Pushrod/Rocker woes

[brinker88]

It's time for me to get new pushrods/rockers. Last time I had it apart they had some pretty good play in them.

Unfortunately, I can't get aftermarket hardened pushrods. DeltaCams says they're backordered and don't know when they'll be in and TomMoranaMotorsports says they have to order them and they're over a week out for stock length. I'd really like to find some hardened pushrods in a stock length.

Has anyone else had this problem lately? I'm kind of irritated with Delta due to this "backorder". They couldn't give me a straight answer as to when they would EVER be available again.

 

[PanamaExpat]

4.0 push rods and rockers...pure rubbish. I just put factory junk back in mine. Hope to start it for the first time some day this week.

 

[shane96ranger]

You could always try Smith Brothers. They might have something for you.

 

[Andy D]

Ah gee whiz, is this another thing to worry about with the 4.0? Is it due to a crummy push rod design getting pounded? I know very little about the 4.0 in the Rat. It runs OK , so I'm not messing with it until I have cause to. I just put oil and filters in it. The belt was fresh and the plugs are burning just right. But I come here and all I hear about is cracked heads and leaky intake gaskets and now crumbly push rods. The 5 digit odometer is about 30,000. How much longer do I have until the 4.0 breaks?

 

[adsm08]

Ah gee whiz, is this another thing to worry about with the 4.0? Is it due to a crummy push rod design getting pounded?

It's not a fatal flaw, just annoying.

The rod ends don't get oiled quite right because of the shape of the hole that feeds them and the end of the rods gall. This produces a tick similar to the 2.9 lifter tick, but unlike the lifter tick it is NOT fatal, merely annoying. The 2.9 lifter tick will always, eventually, be fatal.

The quick fix for this noise is to flip the rods over putting the galled end in constant contact with the lifter, and this making it shut up for a while.

The permanent fix is hardened rods that won't gall.

It has been speculated that boring out and chamfering the oiling holes in the rockers would allow better oil flow to the rods and preventing the problem in the first place but to my knowledge this has not been tested. I'm thinking about trying this one myself when I start to build my 4.0 here in April.

 

[brinker88]

You could always try Smith Brothers. They might have something for you.

Thanks for the heads up bro! Talked to a guy names Pier (I know...) and he hooked me up with a set of HD wall chromoly rods with 3/16" hardened balls for $157 Custom made to my application. They're going to be done the same day as I order them

 

[Snoranger]

I have a set. PM sent.