Rhoades Lifters
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
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From: Chetwynd B.C.
Rhoades Lifters
I posted this with another post but got no answers. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about the Rhoades Lifters? Putting a new cam in a 454 and a mechanic says to use them. I've read the Rhoades site as to what they say but am looking for someone with experience.
shmoky
shmoky
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 21,953
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From: Reno Nevada
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
I know about them and I used the Crane H.I. lifters for 10 years in various motors.
All I can say is the idea has some sound merits. That is if you have some constants. Something you never have in the real world of motors.
They both make a lifter that has a bleed down rate. Which give you a supposed less lift and duration at lower rpm and "Oil pressure" That sounds great on paper. Just change the weight oil, engine temp, and oil pressure and the "WONDER LIFTER IS A P.O.S."
Any body with a thinking mind can see the flawed design.
I would stay away from mechanic that thought some 20 year old idea was what you need!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All I can say is the idea has some sound merits. That is if you have some constants. Something you never have in the real world of motors.
They both make a lifter that has a bleed down rate. Which give you a supposed less lift and duration at lower rpm and "Oil pressure" That sounds great on paper. Just change the weight oil, engine temp, and oil pressure and the "WONDER LIFTER IS A P.O.S."
Any body with a thinking mind can see the flawed design.
I would stay away from mechanic that thought some 20 year old idea was what you need!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Race Director
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From: Corsicana, Tx
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I used them once many years ago in a 396....wasn't impressed. No matter what you did to adjust them, they were awful noisy once oil thinned out. Of course that's the design of them...but it was a lot noisier than any solid cam I'd ever run.
I figure hyd lifters are designed to do one thing....keep motor quiet. When you start messing around trying to get them to do something they were never intended to do....you have issues. Once you use hi-bleed down lifters, Rhoades design or or others, or you start *0* lashing them, or as many folks are doing with hyd rollers...setting them with .002 lash or so....you've defeated the one thing they can do well...keep motor quiet. Now you have a noisy motor that still won't rev! What's the point?
I never use hyd anything anymore unless it's in a pickup truck or something. Using a solid lifter can be pretty darn quiet and will rev to the moon. A good solid will be quieter than any Rhoades setup and will out run it all day long.
JIM
I figure hyd lifters are designed to do one thing....keep motor quiet. When you start messing around trying to get them to do something they were never intended to do....you have issues. Once you use hi-bleed down lifters, Rhoades design or or others, or you start *0* lashing them, or as many folks are doing with hyd rollers...setting them with .002 lash or so....you've defeated the one thing they can do well...keep motor quiet. Now you have a noisy motor that still won't rev! What's the point?
I never use hyd anything anymore unless it's in a pickup truck or something. Using a solid lifter can be pretty darn quiet and will rev to the moon. A good solid will be quieter than any Rhoades setup and will out run it all day long.
JIM
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 945
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From: Ventura California
I used them once many years ago in a 396....wasn't impressed. No matter what you did to adjust them, they were awful noisy once oil thinned out. Of course that's the design of them...but it was a lot noisier than any solid cam I'd ever run.
I figure hyd lifters are designed to do one thing....keep motor quiet. When you start messing around trying to get them to do something they were never intended to do....you have issues. Once you use hi-bleed down lifters, Rhoades design or or others, or you start *0* lashing them, or as many folks are doing with hyd rollers...setting them with .002 lash or so....you've defeated the one thing they can do well...keep motor quiet. Now you have a noisy motor that still won't rev! What's the point?
I never use hyd anything anymore unless it's in a pickup truck or something. Using a solid lifter can be pretty darn quiet and will rev to the moon. A good solid will be quieter than any Rhoades setup and will out run it all day long.
JIM
I figure hyd lifters are designed to do one thing....keep motor quiet. When you start messing around trying to get them to do something they were never intended to do....you have issues. Once you use hi-bleed down lifters, Rhoades design or or others, or you start *0* lashing them, or as many folks are doing with hyd rollers...setting them with .002 lash or so....you've defeated the one thing they can do well...keep motor quiet. Now you have a noisy motor that still won't rev! What's the point?
I never use hyd anything anymore unless it's in a pickup truck or something. Using a solid lifter can be pretty darn quiet and will rev to the moon. A good solid will be quieter than any Rhoades setup and will out run it all day long.
JIM
No personal experience with them but I have also heard that they are noisy.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
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From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
I've been running them in my 463 Pontiac motor for 20 years, and they work as advertised. I have a pretty big cam for a street application, and the lifters do improve vacuum signal for power brakes. I also noticed an improvement in idle quality and low-end torque with no loss of top-end power. They do make the engine sound like a solid-lifter engine once the oil heats up, but I like that sound. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again in a similar application. I wouldn't bother using them on a cam that idles reasonably well (like anything under 274 advertised duration), but the bigger cams can benefit from the Rhoades lifters, especially if you're running on the street.
