LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Skip White, anyone run them?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 07-31-2012, 10:13 AM
  #1  
TECH Fanatic
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
SAPPER's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Halfway back on the Highway to Hell...again!
Posts: 1,579
Received 251 Likes on 175 Posts

Default Skip White, anyone run them?

Has anyone had any dealings with Skip White products? I'm thinking of running their rockers. Good price. Granted, he backs them with a "lifetime warranty", but, IMHO, a warranty on a rocker is just a dime in the pot if a rocker does break. It's not like a company is going to pay for everything else that goes along with it. $150.xx for some rockers isn't much on to repair on a $8,000+ engine.

But on the other hand, if guys had good results, then nothing to complain about for a good rocker at a great price.

My motor will be shifting @ 6500-6700.
Old 07-31-2012, 05:39 PM
  #2  
On The Tree
iTrader: (1)
 
3 pedal SS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I have never heard of them. The valve train is NOT a place to cut corners. Spend the extra coin on some Pro Mags.
Old 07-31-2012, 05:46 PM
  #3  
12 Second Club
iTrader: (15)
 
Z28Camaro30Ann's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cheyenne, Wy
Posts: 1,928
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Who says it is cutting corners?? Comp Cams was new and had no reputation at one point in time...Every company HAS to start somewhere.

I say you are starting in the right place OP. See if anyone has any good or bad experiences with them. Post up a link so that we all can look and see if we see any flags or warnings, or if we see anything good. Lifetime Warranty is a good thing to see. If a rocker breaks, the damage MAY be minimal if caught in time. I had a rocker slip off the pushrod in mid launch once. I noticed the loss in power instantly and I shut it down. No actual damage was done and it took 15 minutes to fix. HOWEVER if something else DOES go wrong I do agree it would suck...

If noone here has any experience with them or if all is well, why not give them a shot? Who knows, maybe they have a great undiscovered product! Who knows what people said bout Comp Cams and Bullet and Lloyd Elliott before they had their reputations behind their name...If noone EVER takes a risk, how can a new company flourish? How can new products be discovered?

Do your research and make your own choices man.
Old 07-31-2012, 05:52 PM
  #4  
On The Tree
iTrader: (1)
 
3 pedal SS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Go right ahead and experiment. Its a free world. Probably an excellent China product thats going to corner the market on rockers.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:01 PM
  #5  
12 Second Club
iTrader: (15)
 
Z28Camaro30Ann's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cheyenne, Wy
Posts: 1,928
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by 3 pedal SS
Go right ahead and experiment. Its a free world. Probably an excellent China product thats going to corner the market on rockers.
Wow, chill with the hostility man, I said DO RESEARCH. We don't know where they are made, or anything about them. There is NOTHING wrong with researching them and finding these things out!

It is nice to have these awesome companies these days that have HUGE reputations, TRUSTED products and everything...but it was not always like this. People HAVE to research businesses and products to determine the quality, but if everything seems ok then you have to TRY it in order to really KNOW what they are about. Otherwise new businesses only fail and new products die. Why do you think there is no market for LTX products??? Maybe because people are scared to try anything without a huge brand name on it?

If he does good research and everything checks out then great. If he does good research and finds something wrong, then back it off and choose someone else. Simple as that...
Old 07-31-2012, 06:12 PM
  #6  
12 Second Club
iTrader: (15)
 
Z28Camaro30Ann's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cheyenne, Wy
Posts: 1,928
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

http://www.skipwhiteperformance.com/...roduct=V&Sub=A

I assume this is the site the OP is referring to. They do nt list where the parts are made. They are based out of Tennessee and make some pretty bold claims.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:15 PM
  #7  
12 Second Club
iTrader: (15)
 
Z28Camaro30Ann's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cheyenne, Wy
Posts: 1,928
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Also, the site seems fairly vague and underdeveloped. He seems to have a full staff working for him but the "About Us" really doesnt tell me much.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:15 PM
  #8  
TECH Regular
 
93 LT1 Vette's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Deep in the heart of Texas
Posts: 441
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

I believe those rockers are sold on Ebay. Aluminum and can be had in NSA and SA. No real word on durablility, cheap price.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:19 PM
  #9  
12 Second Club
iTrader: (15)
 
Z28Camaro30Ann's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cheyenne, Wy
Posts: 1,928
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Yeah, even the product descriptions on the website are just the Ebay ads copied and pasted into the site. You would think that if they were serious they would at LEAST revise the descriptions to something a little less....cheezy lol.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:22 PM
  #10  
On The Tree
 
goinfast's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Stokes Bay,Ontario Canada
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

You always get what you pay for.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:31 PM
  #11  
12 Second Club
iTrader: (15)
 
Z28Camaro30Ann's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cheyenne, Wy
Posts: 1,928
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Sometimes...but sometimes a company comes out with a great product...but for THIS reason they can't just throw out a price that is equivalent to or more than the big named companies...they HAVE to start at a low price and that can increase as the reputation increases. Otherwise the business falls apart due to people using that exact mentality. As I said...DO RESEARCH and make a choice. I am not saying blindly buy. Cheap is definitely a red flag right off the bat...but you need to find out WHY it is cheap...is it outsourced production, is it low quality materials, is it just because they are starting out and don't have the reputation to support a high price tag. Find the reason before you write the product off. Just saying.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:41 PM
  #12  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (2)
 
RamAir95TA's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 9,467
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts

Default

Originally Posted by Z28Camaro30Ann
...is it outsourced production, is it low quality materials, is it just because they are starting out and don't have the reputation to support a high price tag
You can guarantee it's one of the first two for sure.
Old 07-31-2012, 06:51 PM
  #13  
12 Second Club
iTrader: (15)
 
Z28Camaro30Ann's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Cheyenne, Wy
Posts: 1,928
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

In this case, after looking at the website, I am going to have to agree because they do not specifically state "Made in the USA" and it says they are "manufactured by a premium roller rocker company as a private label item."

