4th of July surprise!!!!!!!

[427 S/O]

This stopped my 4th fun day.......



I'm really not surprised, after 13K hard miles this is an easy fix. What really surprised me were all the folks that offered to help, at least 20 or so, that made my 4th. Hope yours was as good.

[RICK LAKE]

Perry get rid of those rockers and get a set of ersons They are full roller rockers and should last the life time of the motor. I have a couple shafts to go with those rockers. I have a set of rockers without the bronze bushings also that look just like yours with alot less mileage. You where lucky. Rick L.

[427 S/O]

Yeah!, I had just got off some big rpm's when it started clicking........

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

Perry get rid of those rockers and get a set of ersons They are full roller rockers and should last the life time of the motor.

I agree with Rick. Erson's look as nice as they perform too. I have solid lifters with my Erson's and they hold their lash particularly well. Here's a shot:

[jams]

Whatever your choice is replace them all before they go one by one!

[undy]

I don't like rockers that have raw aluminum riding on the rocker shafts, aluminum is not the best hi-load bearing journal surface. Silicon bronze bushings or needle bearings are the way to go. I'm not saying that I think that contributed to the failure though..

Crane does the aluminum journal with their FE offering and they're the biggest POS FE rocker system on the market.

Dave

[427 S/O]

Undy, they do have the Silicon bronze bushings, see picture again. the bushings are in excellent shape, still turn and slide easily!. I cannot find anyone who has had the same failure as mine?.

[ted]

I quit using the Harland Sharp rockers because they were bushed and were breaking similarly and quite often with roller camshaft valve spring pressures. The all aluminum rockers have more material present and are thereby stronger than the bushed rockers. I would occaisionally break a non-bushed rocker (once every other year) but only after they were aged and cycled through pretty hard but no where with the same frequency as the Harland Sharps. But now that the Ersons are available, it's definitely a better route to go.

[undy]

Originally Posted by 427 S/O

Undy, they do have the Silicon bronze bushings, see picture again. the bushings are in excellent shape, still turn and slide easily!. I cannot find anyone who has had the same failure as mine?.

Ahhh, missed that. The rocker cracked away from the bronze bushing which is still on the shaft. Does the bushing still spin on the shaft? If it siezed then that would explain the rocker failure.

[RICK LAKE]

427 S/O Some aluminium rocker are made from better material than others. You get what you pay for. The questions I have for you are this, How big a cam is in the motor? What is the MAX rpm you are turning? What valve springs are on the heads? Do you have limiters for oiling the rocker shaft assemblies? Under STOCK, NORMAL DRIVING these rocker should last 30-50K miles without any problem. High rpm running,missing shifts, floating the valve train large lift cams, and heavy duty valve springs will all help in breaking the rockers, bending pushrods, or lifters that collapse. If you go to the FE forum and search rocker failures you will find the same thing that happened to you. IMO those rockers should not be used on any camshaft bigger than a .550" lift with stock spec valve springs and a 6,000 rpm limit to the motor. If one rocker is now broken the rest are sure to follow. I see the bronze bushing are still intacked on the shaft. Get the Ersons and forget have any more problem. Used nothing less than an ..080" orfice to limit the oil in the top end of the motor. The valve spring and rockers do need alot of oil to keep them cool and control the heat or friction of the parts. Rick L. Ps I run a hydro roller cam and lifters. I use the pushrod oiling for my rockers also even though this is not needed for a street motor. I race most of the time. Too much oil will not hurt anything. Just overfill the motor by 1 quart for safety.

[427 S/O]

Why would ersons be better?, there made the same as mine....aluminum!. Needle bearings makes no difference in pressure!. Mine are Billet 7075-T6 same as erson!!.
I'll do some research before I buy another set. Buy the way, all the necessary mods and then some have been done to my baby.

[RICK LAKE]

427 S/O If you look at the picture you showed of the broken rocker, look how thin the area is where the bushings are. Billet or not. I don't have a side view of an Erson rocker but the bearing area is alot thicker that the Comp or Dove rockers you have. You want the best rockers for your car, T&D or Jessel. Both need to have head work done for the mounting bars. They hold over 900lbs of spring pressure at .800" lift. The oil system in through the pushrods. I asked what spec you had to the motor. I have a set of your rockers here with the same breakage from DOVE. They make alot of rockers for other companies that have there names stamped on the rocker. You might want to have your oil modes checked for enough flow of oil to the heads. .060" is not enough and alot of guys are running this. The other problem is that with Ersons there has been a blueing problem on larger roller cam motors not spraying enough oil on the contact point of the adjuster and pushrod. I am not a PRO builder but have listened to the best builder on the FE forums and done tests myself to check on this problem. Your motor and MONEY. The next time you may loose a motor of 15-20grand over saving $300.00 dollars. The bearings are caged in the Ersons so it's very hard for them to come free and damage a motor. T&D and Jessels have caged bearing but with there mounting system there bearing can come aprt and get into the motor. I know this for a fact. The solid plate rockers is a stronger design than 4 mounting supports with end stands. Your system is strong than the Stock system. Good luck. Rick L.

[427 S/O]

Dam!, wish I hadn't posted now!, got every FE expert coming outa' the wood work.
I just posted to let you all know of the many courteous folks that stopped by the road to offer assistance. That's all......

[Jerry Clayton]

Did any of them have any spare rockers???/ If you want to continue with your style you should carry a few spares or maybe even one whole assy for one side

The Ersons have better hold down brackets, reduced diameter shafts with caged needle bearings and are much stronger than stock rockers---the ones you have aren't as strong as stockers altho they have a gimick end stand

[undy]

Originally Posted by 427 S/O

Dam!, wish I hadn't posted now!, got every FE expert coming outa' the wood work.
I just posted to let you all know of the many courteous folks that stopped by the road to offer assistance. That's all......

no post = no comment

[RICK LAKE]

427 S/O Perry I am not trying to unset you or say I am a expert in the FE field. After breaking rockers and shafts in my car over the last 10 years, I am just trying to give you the best info and solution so you will not have this problem in the future. If the lifter comes out of the bore like in my car 3 years ago the only thing that saved the motor was the 3 quart accusump oil tank. I only had 15psi in the motor on a cool down lap and went 1.25 miles with low pressure.You motor is worth 7-15K dollars. I don't think you would be very happy to get a bill for 6-8 grand for a rebuild over a rocker breaking in the motor. It's just info to help you, You can take it or leave it. There was no intent to pi$$ you off. Other guys have gone down the same road as you, had the same problem and are offering the same advice. That's all. Have a good one and good luck with the repair. Rick L.