stumbled upon this today. figured some of you want want to have a look
[video=youtube;fjgKtaX54gE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjgKtaX54gE[/video]
I do not like using any of the aftermarket rods unless I cannot find an OEM replacement. If I have to make a choice I prefer Hot
Rods rod kits and cranks over Wiseco rod kits and cranks.
The premature failure of the crank in the video could have probably been prevented if the guy had checked the rod clearance before he installed the crank. The break-in procedure he used would not add life to any crank that has good machine work with the proper internal bearing clearances. No break in is required on good needle and ball bearings. If the crank failed because the con rod bearing clearance were too tight, it could need a 100 hours or more of run time to get the clearances where they should have been when he installed the crank.
We measure and inspect all of this stuff before we use ANY new rod kit or new crank assemblies. Our rejection rate for new OEM rods and cranks is less than 1%
Our rejection rate for aftermarket rods and cranks is around 30% to 40 %. Are you going to be one of the unlucky ones that gets one of 30% sub standard parts. Are you going to be one of the unlucky ones that buys one of the rod kits or cranks off Ebay or one of the online discount parts warehouses that liquidates the rejected parts. The rejects are not crushed or thrown away They find there way back into the hands of the inexperienced shops and customers.
I watched some videos of shops displaying their crank rebuilding skills. One idiot pushed the crank pin all the way through both crank halves on a Honda tin can crank because he did not have the right tools to separate the halves. This runs the crank pin hole that the failed pin was pushed through.
Another video shows an ill equipped shop where the guy is cutting the big end of the rod and crank pin in half using a disk on a die grinder
Another video I watched shows a guy truing a crank after pressing it together and only checking one end for runout. You cannot assume that the other end is true because the end you checked is true.
Another shows a guy rebuilding a tin can crank using a nice crank assembly jig and not checking it for alignment or "trueness". He said something like "the crank assembly fixture will usually get the crank within .003". That is not close enough. It could be your crank that he is working on.
In another video, the guys that is rebuilding the crank says he heard on another video that you do not need to get the crank alignment any closer than .002". This is another classic example of blind engine builders leading other blind engine builders.
I could not believe what I was seeing in most of these videos. Are these guys trying to impress potential customers or trying to warn potential customers not send them work.
I think that these guys should be spending money on the correct tools for the job and not video cameras. The time they are spending making videos would be better spent learning how to use the proper tools. Maybe they should stop watching videos on ways to do substandard work and spend that time learning how to rebuild cranks properly!!!
