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Is Eagle Products Over-Rated??

6K views 32 replies 15 participants last post by  1971BB427 
#1 ·
I've been searching for new connecting rods for our Sprint car motor and looking at Summit Racing, it seems that the good named brand manufacturers like Lunati, Howards, Callies, Carrillo, etc. advertise most of their SBC rods from around 650 -900hp but Eagle advertises theirs for 1200hp. I think Eagle is over-rating their products. What do any of you think? I have never owned an Eagle product.
 
#6 ·
I know it was a bad comparison but between the different hp ratings and costs, that said something.
But Gary1, I'm interested in your statement of "Due to a very long history of bad results of Eagle products", why was the history such a long one? I would think after 1 maybe 2 bad experiences with a product, you would have changed directions sooner.
 
#3 ·
Many years ago I bought a set of eagle rods and a eagle crank for a 350 sbc and they were never put into my engine cause I read to many stories were people had to get there cranks .010 under to get them to spec and also had to have the rods resized in order to get proper spec on them and this is with there cheaper street stuff clear up to there all out racing stuff so I went with scat rods and a scat cranks and they were perfect and right on spec and still running them today and they are about the same price as eagle.
 
#8 ·
Same here, there were issues with Eagle products years ago, but I've heard they cleaned up their act. I have Eagle forged crank and rods in my 8-71 street motor from seven years ago, it checked out perfect with my machine shop. I have the same parts in it now even after detonating the motor, replacing the pistons. I can't comment on more recent QC.

That said, for a serious race only motor I to would go for the high end proven parts.
 
#9 ·
This is like opening up a big 'ol can of worms (or discussing who is better-Ford or Chevy?)-

You will get a lot of opinions on this, and I will add mine-

There is little doubt that there was a documented problem with Eagle products Cranks about 5 or so Years ago-most of the concerns were in concentricity of the Crank Journals, but, most all will agree that Eagle has fixed this problem.

Regarding Eagle's 1200 hp number, I believe that number is derived from using their ESP "H" Beam Rods and L19 bolts-I hope we can agree that Rod Bolts are one of the reasons for this rating as L19's are rated up to 270,000 psi (above 8740 and arp2000)-

I am an Eagle user, and, when my Engine Builder first opended the boxes (he is a big Scat fan), he measured them and was very impressed by the Crank and Rods-they balanced easily.

At any rate, my engine isn't a 1200 hp engine (I am running L19's), but it did Dyno at 775.5 hp (and, it didn't blow up!), so I am a happy camper-

Here is a picture of the Rods-



And here is a picture of the Crank in the Block:




 
#14 ·
Will a good quality Scat rod stand up, if using the proper hardware? Probably, question with this stuff is at what point does the number of stress cycles lead to sufficient fatigue before it fails. And, if it did fail, what is your recourse? What would your down time be and the expense incurred. Oliver may be a safer bet.
 
#15 ·
The sustained high RPM in oval track racing warrant's the need for a class rod/bolt.In oval track racing the lowest dollar crank we use is Howards Track Smart.You should understand that as a engine builder with clients we sell our rep.Not the highest dollar engines,but certainly not the lowest either.The history with Eagle was aside from being out of spec number 2 crank journal was crack or braking in oval track engines.People will post but they have been using Eagles for yrs,Those folks are not using them as you will be.
 
#20 ·
you link 2 if not three (2 threads on vid) of cast cranks.
that's not really fair, you buy junk you get breakage, both threads was cast cranks. not forgings
 
#19 ·
We use Eagle. Good stuff from my POV. We had issues balancing Scat SBC cranks, and it "spilled over" to their Pontiac casting. Had trouble with pins "walking" in Scat "press-fit" H-beams. None with Eagle in similar builds.

The late-to-the-party Pontiac forgings from Eagle are excellent. We've used several, and they're as nice or nicer than Eagle's BBC stuff. Local racer Bill King (track champ, '09, '11 and "runner up" '08,'12 at VMP "Sportsman" class) has an Eagle forging in his 406 SBC. 300-plus passes so far (mid-low 10s, 2,950 lbs) and no sign of issues. His racing "partner" Gerald Driver, jr. also has an Eagle in HIS 406 SBC (we built them both...). He's not won the championship yet, but has been in the top 3 each of the last three years. Short blocks haven't been touched.

I can't tell you how many boats are "out there" with Eagle 383 "kits" in them.

Sprint car? Gasoline? Carillo, Crower or Oliver. Alcohol or nitro? BME or R&R... Summit isn't exactly the best place to shop for a real race car.

Jim
 
#21 ·
#31 ·
When I had my 350 done recently, the machine shop I use wasn't very excited about Eagle. I mentioned getting a rotating assembly from Eagle, and they said they'd feel much more comfortable reusing the rotating assembly I had, than using Eagle.
Spoke with another well known machine shop in town, and they also didn't want to use Eagle. Both shops have been around since the 50's or earlier, so I figure if they aren't hot about Eagle, I would trust their opinions.
 
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