[Z06] Who makes the BEST rocker arms for the LS7?
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Who makes the BEST rocker arms for the LS7?
I'm not interested in the HS or CHE's. I want peace of mind and dont want to deal with potential problems with these two. Who makes the best rockers for the LS7? And how much?
#3
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
DAMN! who sells them?
#4
Instructor
Member Since: Jan 2009
Location: Decatur Alabama
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#6
Premium Supporting Vendor
GM. With the exception of a few bad batches in 2007. They're cheap, light weight and we've tested hundreds of LS7s at Katech and never failed one rocker arm.
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#7
Safety Car
on the same note, can someone explain to me why a set of rockers are like 700buck+ when I can get 1.7 BBC for 280? wtf is so special about "LSx" rockers? -I just don't get it- must be the LS1,2 and 7 "tax"
#8
Premium Supporting Vendor
SBC and BBC parts are cheap because there are a lot more of them and tooling has been already amortized over much more products and a much longer length of time. In time LS parts will get there but for now they tend to be higher.
#9
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Jason, I'm gonna be modding my car with all the bolt ons and a cam. My car will be making more then 575 rwhp. I just want to make sure my stock rockers wont fail me. Its an insurance thing.
#10
Premium Supporting Vendor
We've made 1008hp on stock rocker arms. Horsepower doesn't fail rockers, poor valve train dynamics do. How will you make sure your aftermarket rockers won't fail you?
#11
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
My car was built in late May'07. Do you think I have the defected factory rockers?
#12
Premium Supporting Vendor
#13
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
any forum vendor sell these rockers?
#15
Burning Brakes
Well, it depends on who you are...
If your valvetrain is set up correctly and all the parts are working in harmony the stock rocker arms will not fail. Make no mistake that the Katech built motors are done correctly. Hence, they don't fail.
My guess would be the heavy duty, or in the case of like Jesel, insanely heavy duty rockers just allow you a lot more 'slop' in how you have your valvetrain setup. If you are running a mismatched set of say very heavy or incorrect length pushrods, aren't checking to make sure that the sweep of the rocker is exactly as it should be over the valve tip so there is no additional loading, and all the other little things that a top flight pro shop like Katech takes for granted you could have issues.
I guess what I am saying is, if you are doing this yourself and aren't a professional and are mixing and matching heads/springs/retainers/pushrods etc you might want to err on the side of a grossly overbuilt rocker, it costs but it would be worth it in the longrun for peace of mind.
If however you know exactly what you are doing and how it goes together or are changing virtually nothing else so as not to disturb the factory tested combination then I would say the factory arms will work very well for a very long time. There is a lot to be said for purchasing already assembled components from the top shops. It's why they are the top shops. If you roll your own, so to speak, be prepared to either fix an occasional 'oops' or overbuild the heck out of it for peace of mind.
My guess would be the heavy duty, or in the case of like Jesel, insanely heavy duty rockers just allow you a lot more 'slop' in how you have your valvetrain setup. If you are running a mismatched set of say very heavy or incorrect length pushrods, aren't checking to make sure that the sweep of the rocker is exactly as it should be over the valve tip so there is no additional loading, and all the other little things that a top flight pro shop like Katech takes for granted you could have issues.
I guess what I am saying is, if you are doing this yourself and aren't a professional and are mixing and matching heads/springs/retainers/pushrods etc you might want to err on the side of a grossly overbuilt rocker, it costs but it would be worth it in the longrun for peace of mind.
If however you know exactly what you are doing and how it goes together or are changing virtually nothing else so as not to disturb the factory tested combination then I would say the factory arms will work very well for a very long time. There is a lot to be said for purchasing already assembled components from the top shops. It's why they are the top shops. If you roll your own, so to speak, be prepared to either fix an occasional 'oops' or overbuild the heck out of it for peace of mind.
#16
Melting Slicks
Yella Terra...my understanding is that they do have rockers for the LS7 but these rockers have clearance problems with the stock valve covers so aren't being sold until that issue is resolved. They are very inexpensive for a 'full roller' at $380US but if you have to change valve covers (which would probably also require coil relocation) suddenly they wont be inexpensive.
While Jesel, T&D, Crower, Yella Terra, etc all seem to be very high end products I can't help but wonder what the collective experience would be if these products were being used in 21,000+ Z06s accumulating 10s of thousands of miles each??? I guess this sentiment is basically echoing what Jason said: "How will you make sure your aftermarket rockers won't fail you?".
I figure unless you're running a very radical camshaft (ie. over .700" lift) the requirement for a 'full roller' rocker is not significant, thus using something other than the stock rocker is kinda like fixing something that's not broke (ie. an action which not only costs more initially, but may also cost more in the future).
Cheers, Paul.
While Jesel, T&D, Crower, Yella Terra, etc all seem to be very high end products I can't help but wonder what the collective experience would be if these products were being used in 21,000+ Z06s accumulating 10s of thousands of miles each??? I guess this sentiment is basically echoing what Jason said: "How will you make sure your aftermarket rockers won't fail you?".
I figure unless you're running a very radical camshaft (ie. over .700" lift) the requirement for a 'full roller' rocker is not significant, thus using something other than the stock rocker is kinda like fixing something that's not broke (ie. an action which not only costs more initially, but may also cost more in the future).
Cheers, Paul.
#17
do the oem rocker arms have rocker arm sweep on a stock cam and if not at what lift do they ?
Last edited by Spzany; 02-12-2018 at 01:08 AM.
#18
ok that’s fine and well 1008 hp stock rockers with a stock cam 1008hp with what cam ? And how long did it live ! There is surly a lift, spring pressure limit to stock rockers ! Those factors are tied to horsepower!
#20
Team Owner
Doubt it. I still agree with Katech. Stock work great for almost everyone, with Jessel/T&D/Crower for solid roller crazy race setups. If you can swing the high end Jessels at $4500 then go for it.