Hy-Lift Johnson Flat Tappet Hydraulic Lifters

Anyone here have much experience with the Johnson Hy-Lift hydraulic flat tappet lifters 5003S from Hughes? I just experienced my first set of hydraulic flat tappets from Bullet (I assume originally Comp) that failed and kept bleeding down. No lobe damage, just won't stay pumped up. So I ordered a set of the Hy Lift Johnson's from Hughes 5003S. Just wondering if anyone has any feedback on them.

Thanks
Darren

I’m curious as to why you would assume Bullet was buying lifters from Comp instead of going direct to the manufacturer.

For Mopar applications, the flat tappets from Comp are made by Hylift and Eaton.
What you get depends on availability.

For Mopar non-specialty type flat tappets(regular lifters), Hylift Johnson is currently the only US manufacturer that produces them.

Thanks Dwayne. I thought Comp had purchased Bullet, but guess I am mistaken. What are your thoughts on the Johnson Hy-Lifts?

I'm using the Hughes 5003S... no problems at all... no noise or bleed own, etc.

Also, yes, Johnson is the predominant flat tappet mfgr ... if not the only remaining one... regardless of whoever is the packaging name... they're all made by Johnson (not sure about Eaton as they may've exited the flat tappet mfg'g).

Kinda off topic but there are Hy-lift Johnson and Johnson lifters. They both claim US made. Who knows the truth? Looking for a set of hydraulic rollers for a Gen III Hemi. Just want quality.

'Johnson Lifters' is good quality performance lifters, they make pushrod oiling Gen III roller lifters and also do lifters for GM for the Copo Camaro race car. Have had issues with 'Hylift Johnson' lifters from Comp on several engines - Mopar and others.

Just a comment having spent a reasonable mount of time in corporate R&D as well as manufacturing.
Most major manufacturer's have Final test procedures of some type. There are normally also different specifications supplied by the end user (say comp cams)
During the manufacturing two identical parts made at the same time on the same machine may perform differently for a number of reasons to numerous to list. So we have Final Test. This is where the completed parts are subjected to a variety of tests under different conditions and then sorted according to their performance. For example:
A "Bin1" part is the highest quality and consequently is priced at a premium.
"Bin 2" is slightly lower on performance and priced cheaper.
"Bin 3" is middle of the road on performance and priced cheaper yet.
"Bin 4" is still functional but may fail if exposed to Bin 1 spec's
'Bin 5" is a reject and gets recycled of scrapped

In addition, The end user say Ford, may require their own set of test parameters: In the case of hydraulic lifters it might be x amount of spring pressure with different viscosity's of oil under extremely hot and cold temps.

Blueprint engines may be buying Bin1's

Comp Cams may be buying a bin 1, 2 or 3 part.

the local parts house will likely be selling bin 4's as their house brand, TRW may be Bin 3's, Bin 2's and the

Joe Blows engine kit supply company is going to go for the bin 4's and probably other stock crate engine rebuilders.

One also has to keep in mind the current supply chain problems may have caused some deviation in acceptable quality as well

In closing I will also say we have 3 rethreading kits. 1 Snap on 185.00?, 1 Mac tools 125.00, and 1 Craftsman 59.00.
They are ABSOLUTELY identical in every way except for the label on the outside. Even the inside label is the same as is the box and its grain patter. Are these Bin 1, 2, 3 tools or are they exactly the same? only the Manufacturer and the buyer at the 3 companies know for sure

usually, when something breaks at a level it shouldn't have broke, will be the telling tale...........

I worked in manufacturing for 40 years. Circuit boards and Class 8 trucks. I have never seen anything like you outline in the above.

I wonder which “bin” the lifters come out of when they’re shipped direct to the end user from the manufacturer, and come in boxes with the manufacturers name/logo all over them.

""For example:
A "Bin1" part is the highest quality and consequently is priced at a premium.
"Bin 2" is slightly lower on performance and priced cheaper.
"Bin 3" is middle of the road on performance and priced cheaper yet.
"Bin 4" is still functional but may fail if exposed to Bin 1 spec's
'Bin 5" is a reject and gets recycled of scrapped""

I agree 100% with this example. I worked in the tire industry for 12 years designing/building tire/wheel balancing equipment for the OE companies. The tires are also graded similar to the above.
When our machines graded a certain brand of tire, our machines gave each tire a grade (A to D, A being the best tire due to the balance recorded). Lets say our customer ran 4,000 of Joe Schmo's A/T tire (exact size, model, etc) thru our machines. The best grade (A) was diverted down the conveyor marked for the OE facilities (Subaru, BMW, etc.). Then grade B would be diverted down the conveyor for the higher end tire stores (BF Goodrich, Goodyear, etc.). Then maybe the grade C would be diverted down the conveyor for the lower end tire stores (Discount Tire, AAA Tire, etc.) then the grade D would either be sent out to the Walmart's of the world. Then the E's would be called bad.
All of the above names and brands are for example only. We were only told where the A grades were delivered too and the rest were usually kept pretty secret unless an employee spilled the beans.

The OE's always got the best graded tire of any brand or size. Then depending on the deal made, certain stores got the B's, C's etc depending on the contract. So the first five tires of the exact brand/size/model name could have gone to five different customers depending on how well each tire was built. The best tire (balance grade) that you can buy is usually on a brand new car.

FWIW, this is a quote from Mike Jones (Jones Racing Cams) on another forum where people were asking about what quality lifters were available for SBC these days: "We've sold thousands of the Johnson-Hylift lifters, since they changed to the new foundry, and have had zero issues."

Considering the state of the industry (outsider's perspective), I'd want to be sure of where my lifters are sourced these days.

And after installing the Johnson HyLifts into my customers 383/489 stroker and replacing the POS failed lifters from Bullet, I can tell you I will only go with Johnson HyLifts from this moment forward. Those failed lifters cost me time and money on my customers project. I'll happily pay the higher cost for the Johnsons. I got these from Hughes for this Mopar, hoping I can find them for GM and Ford now. Need to find a supplier for Brand X Johnsons.

If you get a chance, take one of those Bullet lifters apart and get a pic of the internals.

Will do! Here is a video on my FB page after I removed them. https://www.facebook.com/MusclecarRepairService/videos/217922380544797

Take one apart and lay out the pieces.

The different brands use different check valve and metering systems, so you should be able to see who made them.

Nowadays, for a Mopar...... you’re basically looking at two manufacturers. Johnson and Eaton.
They’re not the same inside.

I've seen them do that due to a tiny bit of debris getting stuck in the little flapper valve in the interior tip on the bottoms of the lifter top, cleaned them and they worked fine
New motors make debris while breaking in that will circulate in the oil