I've read there can be reliability concerns with a street driven solid roller cam. I'm sure technology has improved somewhat, but my question is: Can you drive a modest (up to say 248 @.050 or less) solid roller cammed motor on the Hot Rod Power Tour or any long trip without worrying about mechanical probs? :confused:

 

I notice that my new Summit catalog lists all of it's aftermarket roller lifters as "RACE ONLY". I don't think that Crane or Lunati has ever recommended thier roller lifters for a street engine.

 

I'd ask the cam manufacturer. It's a very individual question depending upon the specific grind. The ultralight race rollers and typical high lifter accelerations designed into most aftermarket solid roller cams are designed for race or limited street use.
Why not a hydraulic roller? These are designed for reduced valvetrain shock and lower maintenance.

Larry

 

The oiling was the Achilles heel in the old style solid rollers. Street solid rollers from Crane and Comp Cams address the oiling issue.

 

Several issues to making a solid roller live on the street. Do not let the motor idle very long. Solid cams get thier oil from the crank splashing around and you do not want to let the needle bearing starve for oil. Mine never idles for more than 15 seconds or so before I give it a little gas to blip the rpms to 2000 or so. Pick a cam with ramps that are desinged for street use, and use quality lifters and springs. The only lifter I would for sure stay away from is the Comp Endurex. Keep a very close eye on lash, if the same lifter is loose twice in a row pull it out and look at it. Use a good oil with lots of zinc, Kendall GT-1 is very good, Castrol is good. I personnaly use Mobile 1, 15-50 full synthetic with no problems although some will tell you not to use a sythetic with a solid roller. I also had my cam, lifters, springs and rocker arm cryogenically frozen. This motor only has 1000 miles on the cam and lifters so I can not say how effective the cryo treatment was, but with previous experiance I think it is a very good idea.

 

I've thought nothing of driving to my friends house nearly 1400 miles each way. So in two days of on the road I do about 2800 miles. I never even pop a valve covers to readjust anything.

I had the cheaper Crane solid rollers I think are the same as Lunati SRLifters, last a long time in an No No oil restricted environment.

I'm running thinner oil like the nascar trend 5-30 or if it's really hot weather 10w-40. I can't run thicker oils because my oil pressure get way to high while the motor is cold. I'm running a carbon fiber dist. gear and you have to take it's loading into thought when you can get 75-80 psi of oil pressure at not much above idle when cold.

All you need for 1000's of trouble free street miles with sollid rollers is:

Run springs in the 175-195 closed and 450 - 550 open.

Run a good stud girdle with 7/16 rocker studs and allen locking nuts. I use the Crane gold stud girdle.

As mentioned above don't idle for long periods of time. I don't worry about sitting at a light for 2-3 minutes because I have an 900 rpm idle in N.

Really dial in the correct pushrod length. It keeps the system running smoother if your rocker tip is more centered on the valve.

I now run the Crane Pro SRL which are about $550 out of Summit. I just bought the new H bar type. :thumbs:

 

I think another key is to stick to a street grind. I have over 24000 miles on my comp cams street solid roller set up ( 288A-R-10) (248 duration @ .050 / .623 gross lift) and all is well. I check lash every 3000 miles when I change my oil and I pulled every thing apart receintly for a visual inspection. I have heard a lot of negative talk about the endurex lifters but they seem to be living file with my mild cam. I gave up on hydraulic rollers because I kept trashing valve springs with valve float.

 

ZL1 - Has a valid point. Extreem ramp profiles like these two are going to beat things up more.

The Crane billet cam on the left that I pulled out had @20,000 miles on it. The springs had degraded from 195# to 15-20 lbs less with .630/.644 lift. I blame the use of .060 oil restrictors on this failure. The cam, lifters, springs have all found a new life in some land fill.

The Comp cams billet on the right is also very steep and keeps the valve opened to max CFM for the longest time possible.

If I get 20,000 miles out of motor I'm happy!:)