Solid roller cam maintenance
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,727
Likes: 38
From: Fremont CA
Use Isky EZ roll bushed lifters and you won't have to. With needle bearings, I wouldn't think there is any lifter on the market that will run over 15-20K miles before comming apart.
Just make sure your sitting down when you price the Isky lifters.
Just make sure your sitting down when you price the Isky lifters.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,531
Likes: 13
From: Dallas-Fort Worth TX
I would say he is probably giving you good advice. Although, I have heard more like 5000 miles or so as long as you check them periodically as well as lash adjustment. You can have them rebuilt. Guess it really depends on the type of engine and what your doing with it.
Myself, I am in the middle of swapping my solid roller set to a hydr roller. I had a lifter fail on me at 1100 miles and it wiped a cam lobe and littered the engine with metal shavings.
Combination of high spring pressure, lack of oil splash, low rpms, and lifter bore clearance are some of the culprits. The fact I have an OD trans probably did not help.
Motorhead says he physically inspects his at least once or twice a year.
I had the needle bearings from Isky but as Hamadup mentioned the Red Zone EZ-roll are needle free. But be prepared to spend $$$ for them.
Provide the specs to your engine. Many will chime in with opinions.
Myself, I am in the middle of swapping my solid roller set to a hydr roller. I had a lifter fail on me at 1100 miles and it wiped a cam lobe and littered the engine with metal shavings.
Combination of high spring pressure, lack of oil splash, low rpms, and lifter bore clearance are some of the culprits. The fact I have an OD trans probably did not help.
Motorhead says he physically inspects his at least once or twice a year.
I had the needle bearings from Isky but as Hamadup mentioned the Red Zone EZ-roll are needle free. But be prepared to spend $$$ for them.
Provide the specs to your engine. Many will chime in with opinions.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 121
From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
They will generally last much longer in a small block than a big block. The bigger the lift, heavier the springs, heavier the valves, faster the ramp and higher the RPM the quicker wear and damage on all valvetrain components accumulates. They all wear out but the above factors will determine how fast. Billet cams only with solid rollers.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,353
Likes: 72
From: Graceland in a Not Correctly Restored Stingray
Never have run a solid roller on the street before, but as I've got such a build in the works (still waiting on the money tree to start bearing fruit again) I'm sure interested in knowing if any failures experienced here involved EDM oilers and/or restricted upper oil. FWIW, 427 with limiter to be at 7200, tho I won't be buzzing it that high all the time.
Also, are those Isky's aluminum with bronze bushings at the trunion? If so, maybe things have changed, but the shaft-mounted and bushed type we used to run in our BB Buick drag motors had such short lives that we kept a tool box full of them on hand (still have a bunch of 'em).
427Hotrod / Jim has run solid rollers for years, so perhaps he'll chime in here too.
EDIT - Please, excuse the brain fart.
For whatever reason I was confusing the Isky's with the bronze bushed rockers mentioned above...
Also, are those Isky's aluminum with bronze bushings at the trunion? If so, maybe things have changed, but the shaft-mounted and bushed type we used to run in our BB Buick drag motors had such short lives that we kept a tool box full of them on hand (still have a bunch of 'em).
427Hotrod / Jim has run solid rollers for years, so perhaps he'll chime in here too.
EDIT - Please, excuse the brain fart.
For whatever reason I was confusing the Isky's with the bronze bushed rockers mentioned above...
Last edited by TheSkunkWorks; Feb 17, 2012 at 09:10 PM.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Grand Sport & Grand Sport X Launch Alongside All-New 535hp LS6 V8!
Michael S. Palmer
5 Reasons Bad Drivers Crash & 5 Ways to Avoid a Costly Mistake!
Joe Kucinski
7 Bolt-On Upgrades From Extreme Online Store to Level Up Your C6 Corvette
Pouria Savadkouei
How Likely Are These Five 2027 Corvette Rumors to Be True?
Brett Foote
9 Best Corvettes You Can Buy for Half Price (& 1 You Should NEVER Buy!)
Joe Kucinski
8 Very Best Corvettes of Amelia Island 2026
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 WORST Corvette Engineering Failures of All Time!
