Rod bolts

[wicked1]

Was wondering if anyone with a 98-99 ls1 took the time to replace the rod bolts when they did a heads/ cam swap. Was reading that on the early ls1 this was a weak link that should be updated when you start adding power. So I was wondering if anyone did it or for those that didn't have you ever had any bottom end problems?

[SMWS6TA]

I'll let you know when I break down my motor here soon......

I hope I can explain this correctly....

Some things to consider, if you change over to the OEM 00-02 rod bolts you'll be fine. However if you decided to upgrade to ARP's you need to do a few things, otherwise you'll be buying a new crank and rods and doing another rebuild.


Using ARP rod blts - ARP's when they are torqued to their (arp) spec changes the rod. It makes it more of an oval instead of a circle. A decent machine shop will use the tools needed to ensure verify clearances for the bearings on the crank and rod. What needs to be done is have the ARP's tighten to spec and re-size the crank portion of the rod and match to bearings.



You may hear about Kaltech bolts - some say you can just torque to OEM specs and your done, but I would always have the clearance check.