Roller Rockers in Stock

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by 69Cobra

I truely believe that alot of these rule changes in stock from the open duration on the cams to valve jobs to any springs and spring pressures are due to the lack of qualified techs to police these rules. Policing rocker arms is not an issue obviously but I think all the other rules have just lead to this as the week link for now. Which is what you are saying.

Well, that is part of what I'm saying. They've kept opening the rules and escalating the cost over the years until Stock Eliminator is already far beyond the intent and spirit of the class.

Policing rocker arms will become an issue as soon as you allow aftermarket roller rocker arms in the class. The question will be whether or not NHRA bothers to address the issue fully and completely. For the answer to that, look at how limited tech inspection has become at the vast majority of NHRA events.

I'm really not going to go in to who it was I talked to, nor the changes possible with roller rocker arms. I'll just say that it absolutely will drive the RPM range up, again, and they will create breakage that is not now happening, whether it will be valvetrain breakage or other failures due to higher RPM ranges depends on several factors, and the combination being considered. It also will certainly drive the cost to remain competitive much higher than a simple set of $300 roller rocker arms and possibly a new set of $100 rocker arm studs.

Let's just make this plain and simple. A racer has reached the point where he is breaking rocker arms, and can no longer continue to increase the RPM range he runs and the valvespring pressure required to run there. So he's reached a limit. Give him roller rocker arms. Now, do you really think he's not going to go get a new set of valvesprings , turn another 1000 RPM, and start looking at what he needs to do in order to get more duration in his camshaft in order to turn even more RPM? Of course he's going to make all of those changes, if he wants to go fast and be competitive.

A real racer will always push the limits. Replace the part that breaks, and he'll go find a way to break even more parts. The new replacement part will always create the need for new parts to go with it, and the opportunity to buy new parts to take advantage of the latest rule change.

Every time you allow something like this, it creates the need to spend even more money for other parts to go with it, and further increases the operating range and parts breakage.

Just look at what has happened to Super Stock. We're now running 9,000 RPM, with belt drives, shaft rockers, huge roller lifters, valve springs with 1000 pounds open pressure and 400 pounds seat pressure, titanium retainers, massive camshafts with as much as 0.900" lift at the valve, and all sorts of other parts that were seen only in Pro Stock and Competition Eliminator just 20 years ago. Most of that was brought on by allowing ported an polished heads, because NHRA did not want to be bothered with stopping them. Is that where we want to take Stock Eliminator?