Joe Kucinski
10 Records the C8 Corvette Generation Has SMASHED (& 1 Glaring Failure)
Joe Kucinski
7 Wildest Corvette Concepts Ever Made
Brett Foote
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 121
From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
They really make power and RPM, if your willing to do what it takes as far as maintanence and inspections. I have run a solid flat tappet but never a solid roller. Have built a few and a lot of buddies with them and they are running fast.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 174
Likes: 2
From: Fort Smith AR
A solid lifter cam WILL require periodic adjustment of the valve lash. I had a solid lifter cam in a 427. During break-in, I had to adjust the lash maybe three times. after that, not so often. Maybe one month after break-in and then maybe two months after that. Been 15 years and I really don't remember much after that. I do seem to remember it the time interval doubling after every adjustment: once week, two weeks, a month, two months, four months, etc.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 13,003
Likes: 2,240
From: Corsicana, Tx
2020 C2 of the Year - Modified Winner
2020 Corvette of the Year (performance mods)
C2 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
2017 C2 of Year Finalist
It depends on what the cam is and all the supporting parts. With a solid street roller (.623" lift) and relatively mild lobes I've been 10K miles on lifters. With the sort of cams I run in my motor (.788" lift) and pretty god lobes...but not crazy ones...I seem to get 4500-5500 miles out of a set of lifters before they start to show signs of wear. That is detected when I ck valves and one or more is .002" or so different than all the rest. When that happens, you pull the lifter and you WILL feel some roughness in the needles/roller. Changing it at that time will have you right back in business..but the rest of them aren't going to be far behind. My current cam is over 10 years old and has had quite a few sets of lifters on it. It's just part of the deal.
The EZ rolls will help a lot too. Mine are regular needle type (pressurized). I did a 388" for a buddy of mine a year or so ago with EZ rolls and they are still doing fine...and he shifts at 7000+ ALL the time and drives on the street every weekend as well as takes trips. It's a pretty serious .600"+ cam. As mentioned, small block do a lot better than big blocks.
JIM
The EZ rolls will help a lot too. Mine are regular needle type (pressurized). I did a 388" for a buddy of mine a year or so ago with EZ rolls and they are still doing fine...and he shifts at 7000+ ALL the time and drives on the street every weekend as well as takes trips. It's a pretty serious .600"+ cam. As mentioned, small block do a lot better than big blocks.
JIM
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,727
Likes: 38
From: Fremont CA
It depends on what the cam is and all the supporting parts. With a solid street roller (.623" lift) and relatively mild lobes I've been 10K miles on lifters. With the sort of cams I run in my motor (.788" lift) and pretty god lobes...but not crazy ones...I seem to get 4500-5500 miles out of a set of lifters before they start to show signs of wear. That is detected when I ck valves and one or more is .002" or so different than all the rest. When that happens, you pull the lifter and you WILL feel some roughness in the needles/roller. Changing it at that time will have you right back in business..but the rest of them aren't going to be far behind. My current cam is over 10 years old and has had quite a few sets of lifters on it. It's just part of the deal.
The EZ rolls will help a lot too. Mine are regular needle type (pressurized). I did a 388" for a buddy of mine a year or so ago with EZ rolls and they are still doing fine...and he shifts at 7000+ ALL the time and drives on the street every weekend as well as takes trips. It's a pretty serious .600"+ cam. As mentioned, small block do a lot better than big blocks.
JIM
The EZ rolls will help a lot too. Mine are regular needle type (pressurized). I did a 388" for a buddy of mine a year or so ago with EZ rolls and they are still doing fine...and he shifts at 7000+ ALL the time and drives on the street every weekend as well as takes trips. It's a pretty serious .600"+ cam. As mentioned, small block do a lot better than big blocks.
JIM
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 9,993
Likes: 1,136
From: League City Tx
4000-5000 miles out of a set of $700+ lifters is freakin ridiculous.... I can understand having to set lash every 2-3k miles but changing lifters at 4-5k? No freakin way... Not for me...
