I know the question of which rod to use has been gone over 100 times, but i have not seen anything on aluminum rods, benefits and drawbacks.

I am looking for some rods for my B20/vtec, its sleeved, i am pretty much going all out on it, dont really care street driveablity. Anyways I am looking at Pauter rods, which seem to be quite strong, however I have heard some things about racers using like BME Aluminum rods. Due to weigh difference. I personally like the idea of a lighter rod, giving you less bearing wear and stress. Has anybody used these, or know what the Pro's and Con's are. They dont seem to cost more, I am just curious. And Would they be able to be used like a normal rod, or is wear/strength change under heat? Or under "normal" driving conditions. I wouldnt think so since they are made outta the same materials the pistons are.

Any input would be great. I hope this hasnt been covered before, I didnt see anything.

 

The stretch rather quickly at high rpm's. And you will have to replace them from time to time, unlike steel rods which will last.

 

Yep, if the car is trailered to and from the drag strip, gets less than 125 miles on it a year, and you have money falling out of your *** - go for it.

 

defintely go with forged steel rods. yeah pros use aluminum rods, but they use custom rods so large that cause them to machine the bores for clearance. and like they said, only run for a couple hundred miles. they will always stretch since the metal is way too soft.

 

GRP makes a very good billet alum. rod. As far as stretch goes its not as much as most people think. However, trying to get them to fit is a pain in the ***.

 

why is fitting so hard? poor design, construction?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by J. Davis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yep, if the car is trailered to and from the drag strip, gets less than 125 miles on it a year, and you have money falling out of your *** - go for it.</TD></TR></TABLE> Aluminum rods have to be changed like oil has to be changed!

 

hmmmmmm titanium would be better... drop the piston to head clearance :-P

 

AL fatigues more or doesnt have high fatigue strength the more its used. ferrous alloys and Ti usually have greater fatigue strength and a more well defined fatigue limit @ a certain # of cycles than nonferrous alloys.

basically, u can design steel and Ti rods to operate at a stress level below the (well defined) fatigue limit....and they should last a long time. the fatigue limit of AL rods isnt as clear and even if they are designed to operate at low stress levels below a (hard to define) fatigue limit....additional use/cycles can cause them to fail.

 

If you have ever seen an aluminum rod they are huge compared to a steel rod. that is why the block has to be notched at the bottom of the cyl sleeve. I would not recommend them for a street motor. However I do work at the hotrodbarn and there are quite afew v8 street cars that are running them. although they are weekend warriors.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Aluminum rods have to be changed like oil has to be changed!</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, I never had to "change" my oil, it just naturally changed itself. just keep addin ... hehe i hate oil leaks..

Thanks for all the info guys. I figured as much I was just curious since i haven't really heard this topic brought up before. I am going to get Pauters & CP Pistons.

Im hoping to go all out one day but i dont have that kinda money to keep changin rods and getting it rebuilt Hoping this one lasts on me, the b20 sleeves gave out on me last time. So now its fitted with GE sleeves, just trying to get it running again.

jay