Rod Bolt Upgrade?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,973
Likes: 1
From: Milton, West Virginia
Cruise-In IV Veteran
Cruise-In V Veteran
Cruise-In VI Veteran
Rod Bolt Upgrade?
Has anyone changed rod bolts to Katech bolts? How difficult is the swap? I installed my own heads/cam pkg, so I do have mechanical abilities. I've been told with what I am now runing on my FRC, the stock bolts aren't strong enough. Thanks for any advise! 
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 3,558
Likes: 2
From: Cape Coral FL
Originally Posted by Dan_the_C5_Man
I would bet everyone have replaced these without re-balancing.. Simply not an issue.
I've done it with ARP PRO's. I have about 4k miles on them now. Many trips to 7000 rpm's, and no issues, with balance, oil pressure etc. Katech states that their bolts will not distort the rod. ARP states you need to resize the rod after install. I did't resize my rods, but I torqued them according to ARP's suggestions with lube, and went over them one last time after all were installed. Then I kept the motor below 3k rpm's for the first 200 miles and below 4k for the next 200 miles. Not saying that you will need to do this, I just wanted to give the bearings a chance to re-set if they did indeed distort. I'm thinking they didn't because my oil pressure stayed.Do the Katech's and follow their procedure and you will have no problems.
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Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
From: goes unpunished
In a post on Ls1 Tech one of the guys from Katech said to give
them a call and they would be happy to answer any questions.
It seems to me the swap would be easy(but messy)if you can get
the oil pan off,with the motor in the car. Anybody do this or know
if you can?
them a call and they would be happy to answer any questions.
It seems to me the swap would be easy(but messy)if you can get
the oil pan off,with the motor in the car. Anybody do this or know
if you can?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 25,889
Likes: 7
From: Virginia Beach
CI 3-5-6-7-8 Veteran
Just and FYI so some people on here don't freak out. 2001+ LSX motors recieved upgraded bolts and are not subject to the issues of pre '01 motors.
'97-'00 engines were subject so some rod-bolt failures in racing conditions seeing upwards of 7000 rpms for extended periods.
'97-'00 engines were subject so some rod-bolt failures in racing conditions seeing upwards of 7000 rpms for extended periods.
