BB rods, preference?

BB Chevy journal and pin, 7.100". It has BME 426 forgings which have performed great. The problem is maintenance. 300 passes comes up pretty quick. Engine runs to 7100 makes 850-900hp. If I go to steel then I'm sure it's going to need mallory. Steel rods being anywhere from about $600 (Scat, Eagle ,Molinar, etc) to $1500 (Manley, Oliver or for that matter BME). What do you like?
Doug

440 Source is $499 delivered. Good price. Should hold the power and I have no reason to think that any other Chinese rods are any better.

I have K1 rods in my 572, Eagle rods in my 422, Molnars in my 360, K1's in my 408, and 440source are going in my 512 engine that I am putting together right now. All are H beem rods with upgraded rod bolts. my last set of 440sorce rods made 275 8 seconds passes until I found a crack in my 440 block. I sold the whole assembly and it now has 2 Summers on the street. I personally would not buy the Eagle rods but I bought the whole 422 rotating assembly from a Friend.

That's like saying all American rods will have the same quality or power/rpm rating...not good advice...but I get what your saying.
There is a big difference between the way Eagle, Scat, Molnar, K1 and other do their rods compared to Carrillo, Callies, Oliver, etc....
Brian

Brian what are your thoughts? What would you suggest?
Doug

Doug, I would go with the oliver or carrillo rods, even the manleys. There is no sense skimping on the rods a few extra bucks now will save you big bucks later. You know what to do .... Just do it. lol

I've had trouble with rods being up to snuff. I bought a set of Manley Hemi I-beam rods a number of years ago from a SS Hemi racer. They were still new in the box, but when my machinist/engine builder took them apart he found the rod bolts were galled in the threads and under the bolt heads. These rods are around $1600/set new now. I think I paid around $1300 for them and spent another $1k on new rod bolts, ring dowels, and machine work to fix them. For that money, I could have bought Carrillo's with CARR bolts.

I've had problems with other rods for 440s that I've bought as well. One set had the hardness down around 25 HRC, basically the annealed hardness of 4340. Rather disappointing.

At 900 hp I'd most likely buy a set of Oliver rods but I wouldn't be surprised if the SCAT Pro H beam rods handled that power just fine also. Callies makes some nice rods too but they are more expensive than the Olivers.

Crower

We run several years with 1600 hp and K1 rods & crank. Now replaced with Molnar parts. We have 440 source rods in the 528, almost ten years now, first with nitrous, then with a blower and now with twin turbo. No rod problems so far.

I would go with what you have in there now - seems to be working exceptionally well for that combo - but if you were wanting steel then Oliver for reliability - I am looking at the Molnar rods for the HEMI I am building in the same size combo.

Hi Doug do you have aluminum rods now? Then who is the manufacture? If you do have aluminum I like BME no matter what anybody says!!!

BME aluminum right now. car gets around 100 passes a year. I feel 300 runs is safe. Now comes to cost. I can put steel rods in it and be done, Balancing isn't a issue as I can do it. Low cost steel rods, higher end steel, or aluminum. I do like the BME just not the cost every 3 years.
Doug

I can't guarantee this, but I know many guys running Aluminum rods going well over 300 passes. I'm not saying you should...but I know guys that go 500-700 passes with no problems.

I think if you go over the combo with BME, and do what they tell you about maintenance and procedures, you'll find you can double that # you change them at.

CompStar's - 74-7500 900+ 7.90's....Has been 4.60's 1/8 w/NOS in TS and is now back running brackets and SG and never been apart.

Rickster

If I felt good about using aluminum rods for 300 runs, I agree, stay with them. I use Oliver for steel rods but Carrillo would be the cats a$$ if I could afford them. I think they are around #3000. Penkyl would be on the wish list too. No idea how to spell it.

GRP for me. We have been 400+ passes on them with no issues. This was at 1088hp. If you want steel Pankyl are the best, parent company of CP/Carillo. Carillos are nice as well.

I agree with the sentiment to stay with the aluminum rods. No adding Mallory to the crank, easier on the block and bearings. I'd get another set of BME's, since you've had good performance and send the current set back for evaluation, perhaps reuse/spare set. Most of the people I know running aluminum rods go 500+ runs on them, so you're probably being too conservative there. S/F.....Ken M

4 very hard years on my Manley H beams

i have olivers in mine. also found some trans problems so the car should be back to where it was.

I agree 300 passes is a low number. I have a set of BMEs in my 470 low deck I know DVW is making more power than me. But I would be embarassed to tell you how many passes are on them but they are still in it. shift at 7000 traps at 7400.

I run Manley H beams,6.965 long, 7500 to 7800 trap rpm, 2432 bob weight, no problems. ARP2000 bolts.

I was looking at the Manley's as my friend has had good success with them in 1000hp BB chev. But it appears they don't offer it in 7.100". I'm torn between the benefits of the aluminum rod vs maintenance. I'd hate to run one pass to many.
Doug

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/man-14187-8/overview/

It's an I-beam rod with BBC pin and journal sizes.

Same here and at 900 hp they should go more...
easily..

Doug,
GRP OR BME if you stay aluminum. You can send them back to the manufacturer for inspection and use again upon their approval. I think you can get about twice the life you expecting.
If you go steel, we have had best luck with Oliver Parabolic I-beam in that type of engine. Had another brand I-beam fail prematurely with no issues causing it to fail. I am impressed from what we have seen in Molnar H-beams, we are using the same spec rod you are looking for in a 588 Hemi that we are currently working on at our customers request. If you go that route, call me, I can sell them for $550 a set, about $1,000 less than the Oliver rods. However, I am more comfortable with Oliver because of past experiences.
Jeff Day
Precision Automotive Machine