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I can tell you from experience that I would be hesitant to run any aluminum rocker on a high RPM engine with high lift cam or spring over say 500 lbs open. I ran a set of Dove roller rockers (sold by Hughes in 2004 until they changed to an in house design) on my 383 with COMP street mechanical roller cam. I broke 2 rockers before I wizened up and bought the COMP magnum rockers, made of steel. Aluminum will stress fatigue and eventually break given a high enough number of cycles. Steel on the other hand, potentially will last an infinite number of cycles if the stress is low enough.

I cannot tell you where the cutoff would be where aluminum is guaranteed to break. My aluminum rockers lasted 10k miles of street driving with 500 pound open pressure springs at only .550 lift. Some may say that is a decent lifespan for aluminum rockers. But once one broke (and I thought it was an isolated incident), the second broke only 60 miles later. The hassle, cost and downtime of all of the repair work makes me wish I'd ponied up for the COMP rockers up front.

Bottom line is to discuss your application and get a guarantee from the seller. Otherwise you should always err on the side of caution and pony up for better components. Granted to I did not consult my application with Hughes when I ordered my rocker arms, BUT Hughes would not support me AT ALL when my rockers broke and I basically went to another vendor to buy the COMP rockers. Don't forget that not all rockers all have the same geometry, which means new push rods may be needed as well, so it's not as easy as JUST replacing the rocker arms.

Last note is to use high quality fasteners to hold down your rocker arms!

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This is interesting. Aren`t Jesel, Harlands and T&D Alum. Been taking my H&S`s past 7000 for years and I know of 8000+ rpm motors w/Alum. rockers.............

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I can tell you from experience that I would be hesitant to run any aluminum rocker on a high RPM engine with high lift cam or spring over say 500 lbs open. I ran a set of Dove roller rockers (sold by Hughes in 2004 until they changed to an in house design) on my 383 with COMP street mechanical roller cam. I broke 2 rockers before I wizened up and bought the COMP magnum rockers, made of steel. Aluminum will stress fatigue and eventually break given a high enough number of cycles. Steel on the other hand, potentially will last an infinite number of cycles if the stress is low enough.

I cannot tell you where the cutoff would be where aluminum is guaranteed to break. My aluminum rockers lasted 10k miles of street driving with 500 pound open pressure springs at only .550 lift. Some may say that is a decent lifespan for aluminum rockers. But once one broke (and I thought it was an isolated incident), the second broke only 60 miles later. The hassle, cost and downtime of all of the repair work makes me wish I'd ponied up for the COMP rockers up front.

Bottom line is to discuss your application and get a guarantee from the seller. Otherwise you should always err on the side of caution and pony up for better components. Granted to I did not consult my application with Hughes when I ordered my rocker arms, BUT Hughes would not support me AT ALL when my rockers broke and I basically went to another vendor to buy the COMP rockers. Don't forget that not all rockers all have the same geometry, which means new push rods may be needed as well, so it's not as easy as JUST replacing the rocker arms.

Last note is to use high quality fasteners to hold down your rocker arms!

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I want to clarify my previous post. I'm not saying that all aluminum rocker arms are "guaranteed" to break. I'm just saying my aluminum rockers did break due to fatigue stress, and that now I personally trust steel rockers in my application (roller cam in a street car).

Now I do agree with the comment you get what you pay for. And with aftermarket speed parts like this, I've found that what you don't get is any support or warranty after the purchase. So do your research ahead of time and buy wisely. I believe '72CudaRacer is smart to be on this board doing just that. Which is why I'm just trying to give him at least one data point as reference. I personally have no experience with the new Hughes rockers or T&D/Jesel/Harland Sharp, but I'm glad to hear that others have had positive experiences.

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Hear what you`re sayin and as stated, comparing Dove to any of the mentioned bad azz rockers is apples to oranges and if you`ve been around long enuff you should of heard that by now...........