Better Pics

 

Two

 

Three

 

I really need a macro lens for my phone

 

Aha, I see now. One of those three bolts does have more of a divot than the other two, but at least it isn't the cavernous hole that I thought it looked like.

 

great pics! thanks for sharing.

 

So they're just a generic 12.9 grade bolt basically.

These probably wouldn't be too bad for a relatively tame build.

 

Who is grading these "12.9" bolts?

If I can find a pair that the dimples are decent ill TQ them to 60FT/Lbs and compare with the eagle bolts.

 

You are right.


NA,

Maybe it is the lens but those threads look already used ie beat up.

 

They are new, they look like complete ****. I do not know the technical term but they look like the die was dull or dirty and the threads have small chips or imperfections.

 

I don't think a 12.9 grade bolt is on par with ARP's proprietary "ARP 2000" material, so I would expect a lower torque spec. Didn't the rod come with torque/stretch recommendations?

 

No idea I didn't receive any paperwork, I wouldn't put the engine together with them. I purchased new bolts and had the rods resized, cost to the owner more than buying eagles would have originally.

 

Hey guys. I just wanted to chime in here and clear up a couple of common misconceptions.

No, I will not comment on anything anyone else is building nor will I try to hard-sell anyone on our products. I just want to shed a little "accurate" light on our products. I'll let other manufacturers tell you about their products.

Eagle rods are forged in China. Our rods are forged exclusively for us. The material we use is purchased and quality controlled by us for exclusive use in our rods. All "chinese" rods do not get made at the same factory. China is a huge place with a lot of people and a lot of factories. While our business model has been copied by both US-based and Chinese-based companies, they do their own thing. They are not "getting their rods from the same factory as Eagle". Great security measures are in place to insure that this doesn't happen. Trust me - it is a difficult task indeed. One of the more difficult things to keep tabs on is steel quality. We we forced almost 20 years ago to purchase our own steel because what was being passed off as "4340" was nowhere near what was claimed. In fact, some rod and crank manufacturers have been sued over material claims and lost because their material was not what it claimed. I will not mention who - you can do your own homework on that one. Buying our own steel added cost because more time was involved, but it had to be done. We since have been able to "tweak" the composition of our steel due to the large quantities we buy from our supplying foundry. While technically still within the guidelines of AISI/ASME 4340, ours typically outperforms typical 4340 steel in aspects critical to connecting rods.

When Eagle first started utilizing overseas forging and purchasing steel overseas over 20 years ago, we learned a LOT about what you can do and can't do. It all comes down to quality control. There are some aspects of manufacturing (material specification, final sizing, bolts, etc) you just have to keep close to your chest. Early Eagle V8 rods (from the early 90s) had "other" bolts that the manufacturer claimed were "as good as" ARP. We quickly learned they are not. We use only ARP bolts in our rods for very good reason. They are without equal. So much goes into the manufacturing of a part that cannot be seen. Just saying something "looks the same" is such a fatal mistake in so many aspects. Our rods for all sport compact applications use 3/8" ARP 2000 bolts. This is not even the entry-level ARP bolt. ARP 2000 bolts have a yield strength of 200,000 psi. Metric grade 12.9 bolts are 159,500 psi (1100 MPa). Even the entry-level ARP 8740 has a yield strength of 180,000 psi.

There are plenty of good rods out there, and plenty of not-so good ones. Make educated choices in everything you buy for your engine. It's no fun tearing stuff up. When in doubt on anything - call the manufacturer. We, as I'm sure most, are always here to help figure out if our products are right for your application and help with any questions you have.

Thanks guys, and best of luck.

-Alan D.

 

Thanks for chiming in Alan. Great Info! Is Eagle ever going to produce I-Beams to compete with the other high horse rods on the market? like Manley Turbo Tough for example? there is definitely a market for them

 

I-Beams are not necessarily stronger. Carrillo reserves it's I-Beams for lower HP builds where they use an H-Beam as their higher requirements rod.

 

Without opening up a whole different discussion, the H-beam design is a stronger design than an I-Beam (all other variables being the same). I-beams are easier to manufacture, that is why they are common in O.E. applications. Look at any ultra high-end engine with steel rods (Indy, NASCAR, some F1) - they are all H-Beams.

As far as "high horsepower" rods currently on the market - we feel our current H-Beam rods are comparable. We feel comfortable with their use up to about 900hp in a gasoline-based turbocharged 4 cylinder application, more if alcohol or E85 is used. That is hard for some people to accept. But the root of their apprehension is usually based on price, which has no engineering foundation. Custom and short-run production parts are just going to be more expensive to make. If we made custom rods - they would be just as expensive as other custom or short-run production rods.

Interestingly enough, we will be announcing the release of a new line of rods that take our current H-Beam to the next level of strength and performance. While we haven't yet established power recommendations, they will be equipped with 3/8" ARP Custom Age 625+ bolts as well as a few other improvements. We will have a formal announcement within the month on H-T as well as other venues when they are ready to ship.

 

Any different than the "Extreme Duty" rods I keep seeing pop up on the advertisment banner?

 

Yeah. That's them. They should be ready to ship very soon.

 

Hey Alan,

Thanks for the input and its good to see Eagle representation popping up more on the message boards nowadays. Obviously, this was directed at my comments, which I hope was understood to be a joke and not to be taken seriously. I've been in the quality side of the oil and gas industry for some time and I have had my ups and downs with Chinese manufactured products. I honestly believe that you can get a good quality product manufactured in China, but it does take time and effort to get there. Nonetheless, it is good to see you step in and offer an inside look at what Eagle does.

I would like to say, however, that in my experience the characteristics of the 4340 steel you guys use versus other pricier brands of connecting rods has been different, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. While probably not the best technical term, I would describe your steel as "softer", but in a connecting rod it almost seems to act as a shock absorber in extreme applications. Two similar small blocks with big hits of nitrous and the same tuner were taken apart and refreshed a couple years ago. The main and rod bearings in the engine with the $1000+ billy badass double throw down 100% USA made rods looked rough and exhibited wear marks on the upper shell. The one with $400 Eagles looked new. I continued to see the same trend with engines with large amounts of boost or even bad tune ups and detonation. The best explanation I can come up with is the competitors steel may be harder and has a tendency to transmit forces and even harmonics that may be dampened or even absorbed by Eagle's "Chinese" steel.

For this reason, I have an open mind towards Chinese manufactured products. A lot of people might consider something "inferior" based on country of origin, I base my opinions on what works and what doesn't. Eagle's stuff works.

 

Your observations are very keen. We have worked to increase the modulus of elasticity of the steel without compromising strength. I won't tell you exactly what we did - I'd get fired for that! But, I can tell you the purpose is exactly as you stated. The rod needs to be able to "give" a little to help absorb uncontrolled combustion (detonation, preignition, and similar phenomenon). IF it is not absorbed, it can pass along the shock loading to the bearings or bushings and lead to other types of failures. When subjected to that kind of loading, a more brittle rod would fracture, or more commonly develop a stress fracture that would propagate over time and eventually fail. This is primarily why aluminum rods are used in nitromethane engines. Aluminum is almost a spring compared to a steel rod. It absorbs a LOT - it has to in that kind of engine. Unfortunately, aluminum has a finite fatigue life and need to be replaced periodically. Such is just a part of the maintenance involved with a competition engine.

By the way, I read nothing into any of your statements. There is just a lot of speculation and misinformation that floats around and I want to help provide accurate and reliable information on those topics that I can.