Howdy,

I ran sum brand LS7 Lifters and never had an issue with them at 7,300~7,400 RPM limiters

I have BTR in my daily with no issue.

The only issues I've had were oil pressure related and when I get oil pressure again they pump up fine. So basically have never had a lifter issue


Trying to figure out if I want to build another budget engine or finish a nicer engine. How crazy is it to wring out the "LS7 Lifters" from summit or any other equivalent to 8,000 RPM (probably limiter of 7,600 to 7,800)

Anyone had any experience?

 

I've got about 3000 miles on some GM LS7 lifters ( real takeouts, not whatever people claim are LS7 lifters ) with a bunch of trips to 8K and everything is good to go. I'm swapping gears in my rear axle and will be limiting RPM to about 7000 once I do, but I don't think 8K is outrageous, provided the valvetrain is set up properly.

 

I honestly don't know where to procure genuine LS7 Lifters. I just assume they're all the China reproduction ones. I called a dealer one time and they quoted me 700$ for em.

Know where to get genuine ones for a decent price?

Also I've never had a rocker fail in any form, and I've never done trunions. My buddies did trunions on a LS2 and it had multiple rocker failures within 1,000 miles. So I'm personally not inclined to touch the stock ones until I have a failure

 

I got mine as takeouts from a member on here, reasonably priced and a really good seller. His screen name is dmracing. It's possible he may still have some.

 

I’ve purchased from dmracing. He’s in Michigan and he gets lifters in bulk straight from the source that supplies GM. Keep in mind that GM doesn’t build parts, they build vehicles. They are supplied parts from vendors at best price. The vendors stamp part numbers on parts if requested by GM. Packaging is what determines brand, 99% of the time. A package is just a package….it doesn’t necessarily make one part better than another. To be fair here, if I’m going to plan on an 8k rpm build, it’s gonna have link bar lifters. The Oem lifter buckets catch a lot of oil, and slow the drainback process. At 8k, you need oil control. As mentioned above, valvetrain control is paramount. It’s a lot more affordable to build an engine as nice as you can afford once, vs having to build it twice, with lesser quality parts, to save a little money. Food for thought….

 

BTR LS7 lifters are made in the USA. Not sure about other sources. Morel and Johnson are probably a better lifter but cost more as well.

 

I will definitely do some 8,000 rpm budget stuff on a 300$ engine for science but not for this one.

If I'm being honest with myself I'll probably be fine at 7000~7400 like I have been for years with regular BTR LS7 or the LS7 the guy here sells


Someday I'll do some higher RPM stuff for fun on a cheaper engine

 

One of the machine shops I've been to in Cleveland let me know Morel was local to him. Said he doesn't like them 🤣

But everyone has an opinion

 

I would like to point out the Original GM "LS7" Lifters were made by a different supplier then the Current ones being sold by GM or any one else that is buying them in bulk and reselling them as"LS7 Lifters". In My opinion, They are not the same quality as the original.

Yes They do work. Yes they seem to get the job done. Is there something better? Absolutely

That being said, The Cadillac Racing Lifters 88958689 were designed to handle sustained 8000 RPM.

Also it should be noted that GM used Johnson Lifters for the COPO program.

There are many companies that sell "Performance lifters" But very few that will stand behind what they sell. I would talk to any company your considering directly and see what they recommend and why they specifically recommend it. You might be surprised at the answers you get or in some cases what they don't say...

 

A lot of truth and common sense in this post.

 

For brand support, Johnson will have my business always. Friend of mines engine had the axles of two of his 2116 lifters walk out and make some nice key ways in the lifter bores. Johnson didn't even think twice about sending him a new set. Just had to verify who purchased them originally and needed the batch code off them and another set was at his door in days.

 

I have reved my LS6 with factory lifters to 7400 rpm without issues. However, building my LS3 I chose Johnson 2116 lifters for high RPM use. The rest of the build is too expensive to gamble.

 

No problem to run that lifter.

8200+ rpm shift every single pass. Been to 8900 handful of times. Thousands of street miles. No issues. LS7 lifters from BTR, 7 years ago. Still in service.

There is nothing that magically breaks at higher engine speeds. Take care to achieve good valve train geometry and lightweight parts for max longevity.

 

Ayyy now this guy parties this is what I like to hear

 

 

Just being completely objective about this and being honest with ourselves

Question #1 How high can I rev stock and "LS7 Style lifters?"

Answer:
I've personally taken mine to 7,400 many times without issue. Others have gone higher. I called BTR and asked if I could wring them out to 8,000 and they said people do it but it's not recommended. So "safe" internet generally proven is around 7000, people often and frequently go higher without issue of collapsing a lifter or power nosing over

Question #2 Where are all these "LS7 Lifters" coming from?

Answer:
Nobody (not summit, not jegs, not BTR, not Trick Flow) at least to my knowledge has put out a simple video of these lifters coming off their assembly line where they finish grind, inspect, and box their lifters. If they made them or had a "supplier" that was theirs that made them I'm sure they could. If we could buy from their "supplier" directly we would. Why does the boxes all these lifters are in never say what the country of origin is? Alibaba has the same looking lifters on their website...

Let's all just be honest with ourselves


I do not know the guy on LS1TECH supplying these lifters but I'm inclined to believe they all come from the same place in China.

I'm hoping someone can prove me wrong or has some sort of proven relationship with wherever they are made for those of us who do not want to spend 1,000$ on Johnson's for our 4,000$ engine builds



So now that begs the question, do we keep buying summit and mystery brand lifters? Should someone buy some Alibaba ones and take them apart and measure them with mics and put them next to BTR, Summit etc.

Should we keep paying 200~300$ for mystery "LS7 Lifters" or should we just run what came from the junkyard

 

I just ordered some 70$ lifters from Amazon to compare with Summit (still in car so maybe not, BTR "LS7", and OEM





If one had access to a material analysis lab what are we wanting to see on these?

 

IIRC, I believe the original GM Supplier was Eaton. Not sure on the current supplier.

 

I have put too many sets of BTR Delphi lifters in builds to count, when I’m doing a an OEM style lifter/tray type build…that lifter is my go-to.
Having said that, I always use either a Johnson 2116 or a 2126 link bar for my performance builds. Always. $1k is nothing when you’re spending $15-$20k+ on a performance build.

 

My take is if Brian Tooley says on video his LS7 lifters are made in the USA, I'll believe him. I doubt that there is a patent on them at this point, so it's possible some one has reproduced them. Are they better quality than what's made in China? I'd like to think so but I don't have any way of knowing for certain. I have BTR LS7 lifters in my car for about 20K. They seem to be working fine.