i took a few pics of the different rods to disprove the notion that all these rods are the same. not only do the individual forgings have different beam thicknesses, but they all have different machining in both ends. some have suggested that all of these rods come from the same forgings, i think not. you be the judge. i didn't have a scat rod handy, but it is also different in several ways. as soon as i get some more in, i'll include a pic of that one also.

another, see attachment.

and finally,

thats pretty interesting. some time back, 8-9 months ago, i compared an eagle to a cat and couldn't see any difference ,other than bolts. i didn't have any manleys to look at.

can you see the difference now? i was going to tell which was which, but i'm guessing some folks will be able to do thast right away. of the two "similar" looking rods, check out the difference in the way the bolt holes are machines in particular. one method is stronger than the other.

The threaded portion of the Manley rod looks stronger. Looks like the beam area of the eagle is beefier.

well on this picture the top one is a manly,I have said it here before that on the manlys it looks as if they took some sort of large end ball mill? and made one pass down the middle there and made a real nice looking U groove but on the Eagle it looks as if they used a much smaller bit and had to make two passes leaving an ugly ridge down the center.

I didn't look at the first couple pictures but did you show where the rod bolts would stick through? the manly the bolt doesn't stick out the end where as the on the Eagle it does meaning it doesn't have as much meat.

Ok, so which ones have failed on you?

John, that was me, LOL. glad to see you recognized me. just wait until you see next weeks episode...you won't believe it...

well obv. those rods are not all alike but.....

The distributor I got my rods from swore up and down that he got shippments of all 3 of those brands with the machining for the tangs for the bearings all machined incorrectly, all exactly the same and incorrect. I assume if he was a web savvy type guy he would have taken digital pictures of all those. It would be very interesting to have that picture to put in this thread as well.

Well,well,well,maybe some of the people on this board should listen up instead of talking about things they have never held in their hands,or compared side by side. I posted,and several others mentioned 2-3 years ago that Manley rods were quite different,and better in the big end in my opinion than Eagles and was told no they are the same,I thought I needed glasses or was seeing things,so I gave up,thanks for posting this Performance Only. I will never buy anything but Manleys for a budget build like I do.

i think someone famous once said, a picture is worth a thousand words. of course, that was before photoshop came out, LOL.
the photo's are not doctored in any way here. i would like to see pictures of all three of those brands with the tangs all machined incorrectly. do you want to reveal your source on that wayne?

the rods, from left to right are, eagle, cat, manley. as i said, when i get my order of scats in, i'll post that pic too. all rods are in out of the box condition. the machining differences in some area's appear subtle, but can make a difference in strength characteristics overall.
the area where machined threads are not present in the big end is because they don't want stress risers there. as you can see, some manufacturers must not think it's an issue. bolts do not protrude in to that area.
this is one of those cases where a connecting rod looks like such a simple thing but there is way more to them than meets the eye. i'm not looking for anyone to agree with my taste in con rods, just to understand why i prefer some over the others. after all, in the end a 100 bucks for a biuldup isn't much, but when things go wrong because of a lesser quality part, and they do sometimes if pushed to the limit, the 100 bucks would have been worth it.

However, we are definately looking at three different length rods there. All three are different without question, but I need to see three of the same before saying for sure theyre not made in the same foundary, unless someone in the foundary says so.

Also, just because the finished product may look different, doesnt mean that the basic forging didnt start out the same.

gary, send me three identical rods and i'll post pics of them, LOL. the differences are more than just what is apparent in the pictures, it is also in the critical mass measurements. don't be so skeptical, open your mind. any engine builder that see's these rods on a daily basis will tell you they're different, unless they're blind.
now, just to prove a point, notice the squared off end on the eagle big end? you can't make the same end on the cat, the forging is different. have i ever steered you wrong before???

Without a failure rate, this post is useless! At least to me, I already have the Cat's and I'm using them.

Ofcourse not Dan. Its just that the rough forging makes almost any finished size possible. Even if they were the same, the end product is much, much different by looking at those rods and that proves a point in and of itself. Theyre different even if the forging came from the same place.

And, I for one see the value in this post. I see 3 pretty beefy rods there.