Crankshaft Depot Ebay Rods
 

Call me crazy but im beginning to think that these are the same thing as Eagles, Scat, M-tuned.... for much less.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Thoughts?

looks like a rod.

i would be interested in seeing some real tensile strength tests and molecular composition tests of it and a known "expensive" rod. I am skeptical that the Tiawan rods will hold up....

-you will need to balance these rods as 4 grams difference per rod is fairly large.
-the small end bore is 20.1mm... most pistons iirc are 20.0 (this alone would deter me from buying)


that being said i know of a few honda friends who run on china rods with no issues and make some legitimate horsepower.

With the exception of the hardware (which is still genuine ARP hardware btw, just not ARP 2000s) I can verify that they are the same. I've held both in my hands, side by side, and could not tell the difference (except for the logo).

I had them checked out by the director of engineering where I work and he commented on how nice they were.

I'll see if I can find the article that I was reading a while back on a nissan skyline forum. Basically - The guy ordered Eagle rods, and got shipped Tomei rods. He was like "FUCKING BONUS!", but called the company anyway to figure out what the fuck happened. The guy on the other end confirmed that Eagle, Scat, Tomei, and several other brands were all made and balanced in their factory and simply re-branded before they left.

TL;DR Exact same stuff.

EDIT: The set that I bought was balanced within 1 gram.

yep, another person selling the : 4340 "H" Beam Super Racing Rods

Found it.

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/74699-my-...agle-rods.html

Edit: Doesn't look like there was a phone call, I was mistaken.

wtf awesome! I just made a best offer to the guy

And they're tested to 600hp just like the others. No more, no less.


These might be worth taking a look at. Super cheap engine build?

check my build thread when you get a chance. I might do the ultimate cheap high hp build

fify

Is it really a good deal? M-tuned rods are 319 with APR bolts. These are 229, and you're left to sort the bolt. Unless you want to use the ones provided, if any. APR bolts range from ~$70-100 (Google Shopping).

Yeah I was going to use these in a cheap engine build. I am skeptical of the supertech pistons. Hell, I may just do rods and stock pistons that are coated. And of course a baller ass oil pump gear.

They come with genuine ARP bolts. Also, you can best offer the guy as low as you want. A friend of mine got them for just a hair over 200 shipped.

Yeah I just read the description. Does your friend have any input on this? at $200 then we're talking.

Let Jared be the guinea pig. :giggle:

I am going to be

I'm the one who told them to offer 190 bucks and see if the guy would take it :P. I got mine for like 250 shipped and sold them for what I paid.

"much less" isn't really much less. $229 + $16 shipping + $40 for ARP2000 bolts = $285, and M-Tuned sells them for $299. IIRC, my M-Tuned rods were also matched closer than 4 grams.

Support your vendors plz.

I do support them Sav but at the same time if the deals there, im sorry but im going for the deal. I made a best offer of 190. If he sells them for 200+16 shipping then its 216 and they already come with ARP ARP8740 3/8" cap screw bolts. So yeah, thats a savings.
M-tuned right now has them for $320 shipped in the USA so thats a 100 bucks that can go towards my bearings. I have nothing against M-tuned. Great company and sales people but a 100 bucks less is a 100 bucks less period.

Why?

I weighed my set on our lab's precision balance and the set of 4 had a spread of about 0.6 grams. Two of them were within 0.01g, then one was a tad higher and one a tad lower. Actually I think my M-tuned rods were slightly more closely weight-matched than my set of Supertech pistons, which were also all within a gram of each other.

This debate is a sticky one, yes we should support our vendors and such. But to be honest it will fall completely on what the consumer as a individual wants, if they want cheap they will go cheap, if they want reassurance of quality they would go with a vendor. All the vendors can do to out weigh the competition is to give us the reassurance that what we are buying in terms of quality is far superior to the knock off competition. But when vendors start slacking (not saying anyone is, im saying hypothetically) that's where the problem starts, and shit starts hitting fans.

To me as a person i feel good inside when i buy from a vendor because i know my moneys going to someone that matters to this community. I will admit i have in the past gone cheap, and it certainly wont be the last time. But the thing to know is to buy quality where it counts.

