Recommend a good 1.5 roller tip rocker
 

I am looking for a economical roller tip rocker 1.5 any suggestions?

Thanks
Greg


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From what I've read, there are only 2 major brands available.

The CC brand get the nod. But, lots of guys badmouth those also.

Cliff has posted that the main problem with 'em are the grooved rocker balls. These seem to reduce lubrication under the balls. He has recommended switching to regular balls & sorta "lapping" them in. Don't think that's the word he used. Can't remember the exact wording. Can probably find what he said with a search.

Others here recommend going with full alum roller rockers. Or if you have the budget for 'em, there are Crower Stainless full roller rockers.

Many here have badmouthed all PRW rockers.

My bracket engine has CC roller tips. I won't be running it very much at a time. And, I'll probably have the valve covers off quite frequently, at which time I give each rocker a squirt. Don't think I'll have any problems with 'em.

I assume that bigger cams with higher valve spring pressures would put more stress on rockers. So, reasonable HFT cams with reasonable spring pressures should be easier on the rockers, whereas a big roller with high spring pressures might REQUIRE good full roller rockers.

So, your question about an "economical" roller tip might be answered like this. PRW has the cheapest initial price. CC roller tips are supposed to be of better quality. BUT, if either of these rockers fail, that might make a good quality full roller rocker more "economical" in the long run.

You now have to consider both shipping charges AND tax, when finding the best price. There is at least one Amazon seller & one Ebay seller which shows aprox $130 shipped, with no tax, for the PRW rockers.

https://www.amazon.com/PRW-0845501-S.../dp/B004L2OWP2

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PRW-Industr...823ef4b04aded9

From what I can find, the CC 1451-16 roller tips are now over $150 shipped. AND, they do NOT come with poly-lock adjusting nuts. They come with both 3/8 & 7/16 Chevy type nuts. So, if you go with those, you'll have to add the cost of poly-lock nuts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/COMP-Cams-R...UAAOSw6dtduK1s

Scorpion alum rockers are around $300. Best price I can find right now is $276 shipped, with no tax.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Scorpion-SC...gAAOSw9GVby5Qq

There are lots of cheap Chinese rockers, if you wanna chance 'em.

I think the Comp magnum's may be about the most economical roller tip rocker available.

I had them, but swapped to Harland Sharp rockers after one of the comp's loosened up on me on the highway. I want to be straight forward that I don't know if this was an installer error or a product error. These rockers use a ball and cup trunion with self locking adjusting nuts. I had them on my #62 heads, and transferred them over to my KRE heads which is when I had issues.

Of note, the cups on the rocker arms were blued pretty decently which I felt a bit uneasy about, but may not actually be an issue.

The HS rockers have been great. I set them once and checked them once and they hadn't moved. They sing like a sewing machine a bit, but they've otherwise worked well. They are about double the price of the comp magnums though.

I wouldn't waste money on a roller tip rocker in a 1.5 if your Cam will allow the use of a stock rocker with an adjustable polylock and stud. Otherwise I would just go to a used but good condition quality full roller if you really want to save a buck. Seems there's quite often nice sets for sale here.

I've had good service out of Harland Sharps on my Ford 460. They've been on there a lot of street miles. Mild roller with .580 lift. They did sound like a sewing machine but I put factory cast aluminum valvecovers on and you can't hear them.

Agree 100%.

I’d run either a stock 1.5 stamped rocker or go for a quality aluminum roller rocker such as the Harland Sharp. There aren’t any budget priced roller tip rocker arms out there with a stellar reputation.

Just gonna pile on and third what's been said. Stock or full roller. Don't bother with the roller tips, they don't get you anything over a stock rocker except additional points of failure.

Don't know if that is completely true, or not. I've had valve tips that were worn down to the point where the rocker was real close to hitting the retainer.

I ASSUME that the roller tips would not wear down the valve tips nearly as quick, assuming the rollers actually roll. The CC roller tip rockers also seem to be made from thicker material than stock rockers. Not sure of this.

But, if you go with new SS valves, I assume it would take a LONG time for a stock rocker to wear down the valve tip.

Even on bracket racing engines, I only had one stock rocker failure. And it may have had 100k or more street miles on it. I always just pulled 'em off old engines I had layin around the shop. And if they looked OK, I'd run 'em.

"Of note, the cups on the rocker arms were blued pretty decently which I felt a bit uneasy about, but may not actually be an issue."

This is one of the biggest problems with the Comp Cams roller tip rockers. Poor fit between the rocker balls and bodies so they pretty much "grind" themselves together as they break-in and most will turn blue or even black from the heat and friction created AND they are putting metal into the assembly while this happens.

They also use grooved rocker balls which reduces surface area and allows a lot of oil to run right down the studs instead of finding it's way up over the rocker tips and getting atomized for cooling and lubrication.

I still see a lot of folks using them and the few sets I've installed here (try to avoid them for the most part) for customers got solid rocker balls and hand lapped for a better fit between the parts. By the time you source out a set of solid rocker balls and hand lap each one to fit the time and effort makes getting a good set of full roller rockers a better deal all the way around....IMHO.

Even with that said the only full rollers we haven't had or seen issues with are the Crane Gold Race, Harland Sharp, or Crower Enduro's. All of the others (and there are a lot of choices out there) we've seen problems with in one form or another over the years so they are avoided.......FWIW......Cliff

Well the factory rockers worked fine I will stick with them.

Thanks
Greg


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That’s what I would of done if the pivot wasn’t an axial roller...FWIW

Not that anyone would probably notice but the aftermarket rockers I'm told are more accurate from rocker to rocker than the stamped.