lx9 roller tip roller rockers anyone?

[grnrdragon]

I seen those. I'm not sure why anyone would use them ,they look like box cars sitting on top. they must have some good weight to them.

[bszopi]

I seen those. I'm not sure why anyone would use them ,they look like box cars sitting on top. they must have some good weight to them.

Yeah, I forgot that it matters what they look like, since you'll never seen them... As far as weight, they are gonna weigh the same as any other aluminum body rocker.

[SappySE107]

Stiffer is far more important than weight for most applications.

[grnrdragon]

Stiffer is far more important than weight for most applications.

So why aren't there more people using stainless, nickel, or even titanium rockers?

bszopi I realize no one but you would see them, wasn't try'n to disrespect you or your stuff ether.

[SappySE107]

How much do you know about valvetrain? I told you weight wasn't as important as stiffness and you ask me why companies use cheaper materials proven to be strong enough compared to stamped steel stock rockers rather than exotic or heavier materials.

[grnrdragon]

Was only asking about the other metals because it seem you conserned about rocker flex. thats why I asked to see what you thought about them. I don't have problem running aluminum some of the best are as you should know.

[AaronGTR]

So why aren't there more people using stainless, nickel, or even titanium rockers?

bszopi I realize no one but you would see them, wasn't try'n to disrespect you or your stuff ether.

Because... no one makes any that will fit our app. I myself have used two different sets of aluminum roller rockers on my 3400... crane gold race and scorpion SBC's... and both needed modification to clear the LIM. They have to be narrow body to fit on our splayed valve design heads, and a narrow body AL rocker necessitates a taller height for strength, which is where the clearance problem comes from. The ideal material would be chromoly steel since it is stronger and less metal could be used making them shorter for clearance, however any SBC chromoly rockers that look like they might work are still too wide. I've tried some myself and they don't fit. They used smaller diameter fulcrum bearings because of the shorter height and use a wider fulcrum shaft, probably for strength reasons because of the cam profiles and valve spring pressures seen in some hhi-po chevy V8's, which we don't really approach. Anyway the extra width makes them hit each other on our heads.

What we would need is someone to design a narrow body chromoly rocker specifically for our engine, ideally a self aligning and self adjusting one like stock, with a roller tip and fulcrum and ideally also in different ratios like 1.7 and 1.8:1. If someone made those I'd buy a set myself to get rid of my AL floating rockers. People have been trying to get some made for years though and I don't see it happening.

Honestly, there is very little to gain if anything from going to a roller tip floating rocker in the stock ratio versus the stock rocker. You have to get guide plates and different pushrods, and set the lifter pre-load every time you take them off, they are noisy, and whatever you gain from the roller tip you probably lose in lateral motion and drag from the guide plates and heavier pushrods. I'd just stick with the stock rockers and use good oil for lubrication. At the rpm we typically are turning it won't make much difference. IMO if you could run higher rpm like 8,000 or so then it might make more difference, but there are other limiting factors preventing us from doing that (like a weak timing chain, and transmission constraints), so it's a waste of time anyway.

[grnrdragon]

so if there is such a demand i wonder why non of the people that run a machine shop haven't tried to mock up some rockers?