At what point would a guy want billet connecting rods

[Six_Sloww]

Jared hit the nail right on the head,
We deal with this with dmax's all the time with VGT compound kits. With what your looking to do with the truck and the setup you have, while you have it apart i'd add the extra insurance and throw a set of rods in it, call it good and enjoy your ride.

X3

The 8,9,1000 hp trucks referenced aren't making peak tq until 3000 rpm on big single chargers. Stock chargers have bent rods, and 75/59's only increase that chance.

Have plenty of people ran 75/59's with stock rods and been fine? Yep, but you should be aware that it's possible.

 

[drunk on diesel]

Survey says : XXX

you're one funny asshole sometimes!

 

[Radioflyer]

Dmax is a way different scenario then our trucks. And he hasn't mentioned anything about making it a race or pulling application.

Honestly. Why would you go as far as doing pistons and not replace the rods. Its a waste of time and money, especially if you have to go back in and do it all over again. I'd either skip the pistons and do neither, or do it all, it just doesn't make sense to me to pull the rods and pistons out, to replace the stock pistons that aren't hurt, but not do the rods. Its one thing if you crack/melt a piston and are just looking to get it back on the road.

I didn't mention anything about racing or pulling either, but he is towing a decent amount of weight on a big set of tires. Oddly enough, the LBZ and LMM dmax have very similar issues with the bottom ends as 6.4's do...both are prone to piston cracking in stock form LOL Especially when guy's start throwing larger vgt chargers or a very popular s475/stock compound setup. Alot of my customers who do run hot shot companies and what not run the s475/stock twin setup So when they call asking about pistons because they cracked one, I usually suggest doing rod's while they're in there for insurance. :thumbsup:


Sorry to derail a little op. continue :toast:

 

[6.4f350]

Dmax is a way different scenario then our trucks. And he hasn't mentioned anything about making it a race or pulling application.

Honestly. Why would you go as far as doing pistons and not replace the rods. Its a waste of time and money, especially if you have to go back in and do it all over again. I'd either skip the pistons and do neither, or do it all, it just doesn't make sense to me to pull the rods and pistons out, to replace the stock pistons that aren't hurt, but not do the rods. Its one thing if you crack/melt a piston and are just looking to get it back on the road.

On edit: Is your motor hurt or something? After re-reading you said you bought the 72/59 before it needed a build? If it needs pistons, then disregard what a stated above, go for it if you're looking I just get it back up and running. Just my opinion, I wouldn't replace pistons in a perfectly good motor unless I was doing rods as well.

Cost. I don't know about other members on here, but I don't have an unlimited budget. I'm doing all new stock rods in my truck because they are $500 vs $3,000+. I will have $6,000 into my rebuild just doing coated pistons, cam, new rods, new bearings/seals/gaskets etc. after buying parts, tools, and supplies. And that's doing all of the labor myself. Sure, I'd love to put a nice set of rods in it but that's adding another 50% to the cost.

Pistons are a much more common failure point than rods, they're a little easier to justify upgrading and leaving the rods alone.

 

[sonic blue l]

spend what you can afford is the bottom line. Possibilities of failure will always be present. Put rods in, then the next worry will be a broken crank. Break a crank and those 3-4g rods might turn into paper weights. Or roll the dice, don't hammer on the truck down low, if it holds it holds.

Now if rods were 1/3 the price then it would be a no brainer.

Personally I was more concerned about lifters failing then anything else. Put a cam, lifters, bearings, ih pistons (as it was apart) and called it good. mind you my goals are not that large for my truck.

 

[bigrpowr]

Cost. I don't know about other members on here, but I don't have an unlimited budget. I'm doing all new stock rods in my truck because they are $500 vs $3,000+. I will have $6,000 into my rebuild just doing coated pistons, cam, new rods, new bearings/seals/gaskets etc. after buying parts, tools, and supplies. And that's doing all of the labor myself. Sure, I'd love to put a nice set of rods in it but that's adding another 50% to the cost.

Pistons are a much more common failure point than rods, they're a little easier to justify upgrading and leaving the rods alone.

you'll be fine.

 

[Breaking Habits]

spend what you can afford is the bottom line. Possibilities of failure will always be present. Put rods in, then the next worry will be a broken crank. Break a crank and those 3-4g rods might turn into paper weights. Or roll the dice, don't hammer on the truck down low, if it holds it holds.

Now if rods were 1/3 the price then it would be a no brainer.

Personally I was more concerned about lifters failing then anything else. Put a cam, lifters, bearings, ih pistons (as it was apart) and called it good. mind you my goals are not that large for my truck.

