looking for a cheap budget setup.
I found some cheap forged rods for a k24/k20 build.
supposedly these are the same as the old crowers or blueprints.
not super wild. those rods with 09 tsx pistons. stg(ish) 3 cams.

most will say "just get tsx rods" I'm aware of them..

my question is has anyone used these before and how long did they last? did you have any clearance issues?

(yes I know, "just buy *this brand* and be done with it)
I'm not winning races or money and if it breaks I learned and it was fun building it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HONDA-ACURA...8AAOSw7bla4LB6

 

I have bought 2 sets for H/F series in the past for budget builds from that seller. Both were about .006 too tight on the big end and had to be honed to fit standard bearings. Other than that they worked perfect and held up fine with high boost/power. I did some research at the time and even talked to the company selling them. They were apparently name brand rods that came out of the same factories as big name brands, just sold as "white label" for whatever reason. Probably labeled as seconds because of the big end clearance.

 

It is my understanding that the forgings come from the same foundry, but the lesser expensive rods are MACHINED overseas whereas the BC/Crower rods are machined here in the US. This supports the experiences you have had with the improper sizing of both sets you have used. The "big name" rods also come with genuine ARP rod bolts compared to the lesser quality bolts found in the economy rods.

 

thank you guys very much.
I had an offer go in on sum TSX rods so Il use them for now

 

Not going to lie, I've been intrigued by some of the results I've seen recently from CXRacing's rods.

I feel like they'd likely be at least on par with Eagles....

 

This makes perfect sense actually. You can get the china rods with whatever bolts you want if you specify. They just add on to the cost. I ordered both of my sets with ARP2000s.

I was brutal on the first set of "budget" rods I got. 11.5:1 static compression and 25-26psi on a big shot of water/meth. Crazy amounts of torque for a 2.2L. Ended up bending a wrist pin and as a result cracking a sleeve at 450whp. When I pulled the rods out they were still perfect. Sold the internals and they're still going today in a boosted setup. For the price they are definitely a huge improvement over stock rods. Eagles are generally rated for ~600ish crank hp in a 4 cylinder application but I'm sure people have gone further on them. I doubt you'll find any real info about these rods at that power level. Most people who shoot for that kind of power are going with a different style rod or bought Eagles/whatever other name brand to begin with. If you order some cheap rods just make sure you get the ones with ARP bolts. I definitely wouldn't trust the cheap unlabeled bolts that some of them include. No telling what the metallurgy is in them or what their true strength is. It would suck to lose an engine trying to save $40 over some rod bolts.