Anyone put a lot of miles on a setof roller rockers?

I am trying to piece together some info for an upcoming 327 build and was wondering if anyone has put a set of full roller rockers through the paces and say racked up 50,000 miles on a set?

I have had sets on race cars etc. , but never a set on a daily.

I need real mileage here not years.........

 

I've got well over 100K on the Cranes that were in the Pusher. Of course I was always real gentle with it.

I have an aquaintence that has a set of harland sharps he's been racing on a Big Block chevy since the '60s. Well several different motors. He had one fail in the later '90s. Called them and they just replaced it no questions asked.

OK that had nothing to do with your question but its kind of a neat story.

 

Thanks for the question Root, I am looking for the same info.

 

Roothawg, absolutely have some high mileage drivers out there. Moderate spring pressures, and synthetic oil will help in prolonging the life. I know you take care of your engines, so consider a maintenance check occasionally for early signs of a bearing failure. I know you can relate to some of the extreme pressures of a triple valve spring and the abuse on the valve train for short to moderate runs. Cut that way down for moderate valve spring pressures, and high mileage life is not an issue. Of course you also get what you pay for with roller rockers, big diffrence between a white box roller and a $400 set of rollers. I will always take a new set of full rollers and soak them in the oil to be run in the engine for several hours before install. BDM

 

Stainless will live longer than Aluminum.

 

I suggest those steel Crane Magnums. They don't get chewed up if things come unraveled in other parts of the valvetrain like aluminum parts do. I know of several high mileage cars with them, but don't have an exact mileage count. None of them have really aggressive grinds though (no solids or rollers).

 

FWIW, we have alot of Harley guy's out there, and for all but race engines, I highly recomend roller tip ONLY. Use the full rollers, { fulcrum and tip } on race only apps. The minor diffrence in performance is not worth the added cost, maintanence, and higher failure rate. Remember the Harley is a air cooled engine, and the extreme temps that arise in various traffic situations out weigh the benefits of full rollers. ESPECIALLY the rear cylinder head. BDM

 

The cam will be a mild grind. It under a half inch of lift.

 

No worries brother, match the spring rate to the cam and its intended useage, double check all your clearances and spec's and you'll get 100K. Watch for spring retainer to to underside of rocker clearance, and of course rocker to valve cover on a new set up. Check your geometry/ pushrod length.

 

Root, I've got a set of Comp Cams rollers that have about 60,000 miles on them (Street hydraulic grind comp cam). I've used synthetic oil since the breakin and check them every spring when I get the car out for the summer and haven't had to adjust them since break in (zero lash + 1/8-1/4 turn down and find NO debris in the oil at change interval.

Frank

 

Chevrolet installed roller rockers in some of their factory engines. I have two engines that came from Chevrolet with hydraulic roller camshafts and roller lifters. They also came with roller rockers. I run the pooey out of them and have had no issues. One of the engines has 52 thousand miles on it ( no problems ) and the other one only has about 5 thousand. BUT they are NOISY. It sounds almost like the valves need adjusting.

I had a set of Harlan Sharp on a wild BBC years ago. Ran them about 5 years without a issue.

.

 

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Its when you get into heavy spring rates and lots of lift that you start to have problems.

I'm running an L-79 cam in the Pusher motor. Not lots of lift just good ramps if that helps any at all. We worked out the milage on the motor awhile back and it has somewhere in the neighbothood of 139,000 give or take a grand.

I do intend to replace the needle bearings when I freshen it just because prudence says I should. From what I understand they have a tendency to get flat spots because the needles don't roll all the way around like they would in a normal bearing type of situation. I can't prove that is true but if I believe it is I should make sure they are up to snuff.

 

I have a set of Harland Sharps in a 289 Ford, 1.6 ratio..110# seat x 320# open @ .510 lift hyd FT 242°..over 30k miles and engine is always in the 2k-3k range..They look like new, everytime I check adjustment I find nothing changed...Only thing I like to do is run Lash Caps as they give the rollers a wider contact surface and more stability than running on the valve alone....

 

I had a set of Cranes in the Chevelle that I just got rid of. Probably put 35k-40k on those w/out incident.

 

As long as they are on good condition , why not keep using them ? You use the roller lifter with 200,000+ miles on them so why should the roller rockers on the other end on the valve train be any different ? Just check the wheels good and if they turn easily with no binding them use them forever till they give out ! Roller rockers and roller lifters is one of the best things that were made for an engine ! they last forever as long as they have plenty of good , clean oil !

