It seems like in the past I've seen a lot of discussion on here about rod bearings, and people seem to know what works and what doesn't.

My question is, when you use shoddy brand rod bearings, what are the normal problems that are seen, and therefore what are the limitations one needs to adhere to when running them?

I'm not looking to discuss my build or anything, just looking for some good general information on this topic since the search turned up nothing of any use.

Thanks in advance! ! !

 

Define "Shoddy brand rod bearings".

 

Not one of the preferred brands.

 

Who's preferred brands are we talking here? Just about every brand has been used successfully in numerous applications, from streetcars to 1000whp race engines. At the level most of us are at, it probably won't make any difference as long as we set our bearing clearances correctly and have an adequate oiling system.

 

I'm just asking for anecdotal information from the experiences people have had. As in, "If you used some bearings that weren't the brand you prefer (maybe because you had a problem with them), what was the problem you had?"

Thanks for the bump!

 

it all depends on your set up, if you have a high HP car then your gonna want the best quality bearing just in case you burn throw your oil or have a leak that you dont know of. but if you just have a normal car just run what ever bearing you want and always make sure u have oil and the bearings wont ever give you any problems

 

I guess what I'm looking for in Honda terms is information about a medium horsepower (500-600ish), and medium RPM (9k-ish) setup that has the potential to abuse the rod bearings a bit if things aren't quite perfect.

Does lack of hardness in the bearings ever tend to cause a problem with some of them? I.e. do some of the brands or product lines from some of the brands tend to not be able to withstand the abuse and kind of get "squished"?

 

I can only comment from experience, but my moderately powered B20VTEC ran on ACL Duraglide STDs for over two years with nary a hitch, functioning as a weekend warrior/grocery getter. Pulled them recently to replace with a set of ACL Race STDs and they looked OK.

I'm sure I don't beat on my car as hard as some of the other guys on here though, and it's not a daily, but it does get driven to work sometimes.

I know that the Duraglides are looked down on for not being as hard as the OEM Hondas and the Race series, but that's my experience. They've survived a bunch of detonation and 8500rpm pulls on an LS bottom end without a hiccup.

 

That's exactly the type of thing I was looking for, thank you!

 

Any thoughts from anyone else?

 

it seems like a lot of the motors i've pulled apart that have the "softer" bearings in them have more radial scratches in them. i cant say whether they are caused by the bearings or not, just something i've noticed.

 

Thanks!

So you are talking about radial scratches around the inside surface of the bearing?

 

Really it doesn't matter what bearing you run. It's all in the assembly. Keep clearences on par with the corrEct weight motor oil and good motor oil they will last unless tuned incorrectly then it's easy to pound out even the best rod bearings. It's also key to be sure everything is ver clean during assmbly. Just takes one little piece if foreign material to eat a bearing and crank journal

personally I've run acl duraglides in all my motors I've built never had a single issue. I've even had a metal shaving take out a portion of a main bearing but did no damage to the crank and the bearing held up with the groove in it. I personally run rotella t5 motor oil due to the zinc addatives is added protection for all the lubricated surfaces

 

Thanks for the descriptive answer!

 

i run oem bearings when possible.

gsr- about 6 months of use looked pretty bad, spun the engine to 14k a few times. Had new rod bolts, and top end was built and yes it was an accident power shifting with no rev limiter. The bearings had some signs of wear.

b16- 4 years of abuse -motor made 171 hp to the wheels and was a daily being spun to over 9k numerous times a day- just pulled it apart when it began to smoke0- bearings looked brand new- i dont get it, they actaully look perfect!

h22- no info yet, only had engine in a month

mopar 383- clevite 77- a year at the track, replaced the bearings duw to excessive wear. crank and rods checked out-

mopar 540- clevite 77-v- no issues yet. good to go still, motor sat for a year then primed engine and fired it up. nothing wrong with them yet.

 

Very interesting. . . I just pulled some Clevites out of my motor too, and replaced with factory (Dodge Neon first gen with Precision 6265). They really seemed to not withstand the abuse at all, where the 145k miles factory bearings I had in the old motor survived fine.

So anyway, I'm not condemning the bearings, there are a lot of potential reasons for them to have trouble (all of them my fault), but I honestly don't know what it is I did to them. They just seem too soft to me.

I am really interested in trying some of the ACLs next time.

 

hmm, my d16a6 just spent 6 hours straight at PIR on the full road course untill a rob bearing failure ended the race weekend. The engine probably had 5-6 hours of race time on it before this weekend and was fresh built, new p29s pistons, bore .5mm over rebuilt head with ACL duriglide bearings. not sure if it was due to oil starvation, but im considering getting the acl race bearings. either way i think its time for a accusump oil accumulator just to be sure.

 

generally bearing failure is due to lack of oiling. look into a better pump or modifying yours , what oil are you running?

 

i was running the "honda" 10w-30. probably should have at least gone with a full synthetic, but we were running way behind schedule and almost didn't make the race so i had to use what i could find. that and ive found that if you over fill the d16a6 steel pan just a little bit, it smoke pretty bad in hard corners. Im switching my motor program to d16y8's since th aluminum pans hold a bit more, and the baffle in the pan seems to prevent some of the burning when filled to 4 qts. That and the accusump should solve the majority of the problems

 

Yeah road coarse is alot of abuse and will really generate some high oil temps. Definatly need to be running a race oil. Something along the lines of brad Penn or rotella t5 with the zinc addatives for better wear protection

 

What were your bearing clearances?

 

I run only OEM rod bearings. .0017-.0019.

Oil: 10-30/10-40 Royal purple...

9k Beat to ****@ over 650WHP.

I Used ACLs for my mains this time, but for the rods... My opinion (and alot of others too) is that you dont want to f around with aftermarket. SOme rod MFGs will insist on OEM bearings as well.

I agree in keeping everything Perfectly clean and assembly is key.


Mine have always looked FLAWLESS on inspections.

 

Do you prefer any certain type of assembly lube?

 

Torco stuff has been used.

 

I personally use motor oil on assembly, I always crank the motor over with distributor and injectors unplugged untill oil light goes off too to be sure the whole oiling system is fully primed. usualy takes 30-45 seconds. then reconnect and fire up and never had a bearing issue