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No reason not to use them. I've seen the short travel versions hit 7500 on a dyno without a blink.
To me, it's a no-brainer, kinda like shaft rockers on big solid roller cammed engines.
Only thing I'd run in a street car is an h-roller. Don't want to worry about flat lobes or oil additives or if some oil really has the needed ZDDP or not. Downside is the conversion cost, of course, but IMO well worth it.
Hydraulic rollers have pretty much made everything else for the street obsolete. The roller allows for quicker opening of the valves so for a given lift and duration, the roller cam will make more power than the flat tappet. The only drawback is the sticker shock. Guess you get what you pay for.
When I can afford it Im going solid roller. But The Engine masters shows swear by the hydraulic roller
Its the whole pushrod community really. When you can Have less strain on the valvetrain and have more effective lift on a advertised 215 duration with a roller vs a 230+ on a flat tappet it makes the decision pretty simple.
My '79 is into it's 3rd engine as of 2 years ago. It hasn't had a standard flat lifter cam since the first of the 3.
I can't think of a single reason to go with the old school cam and lifter arrangement.
Roller cams are just that much better in terms of power, MPG and reliability. Going with the original flat lifter design is right up there with Bias Ply tires. You could use 'em but to do so you have to be stuck on the idea of ORIGINALITY to the point of stubborn.
HR obviously better long term but if I was putting together a very mild driiver and $ conscious I wouldnt hesitate to run a quality FT cam.
Want max power?? Solid roller hands down.
Only downside is, that retrofit hydr. roller is very expensive.
Unless you flatten a lobe on a flat tappet cam. The teardown/cleaing/repairs/new bearings will outweigh the cost of going with roller the first time by a good bit. If it's a mild build, you don't need high dollar racing lifters, Speed Pro and others make sets that are a lot more affordable.
GM hasn't built a flat tappet engine since the mid 90's. That should speak volumes right there.
The only way to go.
Took me 3 flat cams to figure it out (yeah, I'm kinda slow and old school) Cost is offset the first time one goes flat.
I now realize they call them "flat" tappet for a reason
Ever since we've devised a method to use any hyd-roller or mech-roller cams in most of 100% stock-appearing early SBC builds w/o the need for any cam buttons or any chasing cam end play we've done almost all (recently) using this method.
Makes assembling these units a virtual "walk-in-the-park" now, and most customers choose this method.
Thanks, Gary in N.Y.
P.S. By going "roller" alone (hyd or mech) you will "free-up" about a nominal 30 HP over a flat-tappet platform. We've used a number of dedicated fuel-injection cams from Comp in our carburetored builds, works flawlessly. A 100% stock-appearing 300 HP SB can produce 350/360 HP with lower than OEM compression ratios.
Last edited by GOSFAST; Mar 2, 2019 at 07:18 PM.
Reason: C
The only way to go.
Took me 3 flat cams to figure it out (yeah, I'm kinda slow and old school) Cost is offset the first time one goes flat.
I now realize they call them "flat" tappet for a reason
Some one needs to tell all the parts places that put out the catalogs.....they all flog flat tappet cams like it's still 1975!
I'm baffled by this, as everyone knows rollers are the way to go today.
My brothers Avalanche (2004?) with the 5.3 Vortec (hyd. Roller) has 300,000+ miles on it, he's replaced a bunch of drivetrain parts but no Engine internals.
Must be luck of the draw. 185k 5.3 and pretty sure I got a lifter going bad or losing a lobe; had an XFI280 laying around that went flat at 18k, many of the new Gen LSx cars losing GM lobes/lifters.
Flat tappets are always a good option for the guy who just doesnt have a lot to spend or doesnt care about "all the power"
sstocker31 said "Some one needs to tell all the parts places that put out the catalogs.....they all flog flat tappet cams like it's still 1975!" I have noticed that too. There will be two pages of flat tappet cams and one little listing for a roller cam. The comments about cost are something to consider, but Howard's has a couple cam and lifter packages that are not much more than a flat tappet kit from Comp, Edelbrock or Lunati.
My brothers Avalanche (2004?) with the 5.3 Vortec (hyd. Roller) has 300,000+ miles on it, he's replaced a bunch of drivetrain parts but no Engine internals.
Roller Cam is the only way I'll build anymore.
Roller cam in my rebuilt/upgraded 355 L-82 now and the ONLY way to go. I am SO GLAD i went roller for all the reasons already mentioned AND it will make at least 30 HP more than a flat tappet cam of similar spec.
My 01 Grand prix with 3.1 V6 and roller cam has 220,000 miles on it now and going strong. Does not burn an oz of oil between 5,000 mile oil changes........ZERO and I drive high speed consistently for extended periods of time, 80-85 MPH, with this V6 and 220,000 miles on the engine with the roller cam.....
