LS Roller Rocker install vs Trunnion Upgrade fail

[jacks355]

Thought I'd share my experience with my LS rocker upgrade and why the CHE trunnion upgrade failed.

Fitted a new cam and CHE trunnion upgrade in my LS 6L and after 300kms found fine bronze glitter in my oil. Very dissapointing after doing so much research on the best trunnion upgrade, also spending much time to clean inspect and fit everything correctly with smooth face of circlip on the bush. The issue could've been the 90 degree sharp edge on the circlip (where the pliers go in) was scraping the side of the bush, this edge is quite sharp on both sides of the circlip - beware and smooth any sharp edges. Pulled them out and found a number of circlips affected.

Decided to look for roller rockers and chose the Yella Terra ultralite pro's. Had them on for 4 months now and so far they've been rock solid, glitter and particles gone in oil changes. If you use trunnion kit upgrade be sure to check your oil carefully or in the sunlight when it's dumped.

If you go for Yella Terra rollers I had to relieve the head with a die grinder on the inlet side to make them clear, also fit a 10mm rocker cover gasket so they don't tap the underside of the rocker cover. Before grinding anything make sure you tape everything in the head many times over and stuff rags into any holes to prevent grit falling into the engine, this took more time than actually grinding the heads. Degrease everything where tape will need to be applied and use a sticky high quality tape. I used TRex plumbers tape from bunnings, it's fibreglass and really strong.

Here are a few pics of the install and final job. Magnify pics and check the wear on the CHE's around the circlip ends.

 

[shane_3800]

Most cam companies make a bar that you mount the stock rockers on. It is even stronger than those paired shaft mount rockers as the bar acts like a rocker girdle.

 

[gtrboyy]

Did you know reason for trunion upgrade vs roller rockers on streetcars in early days was to keep valvetrain lighter & only needed roller rockers if running rediculous cams in race motors.

 

[07GTS]

check the wear patch on the rocker tips with the wearing bush as they are prob offside wear pattern causing the bush to be pushed to one side under load/repetition, stock rockers arnt perfectly flat, ive been running another bush in mine without issues and am changing to the new CHE bush in my new rockers

 

[jacks355]

Did you know reason for trunion upgrade vs roller rockers on streetcars in early days was to keep valvetrain lighter & only needed roller rockers if running rediculous cams in race motors.

I contemplated smoothing the circlip edges to keep the trunnion kit but kept reading about trunnion kit oil starvation etc, so switched them out for roller rockers. Never had issues on previous engines running Yella Terra roller rockers, great Aussie made products.

 

[jacks355]

check the wear patch on the rocker tips with the wearing bush as they are prob offside wear pattern causing the bush to be pushed to one side under load/repetition, stock rockers arnt perfectly flat, ive been running another bush in mine without issues and am changing to the new CHE bush in my new rockers

That's a good point although I did check each and every rocker carefully for side load. Take a look at both pictures of the CHE's below, if you look carefully you'll see where the circlip ends have rubbed away at the side of the bush. I'd recommend if you run CHE make sure there are no sharp edges, sand and smooth each circlip carefully. It's pretty pathetic they aren't smoothed out of the box on both sides and every corner. They have one machined side and one smooth but the corners and some edges were still pretty sharp.

 

[Pollushon]

I would have been suss on those before the circlip went on. I've only fitted Comp and Brian Tooley but they sit perfectly flush with the rocker body, once pressed, so the circlip has a tiny bit of free play and it all spins smoothly

 

[Immortality]

It's pretty pathetic they aren't smoothed out of the box on both sides and every corner. They have one machined side and one smooth but the corners and some edges were still pretty sharp.

That is how circlips are made, if you look carefully at the holes in the circlips you'll note they are tapered (to match the taper on the circlip pliers) so there is a right and wrong way to fit them.

 

[jacks355]

That is how circlips are made, if you look carefully at the holes in the circlips you'll note they are tapered (to match the taper on the circlip pliers) so there is a right and wrong way to fit them.

As far as I'm concerned bushes are still the inferior upgrade, if the circlips aren't deburred properly on the smooth side there's a potential failure point. There's also oiling issues on many of the bush type upgrades where roller rockers are far superior, but you get what you pay for.

 

[Immortality]

The bush upgrade is done for a reason, just like you can buy bushed roller lifters. Probably not appropriate for a daily though.

There are trunion upgrades for factory rockers that just replace the stock needle roller bearing with a better quality unit and probably more appropriate for what you're doing.