No doubt solid rollers are the way to go for big power and high rpm use, especially on a big block but..... It's just not feasible for me... I put 4-5k miles on a year, therefore I would be changing/rebuilding lifters every year? I don't think so.....
I'll stay with my low rpm, valve floating HYD roller that I don't have to F with....if I need to run 9s, I'll spray it... (for less then the cost of one set of solid rollers....lol)
No doubt solid rollers are the way to go for big power and high rpm use, especially on a big block but..... It's just not feasible for me... I put 4-5k miles on a year, therefore I would be changing/rebuilding lifters every year? I don't think so.....
I'll stay with my low rpm, valve floating HYD roller that I don't have to F with....if I need to run 9s, I'll spray it... (for less then the cost of one set of solid rollers....lol)
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,242
Likes: 3,061
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
You can get em rebuilt for a few hundred.
I see your point depends on needs.
Will take me forever to put 5k on (probably 2-3 yrs) so worth it for me.
Probably get bored before then and change up anyway.
Eventually they will get these SR lifters down or the tech up on the HR to spin em up without floating.
I see your point depends on needs.
Will take me forever to put 5k on (probably 2-3 yrs) so worth it for me.
Probably get bored before then and change up anyway.
Eventually they will get these SR lifters down or the tech up on the HR to spin em up without floating.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,360
Likes: 3
From: NORTHEAST
I would say he is probably giving you good advice. Although, I have heard more like 5000 miles or so as long as you check them periodically as well as lash adjustment. You can have them rebuilt. Guess it really depends on the type of engine and what your doing with it.
Myself, I am in the middle of swapping my solid roller set to a hydr roller. I had a lifter fail on me at 1100 miles and it wiped a cam lobe and littered the engine with metal shavings.
Combination of high spring pressure, lack of oil splash, low rpms, and lifter bore clearance are some of the culprits. The fact I have an OD trans probably did not help.
Motorhead says he physically inspects his at least once or twice a year.
I had the needle bearings from Isky but as Hamadup mentioned the Red Zone EZ-roll are needle free. But be prepared to spend $$$ for them.
Provide the specs to your engine. Many will chime in with opinions.
Myself, I am in the middle of swapping my solid roller set to a hydr roller. I had a lifter fail on me at 1100 miles and it wiped a cam lobe and littered the engine with metal shavings.
Combination of high spring pressure, lack of oil splash, low rpms, and lifter bore clearance are some of the culprits. The fact I have an OD trans probably did not help.
Motorhead says he physically inspects his at least once or twice a year.
I had the needle bearings from Isky but as Hamadup mentioned the Red Zone EZ-roll are needle free. But be prepared to spend $$$ for them.
Provide the specs to your engine. Many will chime in with opinions.
Most guys just buy lifters and dump them into the bores which is a big mistake most blocks more so on the BBC the engines with high miles on them the lifters bores are worn out to begin with.
Like I said most after market .842 lifters run .841 check a GM lifter for size and check the after market one for a comparater. That being said the Morels seem to run close to the OEM size over the ISKY, Crower, Crane.
90% of my builds now I go to the .904 lifters where I can fit the lifters to the desired clearance of .0014 to .0019 plus with the bigger wheel and bigger bodies and bigger axel its a winner every time.
I don't think those lifters will mileage out as fast as a smaller lifter!!!
I see alot of Marine BBC's that at 500 hours of sevice have to changed or they will break a lifter for sure. Even those lifters at 500 hours look great because they are fitted.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 121
From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 17,641
Likes: 187
From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
They will generally last much longer in a small block than a big block. The bigger the lift, heavier the springs, heavier the valves, faster the ramp and higher the RPM the quicker wear and damage on all valvetrain components accumulates. They all wear out but the above factors will determine how fast. Billet cams only with solid rollers.
There's allot of people out there that shouldn't be building motors or giving advice. If it was a race only motor with over 200# on the seat and over 500# open your rolling the dice every time you go down the track or every oval track race.
There are street rollers and race rollers, take your pick I am somewhere in the middle with my current motor and it will spin to 7500 RPM and I don't worry
