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Old 07-19-2026, 10:12 AM
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chuckies76ta chuckies76ta is offline
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So for street use, what is recommended. Bearings or bushed lifters? This is solids on a hydraulic cam. So this model? https://bamlifters.com/products/bam-...599bf353&_ss=c
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Old 07-19-2026, 01:34 PM
Steve C. Steve C. is offline
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Related thread from 2022....

Best bushed solid roller lifter ?

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...=bushed+lifter

I suspect some opinions could have changed over the years.
This posted here for interest only.


.

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'70 TA / 505 cid / same engine but revised ( previous best 10.63 at 127.05 )
Old information here:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0712p...tiac-trans-am/

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Last edited by Steve C.; 07-19-2026 at 01:41 PM.
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Old 07-19-2026, 01:54 PM
Steve C. Steve C. is offline
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Take the time to read the comments made here....

https://www.facebook.com/EngineLabs/...8127353691393/

( Information provided in this post does not represent any endorsement and is offered for general interest only )


.

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'70 TA / 505 cid / same engine but revised ( previous best 10.63 at 127.05 )
Old information here:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0712p...tiac-trans-am/

Sponsor of the world's fastest Pontiac powered Ford Fairmont (engine)
Best time 5.13 at 140 mph (1/8 mile) , true 10.5 tire, stock type suspension
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDoJnIP3HgE
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Old 07-21-2026, 07:59 AM
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PAUL K PAUL K is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chuckies76ta View Post
So for street use, what is recommended. Bearings or bushed lifters? This is solids on a hydraulic cam. So this model? https://bamlifters.com/products/bam-...599bf353&_ss=c
Thanks
With a the valve train failures nowadays we usually just go with their premium lifter. They're the same design the six second Drag n Drive cars use. Currently they're around $1100 a set and are bushed. They're needle bearing lifters are comparable to Crower and Isky are closer to $700. Those would be the recommended lifter for the solid lifter/hydraulic cam set up.

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Old 07-21-2026, 10:29 AM
Steve C. Steve C. is offline
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Jay S post is worth noting...

"Service life has not shown itself to be a factor with HR cam profiles using SR needle type lifters unless for some reason SR spring pressures are used."

I have a few buddies who have run hydraulic roller profiles with Crower 66260 solid roller lifters with no issues.
Example, one with Dave Bisschop's Old Faithful cam and the other with his Roadpaver cam. One local fellow drove his car weekly for years.

I remember years ago I asked my Comp Cams rep we worked with at the time about it. He told me a minimum of 150 lbs seat pressure AFTER run in.
This was with the Old Fathful cam. I know others have run much more pressure.

( Information provided in this post does not represent any endorsement. And unless specified it is not based on personal experience and is offered for general interest only )

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'70 TA / 505 cid / same engine but revised ( previous best 10.63 at 127.05 )
Old information here:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0712p...tiac-trans-am/

Sponsor of the world's fastest Pontiac powered Ford Fairmont (engine)
Best time 5.13 at 140 mph (1/8 mile) , true 10.5 tire, stock type suspension
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDoJnIP3HgE
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Old 07-22-2026, 12:40 PM
Steve C. Steve C. is offline
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Take this information with a grain of salt ! And further, this should be in the street section.
But like the above post another tid bit here for conversation.....

Years ago during a conversation with a Crower rep I mentioned that my car at the time was street driven only, typically weekends on occasions, and it often sat in the garage not driven.
This conversation was after I had bushed lifter failure. I mentioned our routine of monitoring spring pressure using a on the head valve spring tester and checking the valve lash.
We found no indication of issues with either.

Nothing was resolved as to why and not claiming this was the reason for the failure, but he did point out the following to me.
And with this in mind he suggested I go back to a needle bearing lifter for my particular application.

From the internet, not a quotation from Crower....

"Unlike needle bearings, which rely on tight clearances to naturally trap oil, bushing-style (bushed) lifters feature a larger surface-to-surface clearance that allows oil to drain out when the engine sits unused for extended periods"


.

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'70 TA / 505 cid / same engine but revised ( previous best 10.63 at 127.05 )
Old information here:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0712p...tiac-trans-am/

Sponsor of the world's fastest Pontiac powered Ford Fairmont (engine)
Best time 5.13 at 140 mph (1/8 mile) , true 10.5 tire, stock type suspension
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDoJnIP3HgE
  #7  
Old 07-22-2026, 02:17 PM
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Sirrotica Sirrotica is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve C. View Post
Take this information with a grain of salt ! And further, this should be in the street section.
But like the above post another tid bit here for conversation.....

Years ago during a conversation with a Crower rep I mentioned that my car at the time was street driven only, typically weekends on occasions, and it often sat in the garage not driven.
This conversation was after I had bushed lifter failure. I mentioned our routine of monitoring spring pressure using a on the head valve spring tester and checking the valve lash.
We found no indication of issues with either.

Nothing was resolved as to why and not claiming this was the reason for the failure, but he did point out the following to me.
And with this in mind he suggested I go back to a needle bearing lifter for my particular application.

From the internet, not a quotation from Crower....

"Unlike needle bearings, which rely on tight clearances to naturally trap oil, bushing-style (bushed) lifters feature a larger surface-to-surface clearance that allows oil to drain out when the engine sits unused for extended periods"


.
Steve Morris just started using roller cam bearings instead of babbit bearings in his SMX engines used for drag and drive events. Logic for the choice was the roller bearings never let the cam actually drop down onto the babbit bearings with all the spring pressure when the engine was shut off and restarted. He went on to further explain that even if you used an oil accumulator to pressurize the system before startup the cam was still resting on the babbit bearings until it started to rotate and build a hydraulic oil wedge, causing wear every time the engine is shut down and restarted.

To prove his point he assembled the same engine with babbit bearings, and roller bearings then proceeded to use a torque wrench to record breakaway torque and moving resistance after breakaway was achieved. Turning torque was almost cut in half with the roller bearings. Breakaway torque was also less but only about 30% less than the babbit bearings.

He is betting that the roller bearings in this application will gain longevity in the overall life of the engine.

This theory is very similar to what you have heard about the roller lifter bearings, spring pressure has a bearing on how long you have metal to metal contact on startups. The roller bearings support the wheel even with little to no oil pressure, where the bushing style have metal to metal contact until oil pressure and rotation take up the clearance.

Steve Morris has no illusions that parts in a performance engine will break at some point, he'd just like to extend the breakage out as far as possible with small tweaks to the systems in a performance engine.

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Old 07-22-2026, 03:59 PM
Steve C. Steve C. is offline
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Make The Case: Bushed Lifters VS. Needle-Bearing Lifters

https://performanceracing.com/magazi...earing-lifters

( Information provided in this post does not represent any endorsement and is offered for general interest only )


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'70 TA / 505 cid / same engine but revised ( previous best 10.63 at 127.05 )
Old information here:
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0712p...tiac-trans-am/

Sponsor of the world's fastest Pontiac powered Ford Fairmont (engine)
Best time 5.13 at 140 mph (1/8 mile) , true 10.5 tire, stock type suspension
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDoJnIP3HgE
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