**Here's the link to the site too - it's a crappy-*** Geocities, so it'll be down a lot I guess**
http://www.geocities.com/sande1974/crower.html

Here's some pics from a local guy here in Atlanta who trusted his GS-R motor to Crower for their cams. I really feel bad for the guy because he's really nice and all, and since he was on a budget the Crowers may have SEEMED like a good deal at the time.

**Click the Link**

He bought the cams less than a year ago, so the "first batch was bad" bulldung theory from Crower is total shiet. The guy e-mailed Crower and Brian Crower (King Bitch) offered NO help and he even said "thanks for your interest in Crower products" to close his reply e-mail!

So inclosing, if you think you're getting a good bargain when you buy these $650.00 cams, please think of these pics to show you the truth about Crower.

CROWER CAMS SUCK!

[Modified by B18C5-EH2, 4:35 AM 1/31/2002]


[Modified by B18C5-EH2, 12:41 PM 1/31/2002]


[Modified by B18C5-EH2, 12:42 PM 1/31/2002]

 

So those are the cams the Red X car is running!!!

 

hehe so you know Eugene Tom? and i read that letter from Crower.... to them

Brian

 

red x's suck

 

Pics worked just 5 minutes AGO!

 

Here's your problem...

 

He had the 402's, which were the street/strip cams, and he used crower everything, springs, retainers, etc... i think out of good faith crower should atleast cover part of the damage, damn, they didnt' even offer the kid a new set of cams.

 

very few people consider installed height of the valvesprings when they install big lift cams. Combined with such high lifts improper installed height can make things explode quite quickly. So I can't blame Crower totally for such accidents, although they should remind people of the potential problem when selling cams that have such high lift. Part of the reason they lowered the lift on their bigger cams. I can't see the pics you posted so I can't say for sure what happened to your friend's car, but installed height issues come to mind first.

J.

 

USE Sony Image Station

 

Imagestation suck too. Just when you found an awesome picture hosting site (free), they get all money hungry and poo poo on your parade.

 

try http://photos.yahoo.com/

 

not to be an ***. but crower does not owe your friend anything in compensation to his blown motor unless if it is 100% the cams fault. there could have been alot of other factors on why the motor blown so you'll never know what the real cause is. you'll just look at the most obvious reason and start blaming them. people have had toda camshafts snap...why? improper installation......

 

I have exactly the same setup...

Did this guy the swap himself ?? How often does he install cams and valvetrains ?
Did he break in the setup ?

I let my cams/retainers/springs install from a professional R-Tuner who does that every day and broke them in carefully for 1000km.

If one of my cams break than

welcome b20

But I don`t believe that they break when proper installed.. we`ll see.

 

Geocities will suspend your site for remote loading pics and the html so you might wanna use some type of free photo host.

 

Okay, so do I need to show you another pic of a broken Crower cam that was installed by the shop I work at then? I'll be sure to find it and take a pic.

We installed a Crower 403 LS cam with all of the proper Crower valatrain stuff JUST like the guy whose cam broke above, and the cam BROKE just while trying to adjust the valves! Swear to GOD. It was so brittle that when it was turned over it broke.

Thank GOD it broke BEFORE we had a chance to start the motor. Jeez, how much stress is it on a cam to turn it over by using a socket on the crank?

You guys can lie to yourselves and say that Crowers are still good, and that Crower doesn't owe this guy anything, but the fact is that these cams suck donkeyballs.

This guy isn't even my friend - I just know him from other people and I've ridden in the car once. I have no reason to personally be upset with Crower other than the fact that their cams are crap and they won't help out when they break. SURE you can't PROVE that it was "solely the cams fault" because of the resulting damage. It's very easy to blame it on the install, or other factors.

Whatever. If you want to risk a $4000 motor with some garbage bumpsticks then be my guest. The LAST place I thought I'd see support for Crower would be on the ITR board.

 

It was done by a shop, with certified mechanice, who have done this many times over.

