aluminum rods VS steel rods
 

pros? cons?

pros: aluminum saves mass, that means more power. modern aluminum rods are also getting very durable.
cons: aluminum = expensive, and they still don't last as long as a less expensive set of good steel rods.

the solution, titanium :D it is lighter than aluminum and has a longer service life than steel, you can't go wrong for jsut over triple the price of aluminum rods. lol

titanium for the win, next they should make diamond ones :lol:

aluminum will stretch out faster than steel. get a set of carrillo billet rods and be done with it.

ive alreays got a set of 327 small journal H beam rods that fit the v6 motor.just looking into other possibilitys though.The rods were free,just some we had laying around the shop.i dount id buy a set of alum rods just seeing what kind of diff they would make.if it were enough i may buy a set.Though its bad enough im already droping 1,100 on a crankshaft.

An Aluminum rod functions as a cushion for the crankshaft in a high Horsepower engine, thats why they're still used in Pro Stock engines.

They will also accellerate faster...since there is less weight to accellerate.

You could have two theoretical motors, and they both make the same HP, since the Weight of the rotating assembly shouldnt effect how much power it makes.
However one will accellerate quicker, the one with less rotating mass.

Also the story may change if its a Dyno that measures HP at an Accelleration rate.

The way a water dyno works, at least the one i have used, is that you will apply a load to the engine with the dyno pump, and that will be used to calculate your HP......however the problem is that its not at a set accelleration rate.

Engines will have a rate of accelleration in each gear change, and some of todays smarter dynos you can program that rate into them.

In that case, the Weight of the assembly "MAY" have an effect on the power number.

What should be the concern is the best rod for the application, without knowing the application its hard to specify exactly what i personally would use.

If you are looking to reduce rotating mass, there are many ways to accomplish that. It happens to be one of my current goals, and one of the next "big ticket" items on the list is a different Balancer with an Aluminum hub.

its gonna be a street/strip car im starting my build of a boosted 3.4 60* engine.
custom crower crankshaft,j.e forged pistions.8.5-1 cr.gmpp aluminum canted valve heads fully race ported,turbo cam etc.will be pushed over 21 psi.just looking at some options for some parts.figured if the rods would live up under street driving conditions and be a big enough gain i might spring for a set.
but right now i have a set of H beam steel rods that would be just fine for the motor

alum rods won't survive on the street. alum rods are really only good for 1 season then gotta change them

cliff