I am wondering how long I can expect my solid roler to last. I keep a close eye on the lash. I check it when I even think I hear something, last time was 2000 miles between setting the valves. Do solid rollers wear out faster than hydraulic rollers? Mine is sorta agressive .646 / .653 242 and 248 at .050. I know G.M. runs hydraulic rollers in a lot of thier engines for thousands of trouble free miles. Any one have an educated guess when I will need to have the lifters rebuilt, and how I will know it is time. This is my first soild roller so I am still learning.

I spend a lot of time listening to the engine thinking "Was that a tick I heard" I am still getting used to all the noise of a solid roller valve train.

 

A hydraulic roller is very different than a solid roller. Especially the OEM hydraulic rollers, since they have low lift. Hydraulics don't require the same care that solids do.

Prepare for LOTS of different opinions on this. Some guys are doing just fine with over 10,000 miles on a set of solid roller lifters, and others are losing them after 3000. The manufacturers all say the only real solution is to remove your intake every few thousand miles and check the rollers (and keep your fingers crossed between inspections). It seems like just about 50% of the people I've talked to with solid rollers have experienced at least one roller failure.

I decided to go with a solid flat tappet, just to avoid the stress of worrying about it. I may still go with a solid roller in the future if the 540 isn't enough :lol:

-Joe

 

I will be able to answer this question for you in lets say maybe a year and half . I think that is the date when I will be finally be driving the car regularly.
I think one key here is making sure to keep an eye on the lash.
I know alot guys that are running solid rollers in boats and they run them all summer without having to set the lash but once in the beginning of the season. They still check the lash throughout the summer.
I run a hydraulic roller in my 68 Rally Sport and a solid in my 69 vette and will never run anything other than a roller in the future.

 

What are the specs on your motor? That cam sounds big! (or mine is too small!)

I think I'm only running .560/.580 on my 383...solid roller.

Not a lot of miles maybe 1000 so far, but I like it.

I could see where it might be too much for a high mileage daily driver, but i think the solid roller technology is getting better.

 

I run a Hyd roller with 150 pound springs. No problems so far. What I hear about soild rollers is to check the lash often. And use a lighter spring on the street if you wont it to last. The spring pressure on a soild roller is usually what kills the lifters on the street.

 

[QUOTE]What are the specs on your motor? That cam sounds big! (or mine is too small!)

I think I'm only running .560/.580 on my 383...solid roller.

Not a lot of miles maybe 1000 so far, but I like it.

I could see where it might be too much for a high mileage daily driver, but i think the solid roller technology is getting better.

454 +.030
RPM Air Gap
RPM Heads
Holley 850
10.25 comp
NOS Sportsman Fogger
Richmond 6 speed
3.70 gears

 

It all depends on spring pressure and lift. The roller lifters are what will die, the cam will last forever if the lifters stay in good shape.

The general consensus from cam co's is that if you get 2-5K out of them on the street with around 500# open spring pressure, you're doing fantastic.

I got a little over 8K on mine before a roller started to die. Luckily, just like you, I'm paranoid of engine noise changes and caught it early. One valve loosened up approx. .004 and you could hear it well. I pulled lifter and found the needles dead in one roller. All the rest were Ok but they were starting to show signs of brinneling. I had them all rebuilt by Comp. The cam was OK.

If you are able to get by with under 400# open pressure they will live a long time. Small blocks usually can get by in that range because the valvetrain is so much lighter. We on the other hand, have pretty heavy stuff.

The Endurex lifter is not a real option either. It has the added oil groove, but according to Comp it will never handle spring pressure like I have. They say they made the roller shaft smaller to allow more needles to fit in.

So the trick is to run low lift, low spring pressure and they will live forever! Kind of defeats the purpose! As I said, though, small block guys get by running stouter ones in many cases. But I did run a set of lifters over 5 years on 3 different cams for lots of miles. Two of the cams were over .725 lift and the last was .623. A few finally died, but overall they did pretty well. Lots of spring pressure.

The best advice I can give, is keep doing what you're doing and listen close to any changes. Then pull them all out once a year or so and look at them and repair as necessary.

Also don't run too much oil restrictor. Keep 'em flooded with oil.

I love it when you read close in all these magazine engine buildups. If you want to know how long it will really live on the street, look at the spring pressure they use. I see lots of these killer street buildups with great dyno numbers that are using 240# of seat pressure and probably 575-600# open to control the wild cam they put in to get the numbers. Great if you trailer it to the track, or cruise in or street races. Not great if you plan to make 500 mile road trips.


Jim

 

Thanks for the reply's. I should, but do not know the open spring pressue. I will give Comp Cams a call and find out. :chevy

 

Question- if one were to build an essentially "street" mechanical roller cam, utilizing the benefits to get a bit more lift than a hyd roller, but maintain low duration (210-225 range), would the cam be more likely to last a long time?
I've got friends who want to run mech rollers in their LS1s, and wonder if they're going to be biting off more than they can chew.
-Steve

 

It's all spring pressure. The LS1 shouldn't require a bunch. Check out what the cam co. says is required. The more pressure, the shorter the life.

If you use a relatively mild ramp that doesn't require a lot of spring then you can reap all the benefits a solid roller can offer.

Jim

 

I have @ 500 lbs open with .635/.644 and i'm coming up on 18,000 miles. On prior roller motors I had a failure at 15K.

I pulled my intake at 12,000 miles and inspected every roller. I'm going to do it again this weekend.

IMO it's RPM and using lashes in excess of .024 that kills them.

 

I agree w/ what has been posted here with one addition -- it is the combination of low rpm (ie street) operation w/ the very high spring pressures that can combine to quickly wear roller lifters. Big blocks are particularly prone to this as oil splash, an important means of cam/lifter oiling, is minimal at low rpm.

Keep a close watch on lash, regularly inspect lifters (you can pull some lifters for inspection through the head openings w/o removing the intake) and be aware solid rollers are more prone to failure.

Crane cams which historically has a conservative approach to street cams, suggest keeping open spring pressures below 460 lbs for the street. I think ~ 500 open is a reasonable limit as long as you keep on top of things -- including periodic inspection. I pull the lifters I can access when I adjust lash, and do a complete annual inspection (pull intake and inspect all lifters).

I munched a roller lifter running a full race roller w/ open spring pressure in excess of 600 lbs after approx. 3000 miles.

Take care,

Mark

 

Damn nice care Mark. All this makes me think hyd rollers are the ones for me, if I go roller cam. I am a wimp when it comes to rpm's. :bb

Very good info thread!

 

I am aware of the oiling problems. I try not to let the motor sit at idle for more than 30 seconds at a light or whatever before I bring the motor up to 1500 rpms for a few seconds to lube things up.