My results are similar to yours. ARP makes real hard bolts. And trying to get them to stretch takes way more torque than I want to put on a little rod. Why does everything have to be so complicated? Sometimes I just torque them to the recommended torque realizing that I surely didn't get them to the stretch that it calls for. Bear in mind that everything is going to be fine and it's not going to come apart because you didn't get the proper stretch.