K1 rods How much power ?
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Sam Colalillo
low 9's w/ a 109
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2005
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K1 rods
They will support 700 wheel horse no problem.
They will support 700 wheel horse no problem.
I would say 800 should be fine. I have been using the same ones for 3+ years. They looked good last time I had it apart for inspection.
cool sounds like a winner
This should answer your question a little better . This is from the K1 rod man himself ....Tom Molnar .
Tim,
I get asked about HP ratings on rods all of the time but this is one of the most difficult things to answer since HP does NOT break rods. Below is my standard answer to those who ask but in most cases it is too long to put on a forum but I will try. Just in case I am not able to get it posted, I wanted to at least let you know what is going on.
Tom
We are frequently asked about power ratings for rods but this is a very difficult question to answer and it is nearly impossible to put a meaningful power rating on them. First off, while many people do rate rods by power, there is no certain power level that when reached, the rod will fail. Power is produced from the expanding gasses in the combustion chamber pushing down on the piston which in turn pushes down on the connecting rods. While there are certain situations that could lead to failed rods due to compressive loads, rods generally do not fail due to power loads. If they did, they would experience severe bending to the point of permanent deformation prior to breaking.
Fact #1 - When you see a broken connecting rod where there is no seizure of the bearing or failure of the piston/pin/cylinder wall, look closely and you will see that the rod was actually pulled in two. This high tension pulling load on the rod takes place at TDC on the exhaust stroke and is caused by the piston trying to continue up the cylinder wall and through the cylinder head, and the crankshaft trying to pull it back down. Keep in mind there is no power being made on the exhaust stroke. The heavier the piston, longer the stroke and the higher the RPM, the more pulling load is placed on the rod. Because of this, you could build two identical engines that both make the same power but if one has heavier pistons, you run a much higher risk of breaking the rods in this engine.
Fact #2 - When you look at a Dyno sheet, you will see that as the RPM is taken past peak power, the power falls off however, most of us have seen engines that have had rods break when over revved. If power broke rods, they would never break due to being over revved.
Fact #3 – If you ever see anyone who has broken a connecting rod at a dragstrip, you will notice it is normally after they cross the finish line. In a circle track engine, the rod will break just before they enter the corner. In both of these cases, the rod breaks when the throttle is closed. Since you are not making more power when the throttle is closed, you have to ask the question, why the rod broke at that point.
Once again, power does not break rods and people that are rating rods by power are using what I refer to as a “Brown Number”. A Brown Number is a number they pulled out of their rear end just to make the customer feel good and to get them to exchange their hard earned money for their product. At K1 Technologies, we use the best computer technology and draw on over 28 years experience in rod and crankshaft design to insure the rods we manufacture are correct for the application.
Tim,
I get asked about HP ratings on rods all of the time but this is one of the most difficult things to answer since HP does NOT break rods. Below is my standard answer to those who ask but in most cases it is too long to put on a forum but I will try. Just in case I am not able to get it posted, I wanted to at least let you know what is going on.
Tom
We are frequently asked about power ratings for rods but this is a very difficult question to answer and it is nearly impossible to put a meaningful power rating on them. First off, while many people do rate rods by power, there is no certain power level that when reached, the rod will fail. Power is produced from the expanding gasses in the combustion chamber pushing down on the piston which in turn pushes down on the connecting rods. While there are certain situations that could lead to failed rods due to compressive loads, rods generally do not fail due to power loads. If they did, they would experience severe bending to the point of permanent deformation prior to breaking.
Fact #1 - When you see a broken connecting rod where there is no seizure of the bearing or failure of the piston/pin/cylinder wall, look closely and you will see that the rod was actually pulled in two. This high tension pulling load on the rod takes place at TDC on the exhaust stroke and is caused by the piston trying to continue up the cylinder wall and through the cylinder head, and the crankshaft trying to pull it back down. Keep in mind there is no power being made on the exhaust stroke. The heavier the piston, longer the stroke and the higher the RPM, the more pulling load is placed on the rod. Because of this, you could build two identical engines that both make the same power but if one has heavier pistons, you run a much higher risk of breaking the rods in this engine.
Fact #2 - When you look at a Dyno sheet, you will see that as the RPM is taken past peak power, the power falls off however, most of us have seen engines that have had rods break when over revved. If power broke rods, they would never break due to being over revved.
Fact #3 – If you ever see anyone who has broken a connecting rod at a dragstrip, you will notice it is normally after they cross the finish line. In a circle track engine, the rod will break just before they enter the corner. In both of these cases, the rod breaks when the throttle is closed. Since you are not making more power when the throttle is closed, you have to ask the question, why the rod broke at that point.
Once again, power does not break rods and people that are rating rods by power are using what I refer to as a “Brown Number”. A Brown Number is a number they pulled out of their rear end just to make the customer feel good and to get them to exchange their hard earned money for their product. At K1 Technologies, we use the best computer technology and draw on over 28 years experience in rod and crankshaft design to insure the rods we manufacture are correct for the application.
