[406 ss monte]

i bought a set of 5.7" "cat" 4340 h beam rods, with M.S.A. rod bolts. they look just like the eagle & scat rods, but i never have known any one to use them. i know their a china product, but from what i've been told their made in the same foundry as the scat & eagle rods along with all the other china rods.

these rods look great, & i had my machinist look at them & the small end was .0005" small on the bushed end, but was a easy fix.

have any of you ran these with good or bad luck?

their going in a 406, 4340 steel crank, forged pistons, dart pro-1 215cc heads , solid lift ultradyne cam 250-260 @.050" with .530-.550 lift on a 108 l/s angle, victor jr intake & a holley 750 dp

i souldn't turn it over 6,000 rpm, & i might put nitrouse on it latter (175 shot). will these hold up, or should i get a set of eagle rods?

thanks for all your help.

[NAIRB]

The Chinese stuff is a pig in a poke. I've used Eagle and Scat with success, but I always check them for size.

Technically speaking, the aftermarket Chinese stuff should be better than stock, but I've never used any of the generic stuff like Cat, or Legend, or Prower, etc. I'm just scared to use it in anything I build because a connecting rod is so important. Chang might have fell asleep before his 14 hour shift was over.

They are probably okay, but why not spend a little more and get something that at least has proven to be good? Scat and Eagle are low end products in my book. While Lunati, Crower, Carillo, Oliver, etc are the real stuff.

The Cat, Legend, Prowler stuff is the lowest of the low, and I would exercise caution with them.


Brian

[Bumpstick]

NAIRB... Not to hijack this thread but your thoughts on Ohio Crank stuff (rods mainly)...?

[67 Deuce 4 Me]

Originally Posted by NAIRB

Chang might have fell asleep before his 14 hour shift was over.




Brian

Thats too funny!

[xntrik]

Originally Posted by 406 ss monte

their going in a 406, 4340 steel crank, forged pistons, dart pro-1 215cc heads , solid lift ultradyne cam 250-260 @.050" with .530-.550 lift on a 108 l/s angle, victor jr intake & a holley 750 dp

i souldn't turn it over 6,000 rpm,

thanks for all your help.

6000 rpm........ You are kidding us right????
You have a 250+ cam with 108 lsa and you are NOT going past 6000 rpm?....

That cam power range is 4000-7000 rpm..... and you'll need a 4000 stall converter..... duh.....

Actually you need 12+ compression, more head, more intake, and more carb to match that cam and turn it 8000....... or get a 230 cam.

[Infomaniac]

I have used nearly every brand of rod. the ONLY ones that do not need attention are Callies and Oliver.

Cat and Ohio Crank need the big end rezized. Eagle needs pin bushings fit.

But in the exact words on one of those suppliers "theres a little get what you pay for there"

Cannot comment on Lunati.

[406 ss monte]

Originally Posted by xntrik

6000 rpm........ You are kidding us right????
You have a 250+ cam with 108 lsa and you are NOT going past 6000 rpm?....

That cam power range is 4000-7000 rpm..... and you'll need a 4000 stall converter..... duh.....

Actually you need 12+ compression, more head, more intake, and more carb to match that cam and turn it 8000....... or get a 230 cam.

thats what i have in it now, only it's a lunati. i don't turn it past 5,500 with 3.89 gears. in the 1/4 mile. & it's borderline with pump gas. 3,800 stall.

i don't know what it is, but hear in east tn the engine builder's run a lot more cam than what most of you post that you use. i ran a 327 for years with a almost identical cam by comp. it ran great & it had world stock replacement 1.94 heads with flat tops. ran great up to 7,500 rpm. personally, i think a lot of you are full of **** by saying you have a 350 with a hydraulic flat tappet cam with 224 dur @.050 running in the 11's with no nitrous on pump gas & 3.50 gears in a 3,800 lbs car in the 1/4 mile. bull ****

i called comp cams, lunati, & cam motion for a cam recommendation, they where all bigger except the comp cam. they wanted me to go with a 306s with 260 dur on both sides.

[onovakind67]

How about a 406" motor with a 224° HR cam that runs 11.75 @ 117 in a 3475# car running 6100 rpm in the lights?

[NAIRB]

Originally Posted by Bumpstick

NAIRB... Not to hijack this thread but your thoughts on Ohio Crank stuff (rods mainly)...?

I'm sure that the low end Chevy stuff they are selling are the same ones that Chang is making over across the Sukiaki Bridge.

I'm going to say that Prowler, Cat, Legend, No Name, Ohio Crank, etc, it's all the same stuff just re-boxed.

[NAIRB]

The only thing I can say about the aftermarket chinese rods is that they are so cheap, that you can't hardly pay to have stock ones re-conditioned with good bolts.

If you buy rods with bushed ends, then you don't have to pay the price to have your rods hung on the pistons.

However, the problem with the cheap rods is that you have to re-condition them when they are new, which is B.S. in my book. They should be on the money out of the box. So, by the time you take them to your machinist and have them re-sized and pay him for that, you could have stepped up and got better rods to begin with.

Brian

[k-star]

Like other guys i have never used the CAT rods but i have seen them and they really scare me...Bottom line is you need to make the decission and live with the results...I can tell you not to run them and you will, with zero problems.. and then i'll look stupid or visa versa.... If you keep the engine happy there probably will never be an issue with them, but if you ring it then you will see the flaws in every week part you put in it...

If you plan on running this thing hard i would not use those rods....

I have run the eagle and scat rods with zero issues in drag, drag/street engines, but i know that some of the dirt track guys have busted them up---

The truth of the matter is that any part can break in a performance engine...

Keith

[predator carb guru]

howards makes a good rod too. i'll be running their ultimate billet in my new motor.............

[xntrik]

Originally Posted by k-star

Like other guys i have never used the CAT rods but i have seen them and they really scare me...Bottom line is you need to make the decission and live with the results...I can tell you not to run them and you will, with zero problems.. and then i'll look stupid or visa versa.... If you keep the engine happy there probably will never be an issue with them, but if you ring it then you will see the flaws in every week part you put in it...

If you plan on running this thing hard i would not use those rods....

I have run the eagle and scat rods with zero issues in drag, drag/street engines, but i know that some of the dirt track guys have busted them up---

The truth of the matter is that any part can break in a performance engine...

Keith

AMEN
Most rods break just below the small end .......when you get off the throttle abruptly (sudden vacuum).... the inertia of the piston without lots of compression/power pushing on it makes it whip to TDC and back down violently. The circle track guys are on and off the gas at max power continuously, so they tend to break more rods.

They usually break unexpectedly, suddenly, and spectacularly.... yeeehaaawww

[xntrik]

[QUOTE=406 ss monte]

thats what i have in it now, only it's a lunati. i don't turn it past 5,500 with 3.89 gears. in the 1/4 mile. & it's borderline with pump gas. 3,800 stall.

i ran a 327 for years with a almost identical cam by comp........ it ran great up to 7,500 rpm.
QUOTE]


There ya go.....!!!!

[coldknock]

X, 79 more inches might bring the range down just a bit. That 406 will probably be done by 6500-6700 and fall on it's face after that.

Oh yeah, back to the topic. Cat, Wheeler and such are nothin' but junk as far as I'm concerned. Briggs & Stratton produced better rods.


Larry