i recently purchased a cam and springs (MTI X1 and 918s). I was told that i do not need pushrods or retainers for this cam, that the stock equipment would hold just fine. Any truth to that? btw cam specs are 230/227 .591-.571 112

 

they will "work"......the stock pushrods are really weak and will flex under the added spring pressure/cam profile/RPM/etc. and may bend over time.....


to me it's another "do it right the first time and don't worry about it ever again...."

 

I researched the heck out of these questions before I did my cam. Bottom line is that yes the stock push rods will work but I have heard several stories of them bending with a stock cam because of missed shifts. My thoughts on this were that my new cam with more lift, more aggressive ramp rate would put more stress on the push rods so I decided to go ahead and get hardened ones. The retainers are good but I got titaniums for less weight.

Hope this helps.

 

oh my bad.....didn't notice the retainer part....

that is a 100% YES they will work.......titanium is better but it comes down to money.....if you have the money then think about it (any weight cut = higher RPM and better spring life) but if you don't then don't worry about it....


pushrods bend with the stock setup because people F*ck up and over rev the engine.....this causes the valves to float and smack the pistons which slams the valve train and the weakest link goes (the pushrods)..........if you don't mess up your shift then you won't bend pushrods (unless your spring pressure/ramp rates are too much for the pushrods to take)......the major problem is flex which hurts lift/ramp rates/adds harmonics which CAN cause valve float/etc......