine maintenance, and conservative rpm, you're engine should have plenty of life left in it. With a modded engine, reliability goes down. So when it goes ONE day, replace or repair it and start the cycle over.

 

Lmfao, an lt1 guy telling someone with an ls1 about problems.

Dont worry about it. **** happens at any mileage. My ls1 put TWO rods through my block and ate a piston at 97k and you know what I was doing? Starting it up, thats it, but boom she went.

 

I second this^ mine stretched the rod bolts on #6 and it broke the cap from what it looks like. Came off the crank and then boom. Through the side of the block. And it was at 2400rpm. You never know when ***** going to go wrong when your making 50-70% more than stock Power through a stock rotating assembly. That's why I'm putting a forged lq4 together. ...always have a backup plan.

 

Hell mine was a stock car!

 

I would be more concerned about spinning a main bearing in an LT1. I've done that a couple times over the years on low mileage LT1's. One had 30,000, the other just under 50,000. They were only heads/cam cars. The weak 2 bolt mains on the LT1 suck.

 

All this talk about rod bolt crap if youre not spinning it past 7k theres no need for it & especially since you dont race it.

 

My dailey driver is a heads/cam with all the bolt ons making 452/418. It now has 255,000 + miles on it and it is still running great. It has stock rod bolts. If you shifting at 6500 rpms they will be fine. You need to know the limits of your engine and stay within them. It is without a doubt the most reliabe high performance car I have ever owned. I've been hot rodding for 50 years. Nuff said.

 

Guys quick question. When resizing the rods what are they actually resizing? The diameter of the rod where the bearing goes? If so does this mean you would have to go with a different size bearing other than standard size?

PS, dont mean to hijack the thread OP!

 

Any engine is susceptible to problems with high mileage. The LS is no exception. There is no magic number for mileage, but your engine will not last forever especially when you are pounding on it. I wouldn't say the guy is jealous, he right to an extent. IMHO...150K miles, anything can fail at anytime.

 

I see some bad info in this thread...

2001+ cars had better rod bolts and can frequently spin to 6500 without to much concern. The earlier cars had the bad rod bolts that tended to stretch and were a different design. Those are prone to fail, especially with rpms over 6000.

Any rod bolts EXCEPT katech WILL REQUIRE RESIZING.

 

my daily driver 237k miles and counting(knocking on wood) bolt ons.my buddies 168k ls1 is cammed full bolt ons,and was spraing nitrous no problem.my buddies t/a ls1 has 200k miles and just did a heads and cam.all cars running great..its not much about the miles but the life the motor has seen.if its been abused i would be worried.i got my 99 daily driver at 236 bone stock,well taken care of.i started moding her and my mod list is not over.sadly ivd seen guys with under100k miles blow the motor ..it just depends the life u give the motor and the proper maintance.dont worry about it