 

Okay, thank you for warning.......That means that every crower cam breaks... it`s just a matter of time..... As i said.. welcome b20

I found this:
With more than 45 years of cam grinding experience, Crower is a name to be known in the tuner aftermarket. Recently, Crower released its new line of cam cores for the Honda/Acura B18C VTEC engine. These are not regrinds of stock cores, but Crower-manufactured cores that exceed factory specs for hardness and compatibility. The process used by the company is called "chill cast" and it's the same method used by Honda for its factory camshafts.....http://www.importtuner.com/archives/...501_tech02.jsp[/URL]

And this:
Street, strip, domestic, import, NASCAR, INDY... Crower makes a part for almost anything powered by a four-stroke gas engine. With a name like Crower Cams & Equipment, one would think they would have made a camshaft for the Honda market years ago. For your information, Crower has been regrinding cams for Hondas for quite some time, but what you didn't know was it has been designing a cam profile for VTEC enthusiasts that is chill-cast and Crower-spec. The big advantage--no core charge! q

For about a year now, Crower has been dabbling in chill-cast replacement cams for Honda DOHC VTECs. One of the biggest hinderances to making a camshaft from scratch is matching the metal hardness to that of the factory camshafts. This is a very critical factor that must be achieved in order to prevent premature wear.

After a year of worn cam lobes and rocker arm lash pads, Crower has finally come up with a unit that has withstood the company's R&D torture tests. Ensuring the material is equivalent to the OEM material, Crower's R&D department bench-tested the cams days at a time, at different ranges of engine speeds. With the hard part out of the way, the R&D crew was ready to tackle the task of designing a grind superior to others on the market

http://www.turbomagazine.com/archive...03_silence.jsp


[Modified by Maijk190, 1:45 PM 1/31/2002]

 

it's good you believe everything you read. unfortunately all that crower is boasting about or having magazines boast for them doesnt seem to be coming true...

Brian

 

he,he..........you said Crower

 

Oh man, i guess you're right. Import Tuner and Turbo Magazine are my Honda BIBLES and I will tell my friends and the many others that their cams are still good even though they are in 2 pieces.



Import Tuner is the WORST magazine ever, and Turbo is made by the same people.

 

I know a couple guys running crowers very effectively. One guys first set snapped and he lost the motor. He knew Brian Crower and they replaced some of the parts for him. He's now running very fast for a b18c integ. A couple of the guys are Prostock allmotor....but at least one of those as well has had a problem. Now...the big question for me is....even though you can possibly get them to put out real nice power....is it worth the risk given enough incidents? nah...not to me. I'm happy with my cams.....beyond happy. American steel is the best there is....but ya know what...sometimes craftsmanship means more in certain instances.

 

What do you want me to say now ? I HAVE a Crower setup... so what ?

Should I leave my car and go and order a JUN setup, wait for it to arrive for three weeks, wait for the tuner to install them for another three months... ????? No.

I don`t know the magazines, I`m not in the US. Who cares if they are your Honda bibles or not ??

Get the point... too late .. The setup is initalled and bying a new one is more expensive to me than a used b18c which I can get in my own country.

I repeat: If they crack... man... new engine

Is that clear now ?


[Modified by Maijk190, 3:37 PM 1/31/2002]

 

The people who don't believe it and still use thier cams still run them. I have seen 3 awesome motors with crowers in them, all installed right, all ran for some time (1-2 months) and then just break. 2 sets broke in one race in FL. And one of these guys was a honda tech who was very skilled and had been running them in his car for about 2 months going low 12s NA. Another was a very skilled drag racer and installer who was also doing mid 12s for a few weeks. They both snapped withing 30 minutes of the other and screwed the guys motors. Crower gave them a new set of cams (like they want another set of these POSs). Vapor Trail on this board, owned a dyno shop, had qualified installers including himself, he broke a set and crower sent him a new set ASAP and some parts to keep him hush hush, guess what, a few weeks later similar problems again.

You can believe what you want, after seeing 3 sets or broken crowers with my own eyes I will never use thier trash product. Just because they can make some BS v8 products doesn't mean they can make the quality products we need to run in our cars. Jun till I die.

 

Why would cams snap like that? I heard you have to soak them in oil over night or for hours before installing them. Is that true... sorry for my ignorance

 

Well I have been very happy with my Crower 63403's. I have run them for almost a year now, and they make great power. I am starting to worry though. The stories get worse and worse. I am building my b18c1 bottom end to 85mm and I am wondering if I should switch cams now. I would hate to f up my new bottom end. I figure I should go Jun 3's from what I have seen. Will Crower valvetrain handle the Jun cams?

Josh