Considering the fact that i blew an assload of money on all the quality stuff i did on my last motor only to have it go to nothing makes me not want to go that route again. Ive already changed builders so why not adjust the parts layout? Im not spending 700 on rods again.

Well IIRC yo boy and his clearances had a lot to do with your engine grenade, not the parts.

im just saying that im not spending alot of money again. it was a waste

Haha! If someone gets these for $200. I'm going to buy a set.

lmao he accepted my offer! I wrote him this:

By the way, theres a discussion on one of my car forums that i started about these rods. These are the same as Eagle, Scat, Summit and Tomei rods arent they?

Do you have an accurate scale? Can you weigh them when they come in before you install them?


I am interested...

Also, would the 0.1mm over (0.004") be to make the rod "floating" type as opposed to press fit, or is that mainly with the piston itself?

Run over the rods with a bore dial indicator and see how much variance is on the machining so you can be happy (and report back)
Magnaflux the rods and see if there are any weak spots (and report back)

Dope.

Yup.. There are multiple rod foundries in Asia. We worked with 3 of them when designing the rods and only picked one for the final product as we were not happy with the QC.

I can assure you our rods have been tested at over 600hp and are a quality product. I've even seen a set of rods used in an engine with no oil (Customer forgot to put oil in and spun bearings) and then placed into another motor with zero problems. He has over 20,000kms on that engine.

We match our sets and try to get them as close as we possibly can. We normally get them in batches of 1000 rods at a time. The matching process is a slow one.

As much as I like to support small (especially local!) shops, I am now a scab for buying a set. I threw in a really low offer just to see what would happen. When I came back it was already accepted. I'll buy a set of M-Tuned rods if my engine blows up.

EDIT: Just read the fine print and it says for years '85-'00. Will these not work for my 01? I thought the rods are all more or less the same.

same. how much was your offer?

I sent him an offer for 190 shipped and he accepted

The problem I have with china rods is that hit or miss qc with these compared to things like turbos or manifolds would end up costing you A LOT more money and time.
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Where are they machined is the question.

FTFY!

I agree with this.

I would pay the little extra money for M-Tuned rods. Helping out a vendor and that extra assurance is always nice.

We have a winner.... Hence the reason we did not select certain foundries to take our job...

I still think $320 shipped with genuine ARP2000 bolts is a good deal and so do my customers :)

It is a good deal but as is customary on here, someone will always try the cheaper route at some given point. When i get these in, ill take em to my builder and report back my findings. I may be fortunate for once and score a good set. Dont know till i try.

Look whats happened with china turbos. I feel like the minority using a true garrett lol

Yeah, you're leaving out the fact that if the engine does blow up that means you will need another $1K+ to build another cheap one or less in the case you decide to go back to stock. If your Churbo goes out then is just another $300 at max, bolt-off, and bolt-on. Done.

Jared I'm all for the cheap but $100 extra for reliable rods is worth the peace of mind. Also may I remind you Murphy is your homeboy.

I know. When I get them, if I dont like the quality and what Skippy says, then Ill snag a set of M-Tuneds. Know one will know unless I try so bitches be happy im spending my cash to experiment for myself and all of you too ;)

Im just looking out for you baby. I think that if the cheapest rods we could find were in the $600 range. I would definitively want someone to experiment but at $100 more...meh.

We already experimented with these when Belfab was selling them.

We've already determined that M-tuned does a great job of weight matching and using better hardware.


I was on RitzCamera.com and they were selling the new Nikon D3100. Then I logged on Bestbuy.com and they were selling it as well but with a package with a second lens for slightly more cost...

I offered $180. Shipping is another $38.

Did you mean the same rods for all years, or same opinion about supporting vendors?

Cool video

The ebay seller got back to me saying this:

"Our Supplier, CAT Power Engine, supplied to Eagle, Lunati, Scat, Summit, and Tomie before. They have the best quality and reasonable price. Don't be fooled by these name brands."



Sincerely
CrankShaft Depot eStore

For $206 shipped we'll see how they are when I get them...

