Howdy All-
Thought I did due diligence on parts homework for a rb replacement on my 100k mile M3 until I had a chat with a client's 65 year old master engine builder (american muscle for both street and track). I asked him if he preferred a stretch gauge limit over torque value for rb's and he said he normally sets a torque, then measures stretch to validate both the current accuracy of his gear as well as fastener batch quality.
Then he asked me what I was building...he went down a path of street vs race for the ARP applications but then he asked if I was resizing the big end on the rods. When I said that I had seen that on the ARP instructions, I confessed that I didn't know what that meant. He proceeded to inform me that when torque values are different for the different fasteners, you need to resize the big end b/c the higher torque value may deform the rod end. This could be a big deal...
I'm sure ARP puts the rod end resizing statement in there to 'cover their 6' and while most may not have any issues putting ARP's in the factory rod ends, I'm looking to hear from anybody who:
1. Has resized the rod ends to use ARPs and how was that accomplished (beyond dropping them off at the machine shop...)
2. Had any issues using the ARPs w/o resizing
3. Had any head issues of the ARPs being too oversized to properly torque (i.e. material obstruction)
4. Used ARPs and actually saw what the new bearings looked like after 100 hrs of track time or 50k miles of driving Ms. Daisy
Leaning towards OEM but they seem like more work than needed with their 5/30/3x70 TTY efforts. Trying to KISS (keep it simple, stupid) the job for best results! Thanks!
Thought I did due diligence on parts homework for a rb replacement on my 100k mile M3 until I had a chat with a client's 65 year old master engine builder (american muscle for both street and track). I asked him if he preferred a stretch gauge limit over torque value for rb's and he said he normally sets a torque, then measures stretch to validate both the current accuracy of his gear as well as fastener batch quality.
Then he asked me what I was building...he went down a path of street vs race for the ARP applications but then he asked if I was resizing the big end on the rods. When I said that I had seen that on the ARP instructions, I confessed that I didn't know what that meant. He proceeded to inform me that when torque values are different for the different fasteners, you need to resize the big end b/c the higher torque value may deform the rod end. This could be a big deal...
I'm sure ARP puts the rod end resizing statement in there to 'cover their 6' and while most may not have any issues putting ARP's in the factory rod ends, I'm looking to hear from anybody who:
1. Has resized the rod ends to use ARPs and how was that accomplished (beyond dropping them off at the machine shop...)
2. Had any issues using the ARPs w/o resizing
3. Had any head issues of the ARPs being too oversized to properly torque (i.e. material obstruction)
4. Used ARPs and actually saw what the new bearings looked like after 100 hrs of track time or 50k miles of driving Ms. Daisy
Leaning towards OEM but they seem like more work than needed with their 5/30/3x70 TTY efforts. Trying to KISS (keep it simple, stupid) the job for best results! Thanks!
