Forged 6.1 rods and pistons

Hi,

just chasing anyone's experience on forged pistons and rods for a 2008 6.1 ( it's a new crate , 0 K's ) Got my project at the painters and thought I would get busy. Don't want to send to the machine shop just a simple strip, measure and replace.
So keep crank, replace rods with H beams or equivalent and a good set of forged pistons.. for about 2k? best bits going around?

Thanks

Graeme

I think it'll be tough to beat the K1 rods and wiseco pistons. Though, I'm not real sure what else is out there.

I agree with Uhcoog1, Wiseco and K1 make good pistons and rods.

Also, Mahle also makes pistons and Carrillo makes rods, specifically for the Gen III Hemi.

My question, why are you replacing pistons and rods on a brand new motor?

Yes, the pistons are the weak link in the 6.1L Hemi but they are fine with boost levels up to 8psi, and the rods are generally good to 700 HP. Some people have run into problems running nitrous as the top piston ring is close to dome and thus prone to being pinched under NOS.

Basically unless your running a lot of NOS or a lot of boost, stock pistons and rods are probably fine.

You might find that once your bust open the motor you end up spending a lot more than you intended to. For example, you'll need to buy gaskets, replace the torque to yield fasteners, as well as having the new rotating assembly balanced.

Not trying to dissuade you, just throwing out a question.

Regards,

Joe Dokes

Joe,

good advise there. I will eventually go down the path of boosting or stroking motor, a way off at this stage. Best bet just to refit main bolts to bottom end ( had to pull a couple of main bolts for the pic up swap ) and give it a hiding for a while. I got some ARP's for the mains and side bolts so will check clearances and leave at that.

thanks

If I had a crate 6.1L I'd be leaving it alone. But I don't and can't afford to spend the $$ on one.

I'm planning to stroke one of my 5.7L blocks to 392ci....

Riddler

I do know when the main bolts are swapped to ARP studs you have to line hone the block. So I wouldn't change from factory main bolts if you're not doing any machine work.

Also, there is one group making forged pistons with the same weight as the factory pistons, so theoretically you don't have to rebalance the rotating assembly. Granted, that leaves you with the stock rods, which are probably good for 600-700 hp, depending on what you put them through. If I recall, USCG is running stock rods in his 6.1 with the KB supercharger, with somewhere over 630-650 rwhp?

http://www.lxforums.com/board/f288/dave-weber-modern-muscles-pistons-real-deal-302419/

http://www.lxforums.com/board/f364/group-buy-forged-6-1l-stock-pistons-276830/

This would be a great option for a mild boost (up to 12 psi) motor. If you're going to stroke it eventually and just run it N/A until that point, then just leave it stock, in my opinion.

Here they are:

http://www.modernmuscleperformance.com/6_1L_Forged_Pistons_p/mm-61lp.htm

This is just my opinion on the topic but i dont care who says there already ballanced drop i ready i still wouldnt trust it. No two stock 6.1 crankshafts is going to be ballanced with the exact same bob weights. Even with those pistons id do a full tear down and take it to the machine shop and have it ballanced. The whole engine is going to be torn apart to take out the pistons and rods anyways and most places wont charge more than 2-300 for a good ballance job. If your going to spend the money on a set of forged pistons i would buy a set of forged rods. Good luck with the build and whatever you decide at least get the rotating assembly ballanced.

Jake.