How Many Lifter Manufacturers Are Their ?,

[427HISS]

Out of the say, top 10 well known lifter company's like Comp, Crower, Isky, Bullet, Jones, Linati, Cam Motion, Crane, Jesel, etc  make their own lifters, or buy from manufactures ?  For example, somebody told me that Cam Research is one that buy's from a manufacture and supply the same lifter for Summit and Jegs line of lifter.

So how do you tell a higher priced lifter vs a lower cost lifter, but their made by the same manufacture ?
I guess the same question for camshafts ?

[SMA390]

I can't speak to all of it,but about 10 years ago I was at the Comp Cams plant in TN. They have "blanks" for cams that they grind to spec on the spot.

[machoneman]

https://johnsonlifters.com/AboutUs.aspx

[Falcon67]

I don't know the names right off, but there are only a couple, very few, that manufacture lifters.  They would be built to spec by the requesting customer.  Not really economically viable for each separate company to make their own.  The costs would skyrocket.  Cams about the same - they buy blanks and cut to spec.  With the CNC machines and stored lobe profiles, buying an off the shelf cam is leaving power on the table.  Brent speced a custom solid roller for my new dragster engine and I had it in hand in less than 3 weeks. 

[Barry_R]

Once upon a time.....
Perhaps fifteen or twenty years ago lifters for domestic V8 engines came from just a few sources - - Eaton, Johnson/Hy-Lift, Stanadyne, Delphi, and Moresa from Mexico.  Each of those companies had both OEM and aftermarket customers, and all of the brand names we are familiar with purchased there parts from one or more of them.  All of them made reasonably decent parts and life was good.

When the OEMs all went to roller lifters some of the OEM driven suppliers invested in the new technology, others did not, and the service replacement volume cratered.  Several of the businesses were no longer viable and were discontinued, sold off, or restructured.  Some of them had a very tumultuous transition (the Johnson/Hy-lift saga is one for the proverbial books), others were simply "gone", and Eaton actually discontinued their flat tappet line saying it was an obsolete product & then went out and bought Moresa a few years later because they needed flat tappets again.  At the same time a bunch off offshore parts were coming in.   At this point its fair to say that unless you purchase directly from a manufacturer (not easily done) lifters are like Cracker Jacks - a surprise in every box.

[gt350hr]

+1 Barry

[427HISS]

Well, that sucks...

Which company's have the best aluminum and quality product, like Johnson ?

The name factor company's of Jesel and Crower are very expensive , but are they worth the higher cost because their the best in quality ?

I'd pay the extra to keep the engine alive, if their better than the others.

So are the Summit and Jegs the same, or junk ? 

Is this true to cams as well ?

What are you engine builders buying ?

I should create a poll on which company's all of you are running.

[manofmerc]

Hiss I have all flat tappet cams in three vehicles A 390 truck a 427 comet and a 460 comet drag car .Personally I have had good luck with them .When I purchase a cam I go with a known cam company and use that companys lifters they recommend .My skeptism is with Summits Jegs and such .To me a cheap lifter is well cheap if their lifters are cheaper than a Lunati Comp or Howards lifter I don't want it .I bought a Howards cam and lifter set for my 390 truck .Those hyd. lifters were about $80 .I felt good about that price .Howards probably uses a reputable company that uses good steel and a consistent hardening method . I would imagine lifters made offshore have little consistency on the steel or hardening .It is a crap shoot as far as I am concerned .On one of my 460s I had 650 lift and over 400 lbs. open pressure no lifter or cam issues .My old 427 center oiler has dumb bell solids  splash oiling and no problems either .It has a Lunati cam and lifters and 14 years running . My oil of choice is Valvoline vr1 .I am aware even the big boys mess up from time to time but stay away from the cheap internal engine parts especially SFTs .Doug 

[gt350hr]

Well, that sucks...

Which company's have the best aluminum and quality product, like Johnson ?

The name factor company's of Jesel and Crower are very expensive , but are they worth the higher cost because their the best in quality ?

I'd pay the extra to keep the engine alive, if their better than the others.

So are the Summit and Jegs the same, or junk ? 

Is this true to cams as well ?

What are you engine builders buying ?

I should create a poll on which company's all of you are running.

   Reply #4 sums it all up. Flat tappet ( hyd or solid) are made by a FEW companies and sold to ALL. There are done in bulk trays of 144 and are around $2 ea. Cam companies rebox them as "theirs" and sell them for 2 and a half times their cost OR MORE . This higher price creates a "perceived value" in many peoples minds. the same can be said for cast iron cam cores that ALL of the industry uses. Just a couple of companies making them too. Piston rings are a similar situation as well. Huge mark ups and re packaging goes on. The "name" on the box doesn't always mean you are getting a better product when paying the higher price. Barry and I have MANY years of "in the industry" experience and know where the bodies are buried , so to speak.
  Randy

[Falcon67]

Great info here.  The flat tappet deal over the last several years is why I'll ride the lawn mower before using flat tappets any more.  Rollers just work.  Buy in is high, but you don't have to re-buy if you decide to update the cam timing.  And no break in to speak of. 

[turbohunter]

I’m assuming (bad idea) that the roller lifter market is a bit different because it’s more specialized?

[frnkeore]

Who makes Mellings FT lifters?

[Barry_R]

I’m assuming (bad idea) that the roller lifter market is a bit different because it’s more specialized?

Completely different segment.  The high end folks either make their own or contract with specialty machining place to do so.
Some of the higher volume hydraulic roller parts may piggyback on OEM parts - or use OEM guts in an aftermarket body.
But race parts are just that - race parts.  You can do a lot of things to lifters that sell for fifty bucks or more each that cannot be done when a lifter needs to retail for less than a McD burger.

[427HISS]

Either way, I want a roller this time and a higher lift than my last solid flat tappet, that's why I'm researching.
Years ago, in the 80's pro street days, everybody had a solid roller cam, but many guys were having trouble with the very high lift cams, high spring psi, and the lifters would crack, split and send all those cute little bearings destroy the engine. Today I spoke with ''Bam'' at BAM Roller Lifters after a referral. He said that getting quality metals, properly heat treatment and some grinders, have been hard to get in the last 10-15 years.

Getting a happy medium between too hard of case carbon steel through out the product, in this case a camshaft, can get too brittle or too soft.
Since we raced sprint cars, he said they sponsor a 410ci team and the engine builders want 9310 cores and/or ''tool steel'' for the cams. One of the sprints engine builder said he had 800 runs on the dyno using his lifter, which was the bronze bushed and about the same with their steel/diamond lifter. Realistic, who knows ?

He mentioned that he thinks,...that company's like Comp, Jones and Callies order their cores and machine their cams, and maybe lifters.

So, do we only and trust the high dollar company's for our cam & drive train parts ?
I also, would never trust low buck products from eBay and other cheap internet crap. I'm just questioning that just because it's a high dollar product, doesn't mean it's high quality, but the same for lower cost products. Maybe the high cost from a company sells 100 cams a year, but the lower cost company sells 1,000 a year, and are the exact same core.

I know I'll buy the cam and lifters from one of the company's that I listed, but which one
Are all of them trust worthy ?

I had a guy say that some years ago, either his cam broke first or a lifter, so he called the cam and lifter company's, and typical, they blamed each other. It could have been that the installer did not set it all up properly, but let's say he did.

With a lot of you having long time experience's, which manufacture do you buy from, and why ?

 

[427HISS]

I’m assuming (bad idea) that the roller lifter market is a bit different because it’s more specialized?

Hey Chris, what version of roller and what's the specs ,do you have ?