Hey, i've been interested in reducing the wear/load on my engine by installing roller rockers. While a quick search of major companies such as compcams etc. this yields nill. But while doing this a lightbulb went off, can chrysler v8 roller rockers be converted to fit to a slant 6 valvetrain by mating the rockers to a /6 machined rocker shaft?

There's no significant* reduction in wear or load by converting to roller rockers if your camshaft is anywhere close to a stock/street type grind.

*-"Significant" is a word that is often misused to mean "large". It actually means "real".
No.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

If you compare a SL6 rocker to a s.b.mopar rocker you can see the SL6's rocker is MUCH longer than the v-8.And the biggest friction reduction would come from a roller tip,there's actually very little friction at the shaft/rocker fulcrum-especially when "banana-grooves" are cut on the shaft oil holes.One thing I'd like to know is can I get a SL6 roller rocker made from either steel or ductile iron(like the mechanical 273 v-8 rockers) instead of aluminum?Given how expensive SL6 roller rockers are($400+) I'd like rockers that won't work-fatigue & break after several years.

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"Faith in Science"

The real gains from roller rockers comes with higher ratio rockers. This allows the cam grinder to use better ramps when grinding very high lift lobes ( so they wear better for such agressive fast ramp camshafts). Only if you plan to run a big cam and high valve spring pressures does the roller part come into play with less wear and resistance, and only then if its a good designed rocker arm.



ALthough they do offer better wear and less resistance even when running smaller cams, its hardly enough to really be justified though.

But agian back to the higher ratio part of most roller rockers, if the cam is made with the higher ratio's in mind then a better camshaft can be had. Most of the time allow the cam grinder to offer a cam that is closer to the function of a roller cam ( faster lobe ramps and higher lifts ). This can allow better duration to lift ratio's which if done right can give better bottom end torque, plus the high end horse power and retain better drivability and a broader power curve.


It does not have to be a hugh cam to gain these advantages, it could be a mild cam, but after optimizing the whole package could perform more like a much bigger cam, but still be very smooth because the gains are made in the so called "under the curve" improvements of the valve action.
The valve ends up opening quicker, which lets it stay at the higher lifts longer which is where the real flow of the head and valve is. It also allows much more flexability with the valve timing itself and a good cam grinder can find much power with a setup like this.

Its like most everything else, its not the one part that makes the big difference, but the sum of many improvements packaged together for a system (like the whole valve train and camshaft system) that addup to a worth while incress.


Is it worth it ? IMHO only if the whole package is optimized to take advantage of the better designed rockers and the budget can afford it. The price of the rockers alone can be put to better use if one has to work with a tight budget, not to meantion the extra work of getting things like the rocker arm geometry working right which will involve things like, rocker stand height, valve stem height, push rod lenth, spring height and coil bind setup properly, valve guide clearance and many other things that come along with making such a setup, really and trully work as it should. That does not mean its impossible, it just takes more than most reallize what it really takes to make proper improvement that pay off in a system like this. When its done, and done right, and one can afford it, it is worth the effort as long as one realizes its not a magic bullet that is going offer hugh amounts of power, or free up enough resistance to make big gains. But what it is, a system that will outperform most others, and allow one to reach for that little extra power, or dance around such thin guide lines such as max effort street/strip type builds that you want to push the limits, and still retain your drivability and durability. Even then, if the rockers are not design right, the durability can be worse.



Jess