im currently building an LS/vtec for one of my buddies…i told him to order some ARP rod bolts and he don’t want to cause some other guy built an LS/vtec and didn’t put them on and has been running 2 years without problems…so he’s not ordering them and is keeping stock rod bolts. his whole rotating assembly is balanced. he don’t want to rev over 8000rpm, so are ARP bolts really that important or should he be fine? i know if it was MY motor it would have ARP rod bolts just for the reason of feeling secure…but anyways it’s not mine so…lol anyway give me your opinions, thanks guys
IMO I would have arp bolts. Why not have the security of knowing it was done with arp bolts?
I’ve never had an N/A rod bolt fail. I’m currently running 12.2:1 on an ITR rotating assembly with OS CTR pistons and a B16 head. I have also built several 13:1 B20/VTEC and also have never had a rod bolt fail, nor a head bolt.
Save your money and spend it on valve train and quality machine work.
If he is using LS style rods then the bolts are 1mm smaller than the rods used on VTEC engines.
If that is the case then the bolt is the same as a Civic that I red lined and sent the bolt through the front of the block with a hole I could fit my hand through, it lodged itself along with shrapnel in the radiator and front end. Not a pretty sight.
I have never personally seen or first hand heard of the larger bolts failing. Either way I still recommend all the ARP bolts you can get, I have used them for years on many engines and have never had a failure. As for the rest of the fasteners you should be ok to use oem since this is a n/a setup.
the only time i would not use arp’s in an lsv application is if the motor is dd and will not exceed 7200rpm. anything beyond that, i thik arp’s are a must. the only real weak link in the ls motor is that the oem rodbolts are prone to stretching when pushed beyond its limits. don’t get me wrong, the oem rod can bend also. but i would only be concerned with adding stronger rodbolts for ur set up. what is the cost of saving ur motor…$49? its ur call
I would and have put arp rod in any engine that is being rebuilt no matter what make if your planning on doing anything other than keeping it bone stock. come on its only like $30. I have never heard of an arp bolt going bad other than user error or bad install or something.
You should, but you don’t have to. Your not going to be running at the high rpms of a real vtec motor. Like nas-T-nos said, the rod bolts won’t take the high rpms.
IMO while the motor is taken apart just replace the rod bolts and head bolts with arp and you should have a safe high reving motor…trust me I wish I did when I had mine pulled apart but I didn’t have the time for the car to be down. I’ve been running for 2years without a problem but I’ve also been safe with my ecu chipped to just over the stock rev limit of an ls…which is almost pointless. Once I get the chance I will be pulling my car apart to do this and a rebuild
well thanks for the input guys but too late, kept the stock bolts on, the guy didnt want to get them, but i warned him…but like he said, he’s never gonna pass 7500 rpm, and he dont beat his car…just building the motor to have something cool kinda thing. we’ll see how it goes i guess, only time will tell
ARP rod bolts is a must, reliability is a must. (at least for me) if u like to rev ur motor and cross ur finger that today is not the day my motor will go then dont put them on.
i couldn’t agree more. i can guarantee that ur friend will rev beyond 7500rpm. …thats a fact. vtec is too addictive. the sad part is, ur friend just completely ignored the weakest part of the ls shortblock (rod bolt stretch), due to sheer ignorance. oh well, he better keep his fingers crossed. let me guess, he left the non vtec water and oil pumps? :sad:
what happens if you use stock bolts?? do they snap off or do they gradually start to loosen??
Stock Ls rod bolts will start to stretch after 7600 rpm im told
what is the cost of saving ur motor…$49?
Couldn’t have said it better.
Without the bolts he’s asking for it I think. I hope we dont see a “My friends engine blew!” thread in the next few months 
at the same time, arp rod bolts yeah, maybe there are $30-$50,
but dont forget you cant just stick them in. you need to resize the rod properly at a machine shop for them. arp rod bolts done wrong are most likely worse than oem rod bolts
If some one buys the arp bolts for their rods then decides to rebuild later dont aftermarket rods like “Eagle” come with adequate rod bolts thus which one would be better ARP or what the rod manufacture reccmmnds?
[QUOTE=viprtwo;1886650]at the same time, arp rod bolts yeah, maybe there are $30-$50,
but dont forget you cant just stick them in. you need to resize the rod properly at a machine shop for them. arp rod bolts done wrong are most likely worse than oem rod bolts[/QUOTE]
I can’t agree more with this, however i have been running my ls/v for about a year and a half now with NO issues pertaining to my rotating assembly. I bought the rod bolts but decided not to put them in as i didn’t want to tear down my bottom end. If i ever build my motor up any more than it is i will put them in but for a DD that doesn’t see track abuse i think you should be fine. My car has never seen over 7.6k rpms but does get beat on under that enough.