I got my rods:

https://www.miataturbo.net/showthrea...=46718&page=34

Ive seen cheap rods in lots of SBCs. As long as you have your machining and balancing done properly ive never heard of an issue.

I know of one guy spraying a 200 hit on a 383 lt1 using 5.7" ebay I beams. No problems.
Same story, come to find out they are from CAT which do scat, ohio crankshaft, and a bunch of others.

You should be fine if you actually have them checked and installed properly.

Seems like the majority of built engine failures I see, cheap parts or not, aren't from an overstressed part but are from installer error or a tuning issue.

i orderded mine last week they should be at my house today, are the bolts good? or it it worth upgradiong the the 2000's? im looking for 350hp

Can anyone confirm this? The M-Tuned rod small end is 0.788". These china rods are 0.791". What is the size of the stock piston hole and small end on the stock rod? I have also read that stock piston hole diameter is 20.0mm

Anybody? ^^^

Btw, out of the maybe half dozen rod manufacturers, I feel cat power systems is the worst quality wise. Did a lot of research into these companies and traced the source of the materials, foundries for the ingots, etc, and cat is the bottom.

This doesn't mean they wont work, but id go belfab long before CAT. Carrillo does all their own shit with US forged ingots from timken steel, and pauter is also great. Belfab has good controls in place for their product as well.

Just sayin, if you want to save a buck, get aluminized exhaust, not cheap roatating assembly parts.

To give you an idea, a piece of paper is usually .005". A press fit rod is usually .001 bigger than the id of the item being pressed in. At work i usually make the rod .002 bigger than the id of the item press fitted and its VERY TIGHT. A .004 difference is enough for knock. If you had a non concentric gear on a rod and that gear was .004 off to one side, when that gear is spinning you'd easily be able to see it wobbling with the naked eye.

This sounds bad, I guess we'll have to wait for Leatherface to get his engine finished.

Even the big end diameter of this rod is off

China - 1.889"
MTuned - 1.891"

The rods I got from belfab a few years ago on their first run came in a CAT box. Just sayin....

I asked the seller about the specs and why they're different. This is the response. I'm not experienced enough to know if it's correct or not.

the small end can be bushed down if the clearances are too big, but there goes the $ saved from cheap rods to regular ones.

also you can probably oversize the bearing on the big end... big end wasnt a worry when i said that above so i didnt state it.

But i think in this thread we have determined that 0.004" is too loose for the wrist pin.

A local shop charges $12 each to put a new bushing in the small end. Still cheaper, but I'd rather have an M-Tuned if this is required.

HThey did at one time colaborate but disolved that partnership over 2 years ago.

Just noticed the CAT website lists the pin as 20.0 mm. All these mismatched specs are retarded, why didn't I pull out the dial bore gauge 2 weeks ago.

Length 132.0, Rod 48.0, Pin 20.0, Rew 21.84, 323/Miata/Protege, Weight 530g, '85-00

so i bought a set of the crankshaft depot rods, got them for 195 shipped? i plan on using them with my b6t build, the spec sheet said 3 of them where exactly the same and 1 rods was off by 1 gram ( pretty good tolerances per the sheet) who knows if there scale is accurate. Well i know theres allot of speculation that these rods (CAT) are the same ones at eagle, bellfab, etd, ect. so i also bought a set of ka1's for my bpt build, got them for a good prices and i figured that ka1 would have better tolerances, from the pics they looked just like the CAT rods, from what ive read is KA1 is owned by carillo but they get everything made in China and they are sent to the US to be finished. well when i compared the 2 there are some pretty significant differences, for one weight Ka1's are much smaller, ka1 have arp2000 hardware and Cat has the standard ARP hardware, the other difference seems CAT has a oil hole on the top of rod im guessing to help cool the piston maybe? the ka1's dont have that hole. they both have brass small ends, seems as thought there is bigger sleeve on the CAT rods. I dont have a scale so i cant give you the exact difference but just some food for thought i guess.
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looks like a good set of rods for 200 bucks :D

Are you able to measure the size of the big and small ends accurately?