[Skippy597]

Unsurprisingly, as many members on here have suggested. The rhoads lifter are effective, cutters performance on YouTube did a video and proved it. https://youtu.be/E_OZitqeFlo?si=VpA5AhYUnCL8tVHW

Unfortunately you can't see the off idle numbers but you can see it's trending that way at the bottom of the run. Pretty interesting video and I thought you guys might enjoy it.

[Formulajones]

They've always worked well. What you can't sell to most here is the noise, lol.

While some of us, like myself, accept some noise with a performance engine, most just can't get past it.
I grew up with solid lifter performance engines so it's just a normal thing. Younger generation today think something is wrong.

[Green Elephant]

Outside of the clicking noise they make I’m pretty happy with how the Rhoads lifters work in my 400. I installed a Crower 60244 cam with 1:65 rockers and once it warms up it idles at 800 rpm or so. It’s zero decked with 65cc KRP D-ports, E85 fuel with a Holley XP carb so it’s cold blooded on startup, but the Rhoads lifters really tamed down the rough idle without hurting power. The car does have hydroboost brakes so I don’t have to worry about vacuum.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Yea i was a firm supporter of Rhoads, and similar methods, but the noise got to me.

[PAUL K]

Little know fact; if one uses Rhoades lifters on the intake or exhaust lobes only they make half the noise.

[Cliff R]

I tested them right on the dyno about 20 years ago. We saw a solid 2" improvement in vacuum at idle speed and noticeably improved throttle response from the engine. On dyno pulls, even loading the dyno as low as possible they made exactly the same power (torque) as the standard HT-951 lifters we removed. Way up at peak power they showed a very, very slight improvement in power showing how they also work well at high RPM's and don't bleed down or loose anything upper mid-range or top end.

I was running them in my first 455 with a Crower 60919 camshaft. Several years later we had the engine back on the dyno for cam testing and removed the 60919 cam and Rhoads lifters. The cam and lifters showed no measurable wear, only nicely "polished". They looked so good I gave it to one of my customers who put it in a RAIV 400 build he was doing.

As far as noise I really didn't notice it much. They made the most noise on the hottest summer days when the engine was fully heat soaked and oil thinned out like water, but even then they weren't obnoxious, just a light sewing machine sound and hardly noticed with the hood closed.......

[Formulajones]

That's typically how all that type of stuff has been for me. When adjusted properly, and if all the factory insulation is in place, you really won't hear any of it with the hood closed, especially if the radio is on.

With the factory hood insulation I can't even hear the solid lifters in the Z with the hood shut and sitting in the driver seat. I literally have to get out of the car and stand next to the fender, and then I can just pick up the solids. Nomad is the same way, I can't hear the solid lifters from the driver seat. Honestly it's a non issue.

Not to mention if you run the newer VMAX version of Rhoades you can lash them even tighter, hence make even less noise.

[Formulas]

Its really self defeating to take a lifter designed to pump down to provide a service then adjust most of the travel out of them in the name of noise reduction..

May as well get a regular lifter at that point

[zippy]

I liked mine, But what I didn't like was the changing idle vs temperature. I got a large oil cooler on my 455. And here in Canada, we get wild temp swings. Cold days, Love the idle. Little rumpy, but when things get warmer. 95-100F in mid summer, the idle totally change. Mellow, smooth. Like where did my rump go. Oil temp and bleed down rate varying. I am happy with the Crower Cam savers right now. Doesn't change idle note barely at all

[Jay S]

The regular Rhoad’s loose some top end like most any HYD lifter, depending on the profile, it may even perform a bit worse than a regular lifter on the top end. You have to run Vpro or Vmax to gain any top end power. That or set the regular lifter toward the bottom of the plunger and mimic what the V series does.

With a Vmax or Vpro you can adjust the lash down to .005”, even zero lash them cold, and after the engine is hot that still gain about 80% of what they do if they are set at .020”, and they operate much quieter. Most people that complain about the noise never bother to try that.

Like Paul K mentioned, I like to limit the effect Rhoad’s have on the Exh to keep extra idle more choppy, plus less noise, and they are still pretty effective. Most of the gains in low end are from the increase in seat velocity and decrease in seat timing on the intake. I have lashed them to .040” before, the more lash you add the less effective they are.

With the V series for the most part if you don’t like the noise, you can tighten them down so they are not working much and still gain a touch of top end power. The only down side is if the engine expansion is higher using aluminum heads, it becomes hard to find a balance between quiet operation and performance gains.

[PAUL K]

Cam profile is a contributing factor for the amount of noise Rhoades lifters make.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Formulas

Its really self defeating to take a lifter designed to pump down to provide a service then adjust most of the travel out of them in the name of noise reduction..

