Just wondering if anyone has had any trouble with the Katech rod bolts causing any out of round issues? I have heard that some people have had issues with the ARP ones, thus I was wondering if anyone had similar issues with the Katech ones. Supssedly they're not supposed to cause any problems but I just wanted to verify.

Thanks,

-Steve

 

The out of round is generally caused by the difference in torque on the end caps. It has not been a huge problem on the LS1's because of the design, but old school SBC's had the problem bad if you replaced the rob bolts in those you had to have the rod resized. I have only herd of a few cases of this happening to people on LS!'s so just be warned that it could happen. You could call a few engine builders and ask them what they have experienced like Kurt over at Wheel to Wheel. He was very helpful with all my questions and didn't mind giving me the info I needed to know.

 

I used the ARP Pro rod bolts. I know someone that used the Katech rod bolts.

1: The Katech rod bolts are the same length and almost the same weight as the stock rod bolts.
2: No worries about out of balance here. The same length puts similar clamp load at similar torque levels as the stock.
3: The ARP Pro's are longer than stock.
4: Will put engine slightly out of balance.
5: The extra length will give different clamp load at similar torque levels.
6: ARP recommends risizing the rods after intalling their bolts.
7: Katech doesn't.

Having enumerated the above here are my empirical observations.
1: I installed the ARP bolts according to their recomendations for torque to yeild instead of using a stretch gauge. And on the final pass I went over the entire assembly one more time to ensure equal torque.
2. I then checked, as best I could with a plastigauge my bearing clearances and found no distortion I could measure.
3: After pre-assembly I kept the motor below 2000rpm for the first 100 miles and below 4000 for the next 400.
4: Since then I have been to 6800rpm numerous times with no issues.
5: There is no percievable balance or vibration issues.
5: If I were to do this over again I would go with the Katechs. Only because they say you don't have to resize which means no distortion will occur if you install according to their method.

Your results may vary.

 

OK, thanks guys. It sounds like I should be pretty safe if I change the stockers out for the katech ones. This is definitely somthing I want to do just as a precaution before I throw my blower on next year.

Now, does anyone have a good guide on how to install these, preferably with pics?

Thanks.

 

no one had some install tips?

 

i just bought the arp bolts only because there was a 100 dollar difference the machine shop im using say they have a hard time resizing the ls1 rods on account of how the rod is made. ill know in a few days if the arps will work or not.

 

Lots more up to date information around then this 7 year old thread. A lot of people have used these rod bolts since and can shed light on the subject.