BEWARE OF PROFORM 66868 ROCKER ARM KITS WILL DESTROY YOUR ENGINE

[kevs1969daytona]

 I was replacing my rocker arms on my new engine date coded 440 (1970) was having issues with the old rocker arms and push rods.  So we got a set of PROFORM 66868 kit and a set of crane push rods the ones with the cups.   Got the engine going sounded ok except for a noise which I describe as a "twitty bird" twitting coming from the rocker set.  I initially thought it was a thicker push rod touching the cast iron head.  But we took the rocker off and noticed something that you WILL NOT BELIEVE.  some of the balls in the rocker are (the round ball that fits into the push rod cup) were different sizes.  Some were actually too big to fit all the way into the ball making that twitty bird noise.   They would have failed sure after only a few days causing serious engine issues.  Just a WARNING to the members of this chat forum

[c00nhunterjoe]

Do you have photos of the failures and differences?

[kevs1969daytona]

Will have some pretty soon my engine guy took off the passenger side.  But drivers side still on will take some pics.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I would reccomend the comp cams 1621-16s for anyone upgrading from stock stamped rockers.

[kevs1969daytona]

Yea going with another company thats for sure, just cant believe that allow this product on the market.  zero quality control.  Could ruin an engine.

[c00nhunterjoe]

You get what you pay for. Proform is bottom of the barrel. Go with the comps. Steel, plenty light enough to make make, plenty strong enough for stability and longevity. I use them frequently and have them on my max wedge with 800# spring pressures.

[ACUDANUT]

IMO some look taller, others shorter 
Hard to say without seeing it better.

[kevs1969daytona]

Dude I am not lying they are absolute Chinese garbage, zero quality control.  Went with crane comp

[Kern Dog]

W H A T ??
The cheapest set of rocker arms has defects and isn't a high quality part ??
Yeah....It is sad to admit that there are companies that make such crap but they are out there...Maybe hoping the end user will just screw around with it to make it work.
NEVER buy the cheapest of any tool, part or service. The "thrill" of saving a few bucks wears off really fast when you are waiting for the tow truck to drag your car home.

[kevs1969daytona]

W H A T ??
The cheapest set of rocker arms has defects and isn't a high quality part ??
Yeah....It is sad to admit that there are companies that make such crap but they are out there...Maybe hoping the end user will just screw around with it to make it work.
NEVER buy the cheapest of any tool, part or service. The "thrill" of saving a few bucks wears off really fast when you are waiting for the tow truck to drag your car home.

Can not disagree with that

[BSB67]

I'm always surprised at the gravitational pull of aftermarket rocker arms.  Guys that are on a tight budget seem compelled to replace the tried and true factory units that will work with 90% of the hydraulic application with cheap aftermarket junk. 

[ACUDANUT]

I'm always surprised at the gravitational pull of aftermarket rocker arms.  Guys that are on a tight budget seem compelled to replace the tried and true factory units that will work with 90% of the hydraulic application with cheap aftermarket junk. 

You know I was thinking the same thing. 

[c00nhunterjoe]

I'm always surprised at the gravitational pull of aftermarket rocker arms.  Guys that are on a tight budget seem compelled to replace the tried and true factory units that will work with 90% of the hydraulic application with cheap aftermarket junk. 

I think its because of the gm crowd and the gains from going to a "roller rocker" over a stock gm post rocker. The misconception that chrysler shaft rockers are power robbing just follows suit. Hell, even jesel essentially copied the mopar design.

[Kern Dog]

Not to make excuses but I went with an adjustable rocker set to gain ratio and adjustability for the solid cam I planned to use.
Some jump on the bandwagon to buy these just like others do with those aftermarket coil over front suspension setups....They think if it is NEW, it must be an improvement over the vintage Mopar stuff. 
My rocker set was bought from Mancini racing and described as a generic set patterned after Harland Sharp.

[ACUDANUT]

Looks expensive KD, how many cars do you have ?

[c00nhunterjoe]

Harland sharp makes them under the Mancini sticker. They are not knockoffs. Or at least they were the last i heard. Runs around 500 bucks complete. Nothing against hs, but i would still get the comp steels for another hundred.

[Kern Dog]

Looks expensive KD, how many cars do you have ?

Expensive? Nahh....
I have the 1970 Charger, a '75 Power wagon, a '67 Dart and 3 project cars.
Oh yeah, my 334,000 mile daily driver too:

[kevs1969daytona]

Put the Crane Comps with Manley push rods in today put on maybe 70 miles om the car zero issues.  I could tell the Manley were made in the USA because the Rods were wrapped in the real estate portion of the New Jersey news paper.  Apparently in New Jersey nice house is 1.3 million ouch.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Crane and comp are 2 different companies. Which did you go with?