[1968GTO421]

I have never heard an engine with Rhodes lifters so I have no idea what they sound like. I have been reading Entropy11's thread "Lifter advice" and found all the info there interesting, and did not want to hijack it.
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=837782

My question is, do Rhodes lifters' ticking sound anything like the "ticking" of solid lifters? I happen to like solids but wondered if a hydraulic cam with Rhodes sounded anything like solids.

Thanks all.

[77 TRASHCAN]

I've been told the sound is similar. Jim Hand ran the original Rhoads in a couple of different variations of his "Wagon" engine.

I saw his car run with the original lifters, many times. It DID have some noise, not much though, my opinion. Each time it ran, it was such a fun car to watch run. This family wagon pulls up, does a burnout, then RIPS off a mid 11 second run....Awesome!!!

The last time I saw it run (at Ark City, Kansas), Jim was using the newer Rhoads V-Max lifters, these barely make any noise, if any...I plan to use these, when that day comes....

[1968GTO421]

Thanks, 77, I wondered if al 16 lifters had a "tick" then it might sound like a solid cam. Interesting about the V-Max lifters. I think Cliff said they could be adjusted with different gaps to alter how much they would change the lower rpm "durations".

(Nearby Spartanburg county had their first tornado of the year 4 days ago, lots of damage. NIce start to the season. Hope your area has a quieter spring this year!)

[Murf]

I ran them with stamped rockers. I would say they made about as much noise as the roller rockers made on my next engine. Aluminum valve covers help. I didn’t really notice it with the hood down but my hearing is somewhat suspect.


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[dmac]

I have used Rhoads lifters and the tick is noticeable, but inside the car, with the exhaust rumble, you don't notice them. I imagine that with a quiet exhaust, , having the radio at low volume would cover it. The sound to me is similar to a tiny exhaust leak, but a little quieter. I would say that the sound is not loud enough to cover up other noises that can indicate problems. With all the complaints about lifters, I haven't read any complaints about Rhoads failing, so that may mean good quality, but could mean just not as many users to complain about them.

[ponyakr]

I used original Rhoads in every bracket engine I had, back in the '70's & '80's.

Tick didn't bother me at all. But, with open headers, it was not noticeable.

With a quiet street exhaust system, I can see how some might not like the tick.

I was always into the performance side. Didn't really care about how quiet & sedate I could make the engine sound. Different strokes. Just wanted the engine to move the car quick, off the line, and run consistent ET's. The Rhoads worked great for that purpose.

Most nowadays say there are plenty of cams that will run just fine with regular lifters. As mentioned in the other thread, if you want some bleed down, but not as much as Rhoads, the Hylift Johnson "R" lifters are said to provide that, without the Rhoads tick.

With the steep ramps of the XE & Voodoo cams., they shouldn't require bleed-down lifters. As I mentioned, you can either buy Jegs/Delphi lifters & add snap ring retainers, or buy the Crower Micro-Trol lifters which have snap rings & are said to have more precise bleed down control, allowing higher rpm.

[Formulas]

My regular rhoads lifters were quite a bit louder than my solids

It's not so much how loud they were it was more annoying in the fact my engine didn't sound mechanically healthy as in no oil pressure at idle and all the hydraulic lifters were simply collapsed even though it was all fine

I would probably use them again on a 4 speed car simply to have more torque when letting out the clutch

Never tried the ones you adjust with a feeler gauge to me I dont see the point of getting a bleed down lifter then restricting its plunger travel by nearly bottoming it out to reduce noise
.

[lust4speed]

Have done quite a few and with the hood up they are the same or maybe slightly louder than solids. Unlike the dreaded hydraulic roller lifter tapping, the sound is more like a quiet sewing machine and to me not unpleasant at all. With the hood down and cruising with the 2+2 I don't hear them at all.

[steve25]

No dought about, when leaning over the engine bay with a motor up to full temp, Rhioads lifters are a tad louder the properly lashed solids with all other factors being =.

Stamped steel rocker arms seen to be louder with either set up then most Aluminum roller rockers, but in a different way!

[PAUL K]

Lobe design, oil pressure, oil viscosity, rocker arm type, ratio and spring pressures will all affect the noise. I used a RAIV cam in a stock SD-455 with 20w50 and the noise was barely noticeable...but they helped the performance a lot.

[track73]

I've been using Rhodes since I read about them in my "HO" book back in the late 80's. To me they sound like a sewing machine with the hood open. My exhaust systems were always a bit noisy so It doesn't bother me.

[Formulajones]

I think I'm more surprised at the amount of people afraid of a little lifter noise than anything else. I think most have either forgotten or are too young to remember that a large majority of performance engines coming out of Detroit in the 60's were solid cam engines. When you heard solid lifters you knew the guy had something under the hood. No body wanted a juice cam.

Funny now people are afraid of a little noise.

Like Paul said, lobes, oil pressure and viscosity will play a role, but the Rhoads aren't that bad at all. If your car has anything other than a stock gardner exhaust system on it, you won't hear the lifters while driving the car.

One of our daily cars is a solid flat tappet cam, and I can't even hear it driving the car, even sitting and idling. Stand by the fender with the hood shut and idling, you get a faint hint that it might be a solid cam. Open the hood, you get a better idea, but it's still negligible.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by 1968GTO421

Thanks, 77, I wondered if al 16 lifters had a "tick" then it might sound like a solid cam.

Yes they can.

Just for comparison purposes. Friend of mine built a 69 DZ 302 clone engine. Cloned in appearance. Inside it was actually a 355, Dart iron heads modified to look like 186's, and a custom hydraulic camshaft. Outside the stock DZ intake and carb, balancer, valve covers etc...

It had to sound the part too, so he used Rhoads lifters. Nothing to do with quality of lifters, just wanted the solid lifter sound. They did exactly that. It was more like a sewing machine sound.

On the dyno the engine made well over 400hp and tq but I don't remember the exact numbers, this was 25 years ago. Neat thing though was that it sounded just like a little solid flat tappet DZ cam should, and on the outside it appeared as an authentic 302. He was sneaky like that.

[Will]

I honestly didn't notice a lot of difference between a Comp Magnum cam with Rhoads and a mild solid roller cam. Both had Harland Sharp rockers, which people complain are noisy too.

Yeah, with the hood up you could hear a distinct tick but it wasn't super loud. Put the hood down and you'd really have to be listening to hear it, and I couldn't hear it at all inside the car.

[70GS455]

Sewing machine sound is the most accurate description. Its worst at idle, hot oil, and the hood up. I regretted the sound ever since I installed them. However, I never took them out. They tamed the cam down wonderfully and performed just as advertised. Mine made more of a "threshing" sound, if that makes any sense

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[421mike]

To me, I'm old, there is no sweeter sound than the sound of factory solid lifters on a McKeller #10 on an idling 1962-62 421 Super Duty engine. FWIW. Mike.

[steve25]

Don't forget to factor in the resonance of the factory Aluminum long branch headers to the ear pleasing sound!