Has anybody used these products, such as cranks, rods? Would you say they good, bad, or indifferent or avoid like a social disease. Would like a good honest evaluation on this. thanks...

 

Put together a 355 for a friends gutted stepside years ago with a 6" rod /crank kit from CAT. Used KB hypers, too so we broke the fabled "forged onlyabove 400hp rule", too. It sees 7k rpm on a regular basis, still running. how, I dont know as he hardly even warms the thing up before beating on it.

Like any aftermarket part, spend good money on balancing it and have everything double checked before assembling. .

 

As opposed to a bad dishonest evaluation?

 

I have used some of their prouducts in a few very low $$$ engines.

Parts I have used:
Crankshafts
Rods (H-beam and I beam)
Rockerarms
Main Caps
Main Girdles

All in all its low $$$ imported parts and you have to check the machine work on it very carefully (of course you should check the "good stuff" too) . I have heard of other engine builders tell of CAT crank journals that were .002 different but personally all the cranks I have gotten from them were fine tollerance wise and the all their parts were fine strength wise for their intended purposes. I wouldn't put them in one of my open Late Model engines or a Top Sportsman drag engine but like I said in a few very limited $$$ situations they have performed well for their owners.

Like Crusinartvette, I will say some of their parts have even surprised me how much abuse they have taken. However you have to rember reguardless of the orgin of the parts put in one of our engines or the end price of one our engines they all get the same attention to detail in their machining, measuring, balancing and assy.

I agree its more important to check everything properly and spend your money on a good machinest. Buy parts that fit your budget and are a good fit for your purpose. If that means using CAT parts, then that means CAT parts, and as long as they are within spec there is nothing wrong with them. If you can afford to buy better then by all means buy the best parts you can afford that will do the job you expect.
Will

 

I can tell you that the machining and heat treating on their crankshafts is absolutely junk! I bought one of their forged 3.75 2pc cranks for my 408 and every single main and rod journal measured differently and two main journals had over .002 taper and one had .017 taper in it. The guy who helped my put the engine together apparently either didn't catch it when we measured everything or he said he thought the heat treating was inconsistent and the journal moved around which I have never heard of but anyway, I found the problem when I had a small rear main leak and I pulled the rear main cap to fix it and noticed an irregular wear on the bearing so I pulled the engine took it completely apart and found a real mess. Good thing I caught it before I ruined my engine! Anyway, I sent the crank to Engine Machine Service in Los Angeles for machining and re-nitriding only to find out the the snout was also undersized! So I just had them throw it in the trash and bought a Scat 4340 crank which measured out right on the money right out of the box. From what I have found out a good many of the raw forgings like CAT, Scat, Eagle, Etc. come from overseas which in itself isn't bad but the CAT stuff is also machined over there and that is BAD! I do know for a fact that the Scat stuff is machined in LA CA USA by folks who actually know what a Small Block Chevy looks like! Don't try and save a couple bucks on internal parts because it will bite you everytime. I also have a set of the CAT 4340 6" I-Beam rods which did require the big ends to be machined to get the proper side clearance and when I unboxed them I noticed one of the rod bolts was cross threaded into the beam so I sent it back and they did replace it...some QC huh??!!