Changeout rod bolts?

[Dave _S]

I have been thinking about replacing the rod and main bearing cap bolts in my engine on the theory that they are 23 years old and have 105,000 miles on them and are therefore prime canidates for breaking. The engine is in very good shape and I don't want to kill it by breaking a rod bolt.

Does anyone know of any reasons why replacing the rod bolts would not be a good idea?

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1977 WT Cherokee, 401V8, TH400, PT Quadra-trac.

[This message has been edited by Dave _S (edited February 20, 2001).]

[Puvong]

Dave, I can not think of any good reason, why you wanted to replace just the rod & main bearing bolts?. If you are going to do that far why not rebuild the whole motor. However, I almost never heard of anyone has a problem on these bolts, if they actually break then you will need a new motor. I would agree to replace or upgrade these bolts when the motor is being rebuilt. My 80-Che is locking 146K miles right now and it seems to go another 200K.

[FSJman]

my dad had a j10 truck with a 360.the orignal engine lasted over 220000 miles,he got rid of when the rear end went out the engine was still going strong


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FSJman
amc 360 bored 60 over
edlebrock 4bbl 650 s/p carb
3 inch body lift
coustom bumpers
tow package
31/10.50 BFG AT

[nograin]

Lots of good reasons. Its a lot of work, messy, and not a part likely to break. Every time you go in, there is some risk something will go wrong, a thread strips, a a bolt shears, a seal gets ripped. If ain't broke, don't fix it.

A properly designed bolt/application combi will never fail in service. What will fail is the bearings themselves. They do wear. But youl see a real drop in oil pressure in most cases before they go. Moving parts wear, you could lose a lifter, for example.

[BobBarry]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dave _S:
Does anyone know of any reasons why replacing the rod bolts would not be a good idea?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes; the rod's big-ends should be resized when new rod-bolts are pressed in, as this process slightly distorts the rod. You have to pull the rods and pistons to do this. Besides, rod bolts don't normally break in normal use; something else is usually the cause of catastrophic engine failure.

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Bob Barry<UL TYPE=SQUARE>* '78 Cherokee 4-door
* '88 Grand Wagoneer[/list]http://studentweb.providence.edu/~rbarry/wheels/