I was making a generalized point though. Not specifically FOR these guys...I just think people need to research a new company or product BEFORE they bad mouth it or write it off.
Old 07-31-2012, 09:34 PM
  #14  
On The Tree
iTrader: (2)
 
Fast350Z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: MD
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post

Default

I bought a fuel pump with a lifetime warranty and a few other parts from them on ebay. They seem like a legit business.
Old 08-01-2012, 07:57 AM
  #15  
TECH Fanatic
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
SAPPER's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Halfway back on the Highway to Hell...again!
Posts: 1,579
Received 251 Likes on 175 Posts

Default

Since I'm an Impala Owner, I reside on this site a bit. here's how I heard about them and on post #5, this guy had good results so far. But he's only one.

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBullet...ght=skip+white

I called them and talked to a lady about 1.6 SA because they don't have them listed but they do have them.

I'm always willing to give to give the small guy a chance. He has his own racecars...but does he run his own product???
Old 08-01-2012, 08:18 AM
  #16  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (2)
 
RamAir95TA's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 9,467
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts

Default

Understand that it's probably not HIS product. It's is most likely rebranded Chinese junk, and if you do a search you'll see more than a few failures regarding Chinese rockers. Valvetrain isn't something you just "give a chance." Consider the options.

1.) They work fine. You save a hundred dollars or so.

2.) They fail, sending hundreds of tiny needle bearings into your oil pan and passages, doing tons of damage. Or the SA lips wear off, the rocker slips, and you bend pushrods/valves and/or end up eyebrowing a piston. You're out a thousand or so.

If giving the little guy a chance is worth the risk to you, go for it. But we're talking alot of money if something goes wrong.

Now if he was selling something cheap like paper towels I'd say go for it, not crucial engine parts.
Old 08-01-2012, 10:31 AM
  #17  
11 Second Club
iTrader: (1)
 
96capricemgr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,975
Likes: 0
Received 12 Likes on 12 Posts

Default

Skip White has been around some time, not that recent a startup.

That said there are a lot of brands of parts and relatively few manufacturers.

If you spend enough time looking for pictures to compare I pretty much guarantee you can figure out who else is selling the same rocker than you would have a larger sample size to research. I would start by comparing them to say ProForm.

I would feel comfortable saying they are chinese that is about the only reason to be vague about where things are made and even chinese stuff gets branded as "American" by some companies who do some minor assembly or something here just to pretend. Hell they can't even get a steady color supply maybe this is all someone's blems?
Old 08-01-2012, 10:41 AM
  #18  
TECH Fanatic
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
 
SAPPER's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Halfway back on the Highway to Hell...again!
Posts: 1,579
Received 251 Likes on 175 Posts

Default

When I did a search on here, nothing came up. But a Google search brought this up on here.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...ifference.html
Old 08-01-2012, 11:01 AM
  #19  
TECH Resident
iTrader: (1)
 
Big Al's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 970
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

Originally Posted by goinfast
You always get what you pay for.
Really? In my opinion that's bad logic.

Al 95 Z28
Old 08-01-2012, 11:07 AM
  #20  
11 Second Club
iTrader: (1)
 
96capricemgr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,975
Likes: 0
Received 12 Likes on 12 Posts

Default

You are building a 6700rpm stroker right?

What uis it going to cost if an experiment starts shedding needle bearings gets misaligned beats the hell out of a retainer and valvetip sending aluminum bits from the rocker through the oilpump..................................

Ask SSonic on the other forum about that, believe one of his rebuilds was due to CAT rockers failing at self-aligning themselves.

A successful build on a budget is all about spending money where it matters. I bought a nice topend for my car but then I still run a stock damper, stock wheels on front even racing, stock coil, stock opti, mostly stock suspension and it works. Now if I had cut short my valvetrain budget so I could buy a $500 damper or skinnies, or an MSD opti or something the risk to the engine is increased with little to nothing to show for it in performance.

I would say take a look at the rest of your build and find somewhere else to cut a corner. The forums usually have guys spending a LOT on **** they don't need and then buying "budget" parts where it counts.
Were you buying new lifters when your original ones were OK??

I would do a chinese opti before buying another set of chinese rockers(I have owned ProForm and CAT) reasoning being if an opti fails it is a PITA but the risk to thousands of dollars worth of engine from that failure would be minimal. Where if the rocker comes apart serious engine damage is a definite concern.

Far as the "you get what you pay for" there is SOME truth to it but it is not a hard and fast rule. If something is exceptionally cheap it is probably exceptionally cheap in all aspects, but often times at the other end of the scale a high price is for marketing and name and often something to the high side of the middle of the scale but well below the top is better or at least good enough that the most expensive has VERY little to be gained over it for a lot of extra money.


Quick Reply: Skip White, anyone run them?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:22 AM.