question for duke

[Michael F.]

in a previous thread you referred to the after maket roller tipped rockers in 1.5 ratio as "mickey mouse". I didn't understand and am not sure why you say that if they are true 1.5 wouldn't that be better than the 1.37 on factory rockers??? I could understand the roller tips but not sure why you feel that way about a supposed true 1.5. Thanks for educating me with your years of experience and knowledge.

[Duke W.]

Re: question for duke

There is no such thing as a "true" one point...whatever rocker arm. No rocker arm has a constant ratio.

I've measured small block OE rockers. Unless the block and heads have been significantly machined beyond OE, the lash point ratio is about 1.37:1 and the the ratio increases with lift peaking at about 1.44:1 with about a 0.3" lobe.

The rocker arm tip is curved in such a manner that if your rocker geometry is reasonably close to OE the tip ROLLS across the tip of the valve stem. It doesn't slide. The LS rocker arms are roller trunnion, but they don't have roller tips - just a properly curved surface to roll back and forth on the stem tip. Is there a message there?

I don't know what the true behavior is of aftermarket rockers because I have not measured them. Someone else can do that if they want to find out the truth.

One last thing. The Mickey Mouse aftermarket rockers are HEAVY and will cut lifter pump up/valve float speed by several hundred revs.

Don't believe the advertising. It's just hype.

Spend you money on worthwhile items like head massaging and bulletproof connecting rods.

Duke

[Michael F.]

Re: question for duke

thanks Duke, appreciate the wisdom