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rod and piston?s

879 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  magelyz426 
#1 ·
i know theres a few different places maken rods nowadays. but are they all about the same quality? ive seen them from 1800 to 3500bucks. is the stock forged "reworked" rods worth messing with? also how good are the ford pistons usually good for? im fixn to start buildn a new motor this summer and allready have the block work done and im lookn for some pistons and rods. lookn to make a streetable 550hp tow rig/play toy.
 
#3 ·
*IF* you had forged rods from the factory...then I wouldn't be too concerned with dropping the bomb on that kind of engine...and trying to squeeze it for 550hp and keep it together...but since you (most likely) have PMR's...that pretty much commits you to:

A)finding a good compression forged rod drop in engine...and doing your best to keep it together at 550hp.

B)building something (from the ground up) with better than PMR's...which can & will be more expensive & take longer than you estimate...and the potential for failure on forged rods is not something to underestimate...so, are you willing to risk "saving" $2700 on rods when it could take out a $X,000 block, & rotating assembly?

whether you do billet rods or not...the Mahle pistons will be fine at that power level and higher.

take care~

Dave
 
#4 ·
so whats the est. hp that the mahle pistons are good for? i know im buyn rods,i was just askn are some brands that much better than others for the money? i have 255cc injectors in my shop i plan on useing. not sure on the turbo just yet. haveing swamps do the tuning with a big oil from them also.
 
#5 ·
Piston's don't really care too much about horsepower limits...

pistons usually care about cylinder pressure, temperature, & the rate at which the piston is being yanked back down to BDC by the rod (rpm).

FWIW, we've never seen a Mahle piston failure...but we have seen the stock pistons fail, usually cracks that radiate from the bowl area, and lead to a crack through to the wrist pin, resulting in a loss of compression.

this may be a moot point, as there are currently 'zero' pistons, other than the Mahle piston, which employ a steel insert in the top ring land to prevent the compression ring from chewing into the aluminum.

There are stronger, one piece forged pistons from companies other than Mahle, but they are not suitable for a street (high mileage) application due to the reduced reliability in the top ring land, since these do no have a steel insert.

take care~

Dave
 
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