FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => FE Technical Forum => Topic started by: dozz302 on July 16, 2020, 08:56:54 PM
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Just wondering if anyone has been racing with these rods and their story. Horse power - what RPM, etc. Thanks in advance.
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They are rated to 700+ 350.00 is a good price for new rods. I am running a set in my 427. I have seen far too many stock rod failures of the past few years. Even Le Mans rods. Just not worth the risk. 50+ years of being beat on isn't worth the risk.
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There are a couple people on here who absolutely hate them. All I can tell you is my experience with them. When I first built the 427 for my Mach, about 21 years ago, there weren't a lot of affordable options for aftermarket rods for the FE. I bought a set of their H beam rods, and they have been in the engine since then. While I've only been racing the past few years, they have maybe 40 drag strip passes on them, but thousands of street miles, and of course some of those street miles were way harder than the strip passes...lol I haven't had any issues with them.
The 'hatred' towards them seems to be more internet related. A couple stories of rod failures on the internet is all it takes to destroy any rod makers reputation. I personally have not seen any Eagle rod failures spoken of since those early stories some 20 years ago, and who knows the circumstances behind those stories. I do know that there have been lots of guys using them for racing for many years without issues. Having said that, if I were building a new engine today, and planned on racing it regularly, I'd likely go with something else. For a spirited street engine, I don't see any problem with them.
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I can't tell you how many times my Eagle H Beam rods have been past 7000 rpm in my 416 but about every time I've driven it in the last 20 years , still in the engine running great
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I haven't heard of any Eagle rod failures, but have heard of crank failures early on.
In the end, if we are talking 6.49 FE, there aren't a lot of options out there. If a serious one came in, I'd buy Molnar, but if it's milder, I bet the Eagles will do well. The difference in the Molnars is about 40-50 grams advertised weight each, which helps in balancing and longevity, but even beyond weight, I trust the Molnar quality much more
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I had a set of Eagle H beams in a 500+ HP 351C. No issues. Lost the block after two seasons, sold the rods. Saw 7000 twice per pass for two years. Out of the box they were spot on dimensionally. IIRC, I paid around $550 for the set back then.
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I have had good luck with dsc motor sports max duty h beam i dont know what brand he starts with.I think most off shore all come from the same place and use different brand names.Eagles seam ok i dont hear any thing bad about them.
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seems like when I bought mine they was around 700.00
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I have had good luck with dsc motor sports max duty h beam i dont know what brand he starts with.I think most off shore all come from the same place and use different brand names.Eagles seam ok i dont hear any thing bad about them.
I haven't tried his, are they still available and decent price?
seems like when I bought mine they was around 700.00
I think Eagle makes a couple of options, per Summit, one is 400 dollar range, one 700. My guess is bolt differences, but I didn't look closely
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More than 50% of rod failures are from attempts to weld them to the crank after spinning a bearing. NO rod will survive that regardless of origin , material or design. Most any H beam rod is better than a LeMans rod. "To me" it is important to validate the dimensions on the rod and be sure it has a quality rod bolt . There are counterfit ARP rod bolts out there and big end sizing has been known to change when the bolts are brought up to "proper" torque. Buying a Molnar rod is certainly worth the extra $s. They are THE best offshore rod available unless it comes from Europe.
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I haven't heard of any Eagle rod failures, but have heard of crank failures early on.
The "stories" that I heard, were on the internet, and that was over 20 years ago when I was looking for a set of replacements. The internet was still young back then, and so was I ;D I have not seen anything bad about them since that time.
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Local Ford machine shop has used a lot of Eagle rods with Scat crankshafts in SBFs that make well over 600 hp, and years of racing. I have two Ford engines making ~600 hp with Eagle rods and they seem to keep their dimensions quite well when checked on refresh. Joe-JDC
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I believe the DSC Max Duty rods are made by RPM.
I used the RPM rods in my blown 427 (454) and they are still in that motor.
RPM was/is the maker of forged 4.25 and 4.375 cranks. They are generally liked but the rods less so. I really don't know why.