May as well get a regular lifter at that point

What can I say, can't sell these guys a noisy lifter :shrug:

What those do offer though is a little more tunability

[RocktimusPryme]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

What can I say, can't sell these guys a noisy lifter :shrug:

Which is funny because people will buy gear drives marketed as "noisy" and mufflers with names like "violators"

[Formulas]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

Cam profile is a contributing factor for the amount of noise Rhoades lifters make.

They were more noisey on my HC-03 cam vrs my AH294-8 comp cam

[VCho455]

I ran them in a 400 that I daily drove for over ten years. The problem I had with them was I also bracket raced the car every week. They added a extra layer of complexity to being consistent.

Oil temperature affects the bleed down rate of them and that affects ET. Once I installed an oil temperature guage in the car i was able to make myself more consistent. I needed to keep the oil temp in the 190 to 200 degree range in order to be consistent in the later rounds if they hotlapped us into the semi's or the finals.

If I ran the time trials with 170 or 190 degree oil and then waited an hour for first round and made a pass at 100 or 130 degree oil the car would inevitably break out.

If I managed to win by back pedaling and went more rounds the hotter the oil got the slower the car would go. Rarely would the cooler evening air make up for the hotter oil. Once I discovered that oil temperature was key and I made maintaining it part of the staging lane routine I became much more competitive.

[Green Elephant]

Originally Posted by VCho455

I ran them in a 400 that I daily drove for over ten years. The problem I had with them was I also bracket raced the car every week. They added a extra layer of complexity to being consistent.

Oil temperature affects the bleed down rate of them and that affects ET. Once I installed an oil temperature guage in the car i was able to make myself more consistent. I needed to keep the oil temp in the 190 to 200 degree range in order to be consistent in the later rounds if they hotlapped us into the semi's or the finals.

If I ran the time trials with 170 or 190 degree oil and then waited an hour for first round and made a pass at 100 or 130 degree oil the car would inevitably break out.

If I managed to win by back pedaling and went more rounds the hotter the oil got the slower the car would go. Rarely would the cooler evening air make up for the hotter oil. Once I discovered that oil temperature was key and I made maintaining it part of the staging lane routine I became much more competitive.

This is very useful information, thank you for posting this.

[Formulas]

Originally Posted by VCho455

I ran them in a 400 that I daily drove for over ten years. The problem I had with them was I also bracket raced the car every week. They added a extra layer of complexity to being consistent.

Oil temperature affects the bleed down rate of them and that affects ET. Once I installed an oil temperature guage in the car i was able to make myself more consistent. I needed to keep the oil temp in the 190 to 200 degree range in order to be consistent in the later rounds if they hotlapped us into the semi's or the finals.

If I ran the time trials with 170 or 190 degree oil and then waited an hour for first round and made a pass at 100 or 130 degree oil the car would inevitably break out.

If I managed to win by back pedaling and went more rounds the hotter the oil got the slower the car would go. Rarely would the cooler evening air make up for the hotter oil. Once I discovered that oil temperature was key and I made maintaining it part of the staging lane routine I became much more competitive.

If i had a <dedicated> drag car i would not use Rhoads lifters sure they can be used but they do add a level of complexity in terms of consistancy that just isnt needed in a environment that win or lose is heavily based on being consistant

However they do shine on the street or mainly street and some drag race that is more casual than competitive,
they are not a crutch as alot of people like to falsely tout they allow you to run a camshaft that extends upper RPM power for full throttle power but allow the engine to operate more docile at stop light RPMs

[Jay S]

It wasn’t mentioned, but I suspect the power drop that was described when hot was with original Rhoads. It could happen class racing a Vmax trying to cheat a vacuum rule with a ton of lash also. The Vpro and Vmax should perform more like mechanical cams when hot, and don’t change near as much when hot, the tighter the lash, the more they act like a mechanical lifter.

[77 TRASHCAN]

I saw Jim Hand's wagon, for the last time, years ago at Ark City. He had installed the new (then) V-Max lifters in his engine. The noise was barely detectable withe the V Max lifters!!!
The Rhoads website that their lifters can be run on a solid lifter cam...

[Skip Fix]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

They've always worked well. What you can't sell to most here is the noise, lol.

While some of us, like myself, accept some noise with a performance engine, most just can't get past it.
I grew up with solid lifter performance engines so it's just a normal thing. Younger generation today think something is wrong.

Mu solid rollers were quieter than the Rhoads I ran for awhile! If I am going to have the noise might as well have a cam with the specs for the performance.