Freefallin

How much can stock connecting rod bolts handle?

If engine is bone stock and the car is a DD that will be reved to 6000-7000 rpm about %35 of the time...is it necessary to upgrade the rod bolts when rebuilding the engine?

Basically, under what circumstance should the rod bolts be upgraded?

redtan

iTrader: (5)

That is a very very broad range when it comes to connecting rods. At 6000rpm, even the lousy early LS1s should last. By 7000rpm, even the beefier gen 4 rods are going to be pushed to their limits.

So you're going to have to be a lot more specific as to what rpms you plan on running and tell us what year rods you have. 97-98s were weak compared to the 99+

Freefallin

My bad. Lemme put it this way...It will spend %35 of its daily 5 hours on the road on WOT. So lets say 6500 rpm.

Its 2004.

Jtm2085

iTrader: (1)

Why rev a bonestock ls1 to 7k?

redtan

iTrader: (5)

You should very much upgrade your rod bolts to ARP 2000s. The stock ones, even 04s are not going to last long going WOT for 2 hours straight a day.

cmac06

iTrader: (16)

What kind of daily driving do you do? I want in.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

Yeah... wtf LOL.

Firebirdmuscle

iTrader: (16)

^^^^ lmao

sepsis

iTrader: (7)

If you change the bolts to say, ARP, won't the torque be different, requiring the rods to be honed?

2002kirk

iTrader: (3)

you're going to want to do more than just rod bolts, if your going to be above 6500 RPM for those long periods of time.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

yes they should... If you dont want to hone rods I would use katechs. They have never had a documented failure after install with the bearings, arp is very good when the rod is resized without that you run a risk

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Every aftermarket rod bolt distorts the bore. How much? Each bore will be distorted a different amount. Enough distortion to cause a bearing failure? Depends on a ton of factors. I know some who have had good luck, and some that have lost engines. Better to play it safe OP and stay out of your bottom end for now. I'd say keep your shifting at 6500 or lower and don't worry about it.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

I agree^ you should be ok at 6500. every rod bolt may distort the bore a little. I'm just going with the notion that I've never seen or heard of a Katech causing a spun bearing whereas I can't say the same for any of the arps. Katech advertises no resizing needed and clearly does deliver.

MeangreenHD

iTrader: (6)

Where are you driving that you can hold 6500 rpm for 2 hours?

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Katech's distort the bore too. They are playing with fire suggesting that machine work is not required. However, their bolts are significantly more expensive. Let's have fun with numbers k? Product A $80, no liability for engine damage. Product B $180, still an $80 part but with a $100 premium added in to include a disclaimer of "never fails". Now say you sell 100 of each with a probable failure rate of 3%. Product A has $8000. Product B has $18000 but must cover 3 documented failures. They promise a new short block @$2k for buyer non-dislosure. 3 engines totaling 6k leaves them with $12k. Win for product B. Think outside the box gentlemen.

Freefallin

Well its not really two hours "straight", like I'm going to step on the gas and hold it at 7k for two hours.

Its more like going WOT every other acceleration.

Freefallin

haha :p

dans94z28

iTrader: (2)

curious how you resize rods w cracked caps

Freefallin

so up till 6500 for that amount of time...safe on stock bolts?

dans94z28

iTrader: (2)

yep, youll be fine