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I went to seminar held by the owner of Scat. He said he buys the highest "grade" rods China makes. A person in the audience questioned his statement. His reply was , "NO rod in China is scrapped . They are simply sold at a lower price". The lower cost rods typically have tooling marks and sharp edges that they "attempt" to cover up with heavier shot peening. This radically changes the material surface hardness from that which was done by the heat treating process. Again H beams are often overkill compared to stock rods and despite flaws , rarely break unless they have "rubber" bolts or poor sizing. In this case you do get what you pay for. If a more expensive rod ( initially) saves replacing bolts and resizing costs , it's cheaper in the long run.
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They are still on his web site dsc motor sports for 385.00 call him i think he is still open.
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Yes Dennis is still in business and buys the rods / cranks from RPM.
Probe/Vigilante does the same thing. The fully machined I beam is a nice rod and you might be surprised who else sells them under their own name.
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I have had good results from Eagle rods, having said that I have an interesting story more to do with the ARP rod bolts than the rods. Using a stretch gage and torque wrench to tighten the rod bolts I found one soft bolt (up to stretch WAY before torque range. Called ARP, they said this is a proprietary bolt for Eagle (this was an upgraded bolt). Called Eagle, they didn't really care but would sell me a new bolt for $12.00. Didn't tell me it would cost almost $30.00 to ship it! Just saying.
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I've used one Eagle product in all my years of building engines. Used a steel 4.100" crank for a Windsor about 17 years ago. Didn't have any issues.
A few years after that, I ordered two 4.150" BBF Eagle cranks and both of them had dings and pits in the journals, so I sent them back and bought Scat.
A few years after that, there were 3-4 guys on Club Cobra who were scattering engines. All of them were Eagle cast cranks. All of them broke at the 1/5 rod journal.
I think some guys use them and have luck with them but I've had a bad taste in my mouth about them for quite a few years.
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Kinda what Brent said. I have a SBF buddy that makes a lot of HP without a problem using Eagle rods. I also know of some FE and 385 Ford guys that had both rod and crank breakage with Eagle. The 428 currently in my car has Eagle rods that have been beat o for years so who knows.
Personally, I'd never buy Eagle anything since there are other choices out there now. I can't imagine you'd get any kind of quality rod for $350.00 though. Spend your money and take your chances comes to mind.
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I don't know if Eagle is offering several levels of FE rods these days. But $350 seems pretty cheap. I'd pop for the upgraded rod bolts if available.
Ten years ago I bought a set of Eagle H beams for $450ish. They had some nice bolts with 12pt nuts. And the bores measured pretty good too. I remember being surprised because they were considered oriental trash. I used them in a 390 with a set of beat up TRW 12:1 pop-ups. I beat on that motor for several years mud racing. Spun it up to 8K numerous times. Finally gave the 390 to dad for his hot rod F-100. He put a scatter proof bell and a T10 behind it and continues to punish it weekly. No problemo with this particular set of Eagle rods.
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O.K., here's another opinion, and you know everyone has one, but with exposure to many examples from many different manufactures, the bottom line is that in the world of quality aftermarket racing connecting rods in the marketplace the China stuff, and yes there are different grades of it, is all pretty low on the totem pole from the standpoint of durability & survivability, but may prove sufficient, ......................sometimes. :-\
Noted issues in comparison to units one would spend more money on:
Dimensional sizing not as accurate, be sure to inspect all dimensions (as one was going to do in any event), as often requiring resizing of big ends is required, pin-fitting (which is O.K.), big-end & small-end not in alignment, lengths & widths off "some", etc., all as in "came-out-of-the-box" condition.
Grudgeon pin bushings are softer causing greater wear rates or in somewhat more extreme situations just get displaced more readily from the load.
Rod body steel material generally is less rigid, bends, bows, pin-end elongates easier, big-end doesn't hold round as well. And as for the big-end, the problem with the "up-graded" bolt package is that often the increased clamping force surpasses the strength of the rods' bolt post causing issue with reasonable repeatability in sizing upon torquings. :o
Remember, it is true, you get what you pay for; but still, yes, often better than the O.E. as was not intended for racing stuff, so perhaps "sufficient"..............sometimes. ;)
Scott.
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Dennis at DSC is who I supplied my rods. I assumed they were Eagle rods. They came with the more expensive ARP bolts. I also had them magged and checked for size. They required no resizing and balanced without issue.