Thats kind of an innacurate statement. How many 6.4's have broken the crank outside of catastrophic failure?

How many high torque at low RPM 6.4's have bent rods.

I rest my case

 

[pdumont01]

[

Personally I was more concerned about lifters failing then anything else. Put a cam, lifters, bearings, ih pistons (as it was apart) and called it good. mind you my goals are not that large for my truck.[/QUOTE]

Lifters were my biggest fears as well. I've repaired a whole lot of 6.0s and 6.4s that had lifter problems. I'm talking at the dealer not pulling ;-)

 

[Vader's Fury]

When the rods come out the side of the block, it is time for billet LOL

Me personally I wouldn't build a motor like you are planning to do without putting rods in it.

I understand if funds do not permit doing it, and I would just make sure to discuss it with the person doing the tuning when the time comes. Pulling a little fuel down low, "should" help with keeping stock rods alive with the turbos you will be running.

But that said, if you can delay your build/afford to put in billet rods, then I would go that route.

 

[sonic blue l]

Thats kind of an innacurate statement. How many 6.4's have broken the crank outside of catastrophic failure?

How many high torque at low RPM 6.4's have bent rods.

I rest my case

how many lifters have failed vs bent rods?

failure rate of a 6.4?
1 - lifters
2 - fuel system (mostly self induced)
3 - pistons
4 - rods
5 - crank


Now a drag, sled pull truck, much different then a daily driver. If I had a sled pull truck, drag truck, etc. If I was rich id buy rods. Also if someone else was doing the build for me, then it would make the rods for feasible as i'd hate to pay labor twice.

if im a poor working class fool with a hobby, well i'd buy a second engine as a contingency plan if the first failed. 4x4 launches - an extra t case and front driveshaft, modified vehicle - extra transmission. I bought all 3 for $750 (engine had bad lifter) so for myself I will run stock rods with a 71 or 72. I also run stock head bolts, so I hope to pop head gaskets prior to rods to relieve some of the stress, lol.

Still don't see how its an inaccurate statement, when all one is doing is proceeding to the next weak link in line. what's next after rods then of failing? (base engine. fuel system aside)

Just to be accurate I bought a truck that had a bent rod. Piston was cracked at the pin. valve was burnt. Fuel system was ****. So yeah the rod bent, but the rod was not at fault. An aftermarket rod would have suffered the same fate, that or the next weakest link would have.

I'm also not against rods, lightning's are known for weak rods. I put eagle h beam rods in it. They were only $700 though and good for 800 hp. With that said there are guys that are running 10's on stock rods, I was too worried to run low 12's on factory rods.

 

[Cknox121]

I am late to the party.... but I didn't do rods on my build. I would say I am somewhere in the 7-800HP range.

Take that how you will though. I still think about them every now and again. 4 of my originals were bent and the crank was warped as well. Mind you truck was stock with a mini max. Like stated though, 6.4's have a stout bottom end, and I don't plan and racing every weekend.

 

[B585Ford]

Based on all the responses, I don't think anyone has said rods wouldn't be a good idea. In the real world with budget limitations, sometimes you have to take your chances. Setup, power level, and use/driving style will be a big factor as to whether rods are needed for each of us. For me, if rods would guarantee me to never have an engine failure, it would be a lot easier to justify the cost. With my present set up, I am probably in the 650 to 700 hp range. With my present set up, rods don't make my top 3 parts that are likely to fail so I am taking my chances with the factory rods for now.

 

[sootie]

stock rods are fine for most dtreet driven applications. esp with good tuning

 

[carson]

Thanks guys i will be doing stock rods , I know all of you may not agree. But with the CDN dollar it's just way to much money for me at the moment , I will just stay on stock fuel for as long as I live unless I have problems in the future. It will just be a street driven truck with some trailer pulling (skid steer) , maybe a couple down the strip and dynos


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[sootie]

you'll be fine

 

[Rubenk]

Could you have them cryo'd locally to get a small increase in safety?

 

[Dzchey21]

I have always been an advocate for stock rods, keep the motor cheap so when it pops you don't have to max all your credit cards out again to rebuild it. But I do my own work so I don't pay shop labor to do installs. If you have to do that it probably changes my tone a little.

My race truck had stock rods, modded pistons, made a lot of passes at 850-900 and I think when I finally went to the 950 hp range I hurt the motor ( I never tore it apart to find out)

I agree with Jareds point but you can tune a lot of that out if your worried, It doesn't have to make 500 hp by 1800 rpm... sure its more fun but it doesn't have to lol