Retro Jim

 

The reason I am asking is that I have a friend who runs ablown big block with a set of aftermarket roller lifters. I know, apples and oranges, but he has lost 3 sets of roller lifters, including a set of the "heavy duty" lifters, in under 5,000 miles. I know the solid roller is not ideal for the street and the seat pressures are a lot higher, but still....it makes me wonder about the reliability of aftermarket parts.

 

harland sharp! 5 years in a race motor, then 25k on the street, so far, so good, not a problem!!! a friend had one come apart, they sent him a whole set ans said, send back what ya don`t use! thats service!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I have the CompCam roller tip rockers with 118,000 miles No problems.Edelbrock Performer Cam.#55 Chevy.

 

has he looked into lifter bore alignment?

i've been running some harland sharp rocker on a stone stock sbc that powered my 51 for a few years, and now my 66 c-10. the motor is a unopened tired old 350 from a 71 truck with a dead cylinder. when i put the motor in the truck i turned one of the stock chevy valve covers upside down to move the oil fill hole or something. never gave it much thought until the end of the summer, after logging nearly 10,000 miles(a lot of road trips this year) i noticed a lot of oil residue in the engine compartment, i push the vacuum hose to the dizzy aside and what i thought was a daub of oil, was a hole worn in the steel valve cover from the rocker arm! all 8 on that side were rubbing, swapped the cover out and the rockers only showed very minimal wear, hard anodizing is hard. the oil was clean and the motor is still going. doesn't really say much about the rockers, just an anecdote.

i wouldn't hesitate to run any quality modern rollers as long as you buy them new.

 

About 80,000 miles on a set of FORD MOTORSPORT "Blue Cranes" 1.60 on a set of GT-40 iron heads with a B-303 roller cam... I used synthetic oil the whole time... They still look like new.. I'd use those again on my next 302/5.0L build..

 

I had ran 327/steel crank/1.94 small chamber heads/492 lift cam/11.1 forged flat tops/tunnel ram w/2x4with a set of Comp Cam Magnum 1.5 to 1 ratio roller tip rockers in my 39 Olds coupe for 9 years. This car saw 7000rpm....a whole lot. Never had any motor problems.....

 

Darkk, that very close to what I will be running sans the tunnel ram.

 

On project Wildthing I am running a BBC with miles of hiway to cover and when investigating roller rockers the thing that drag guys don't seem to know is that all the major players make offshore marine endurance parts, some of which are not in the catalogs, some are. I found a set of Crane marine rockers and feel they are the answer for a street car. Not cheap, of course, I think retail was $550.00! But the difference between them and the normal price is a lot cheaper then a few miles down the road redoing an engine. I hope the pressure fed solid lifters can take the miles as well, it's only going to run a .650 lift or so.

 

I have 181,OOO miles on a 455 with a set of Harland Sharps with over 1/2" lift. Plus, when I built the motor, they were used! Have no idea how many more miles were on them prior. No issues at all. never even had the valve covers off except once at 65K to change the cam, did not like the first grind. Probably have well over 3OO,OOO miles on different ones. After tear down, they still look fine. Very happy with their long life. will reuse them again a 3rd time. Have a few sets on different engines. Never used fancy oil either, just wal mart stuff. $1O for 5 quarts. Highly recommend the Harland Sharps.

 

I have only run Comp Cams Pro Magnum stainless roller rockers for long term street use and Mobil 1 full synthetic oil. I do not like the idea of aluminum rockers for street applications and have heard too many horror stories about failures - that may be from cheaply made pieces. Weren't aluminum rrs originally designed as drag race pieces? But as we see here, results may vary....

 

got rollers (cheap ones) on all my engines, no problems, and I drive them hard. I could be lucky though. I also take good care of my junk.

 

Interesting. I've had opposite experience - sort of! I put some Comp Cams stainless roller rockers in my street Vette - after 2 seasons in my L88 road race car - boy, were they noisy ! Seemed to be a lot of side play in the fulcrum rollers. Called Comp Cams - they said - yep - they wear out !! Offered to rebuild them for about what a new set costs !

Not really pertinent to the post 'cause of their previous use in race service - at 7000 rpm - but I guess I was surprised they wore so badly in relatively short service. Not cheap pieces!.

 

Well I have had good luck with Comp Cams roller rockers in two different engines. the one in avatar has 23,000 miles, 288H Comp Cam in 383 Stroker. Other engine was a 406 towing motor in a Suburban and we went over 100,000 miles with it.

 

I had a small stroker (362) in an S-10 a few years back and it had roller rockers. Never an issue with a slightly lumpy hydrualic cam. Pulled the motor when the truck was sold and put it in a '55 wagon and as far as I know it's still running strong.