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Has anyone here have any direct experience with Assault Aluminum Rockers? Was thinking of trying their SBF 1.6 rockers for a 450Hp build, thanks in advance.
Only "bad" rockers or of poor quality I've heard of were Proform but that also depends on spring pressure. For springs with less than 300lbs of open pressure, Proform probably do ok. You can get Ford ones pretty cheap on eBay.
Harland Sharp 5017’s that we bought look very nice and the geometry was perfect. We got the 1.7 ratio to get the valve lifts up a bit over the 1.6 ratio.
I think a bunch of engines out there could see some nice power improvements and a much more stable valvetrain with corrected pushrod lengths, and better rocker arms.
If there would have been an affordable 1.8:1 ratio rocker that was high quality and had the proper geometry, I would have been all in on it!
Last edited by Battenrunner; August 1st, 2019 at 09:57 PM.
Assault Ford 302 1:6 Aluminum Roller Rocker Review
Ok against better judgement and good advice from here I bit the bullet and bought a set of the Assault Ford 302 1:6 Aluminum Roller Rockers that cost me $268.00 CAD. Now before anyone asks me "Why", well I have a 1968 302 that needs rebuilding as a good but not great street engine so the rockers will eventually end up on that motor.
My current engine, a 455 with a hydraulic cam has 0.560" lift and single with damper springs that are 0450" wide and 300# Lbs. open pressure and works quite well with stock rockers, anti-pump up lifters, AMC 6 cylinder 5/16" push rods, can't remember the length but they provide 0.060" perload.
So lets start with the simple stuff. Rockers and studs are from KMJ performance and purchased through Ebay. The rocker studs are 7/16" x 7/16" are chromoly and are well made. I don't think my turbo motor (WIP) will have a problem with 500# lbs. open pressure with these studs. Only problem is that the picture KMJ had on their web site wasn't very good and I was hoping to use my stamped steel Pontiac guide plates but, I'll have to use thick plates from somebody, oh well.
Ok I'm used to rockers like Jesel, T&D, Crane, and Comp along with some brands and cheaper brands because that's what the customer wants. These rockers are a mixed bag of features.
A good thing - The main body has very very little porosity and from the pushrod side to the end of the trunnion is well made.
A good thing - The trunnion uses press fit semi-enclosed bearings on each side with no locking device but the trunnion shaft does use 'C'-clips on either side of the shaft so the bearings should not fall apart. I'll check and make sure each clip is seated properly though.
A good thing - The oil hole on the pushrod side is drilled in a good location and at a good angle.
A good thing - It looks like the rockers can clear 0.550 springs.
A Ok thing - The pushrod cup looks like chromoly is splined and is pressed fit, quite a common setup.
A Ok thing - The lash adjusters have a gritty feel when adjusting the lock. The lock in self has an offset nose which is ok but could be better.
A bad thing - The roller tip nose could be beefier, too large of a groove cut..
A bad thing - Some of the roller tip bearings (most) have a gritty feel to them when you turn them not good. I'll wash them out and grease them and see if this improve things, otherwise I'm scared that they will seize up on me. I'll have to keep checking them after each race day.
A bad thing - The roller tip bearings are quite loose on the shaft.
A bad thing - KMJ/Assault say the roller tip shaft is secured with cir-clips but I found this to be true on only 1 side. These are splined & press fit pin shafts so I hope the shaft doesn't work loose, they shouldn't.
A bad thing - The oil supply to the nose is good for oiling the springs but not the nose bearing.
To be honest they look like Crane gold knock-off rockers for AMC. Ford, and Olds but why spring oilers and **** tip bearings. Now Crane doesn't always supply good oiling to the roller tip bearing either but this is way off and the picture does not show it enough. At least with Jesel and T&D they have a pressure oiling to the tip in the same location. Most likely what I'm going to do is plug the oiling hole and groove the top of the rocker nose to supply oil to the crappy tip bearing. I would love to change out the roller tip bearing and fix the oiling to it, I'll see how that goes when I keep an eye on the tip rollers. If I don't see oil going to the tip bearing then I'm grooving them.
Other than the roller tip problems I think the rest of the rocker would work great with a street/strip setup to 6,500 and #400-500 lbs. but with the crappy roller tip bearings I'd say no more than a hydraulic cam with spring pressures at or below #300 lbs. and no more than 6,000 RPM. It's just too bad that they skimped on the roller tip bearing otherwise I'd say it's a Crane gold match at a deep discount. I still have to mount them on a head and see how things line up, after which I'll post it here.
July 26th, 2019, 03:39 PM
