best rod and main bearing

[dom666]

my question is what is the best main and rod bearing for my engine clevite 777 or acl race this is my setup cp piston 84 mm and rod pauter 4340

[nickhebert]

I would go with the clevite bearings, there is build threads here that people used the acl race and spun rod bearings less then 1000 miles after a rebuild. I personaly put clevite in my engine.

[nickcaterham]

Hmm, good to know. Does anyone know why the ACL bearings are more likely to spin, though? Is it a possible impropper bearing to rod gadge issue, or are they just inferior parts?

[nickhebert]

I dont know what causes it but I just know that I have read build threads were someone has spun a bearing shortly after the build

This is the thread
knocking-at-230-miles-after-rebuild-t54 ... et%20build

[zil40]

does anybody have that part numbers for those bearing. I looked them up on jegs but it didnt say much about them. Im glad i ran across this i was just about to order the acl's.

[mdb4879]

I think the deal with the ACL's is the clearance spec ACL gives is wrong and there is too much clearance after grinding the crank, resulting in a knock. Or something like that anyways, some sort of clearance issue.

I say go with Clevites if your crank hasn't been ground. Everyone else seems to use them and they hold up amazingly, even in high horsepower applications. If your crank has been ground, go for King bearings. When Casey was building his motor I had Huntsville Engine source his bearings. When he was going to use a cut crank they couldn't find Clevites in an undersize so they got King bearings. They said they used them in their motors, so I'd trust them. If they're good enough for a 1300hp, 632ci big block revving past 7000 rpm, I'm sure they're good enough for anything I'll ever build.

[nickhebert]

does anybody have that part numbers for those bearing. I looked them up on jegs but it didnt say much about them. Im glad i ran across this i was just about to order the acl's.

The website I order mine off of its closed right now so Im sorry I cant help

[float_6969]

Clevite 77's here. Used them in the first build, and the 2nd. After seeing the abuse they took when the oil filter failed and puked it's guts into the motor and my crank came out un-scathed, I was sold on them.

[mdb4879]

Clevite Main Bearings - MS-1565P

Clevite Rod Bearings - CB-1287P

Float, I think those would be a nice addition to the Part Numbers sticky.

(BTW, the Clevites as I remember come out to be around $80 for the mains and rods. Pretty cheap, huh? Just another reason to go Clevite over ACL Race bearings.)

[nickhebert]

Ya I paid $90 shipped for mine.

[float_6969]

Adding now...

[240Clarke]

I have read all of ACL horror stories on here, and I took them into consideration... but I ended up going with the ACL Race main and rod bearings with the slightly larger oil clearance.
My motor is being built and blueprinted, and if different sized bearings are necessary, I will be notified. With such good success with SR's, KA's, and so many other motors, I dont see how this one application from such a notable company/brand could be erred.
And if Im in correct, and I spin a bearing within the first couple thousand miles, Ill drop to my knees and apologize for not taking the advice of others. Haha

[float_6969]

Good luck, I hope they work out for you!

[louiswun]

About ACL bearing I have heard a story from my friend who own an S14 SR20DET
he brought ACL bearing for his engine rebuild, his mechanic carefully measure the the crank tunnel and the crank and bearing thickness, also after fitting the ACL main bearing in, for bouble check the oil clearence, and found that the main bearing thickness between each others have slight different, so his mechanic bring the block, crank and the bearings to a reputable machine shop to double check, and the result is the same. So, my friend order another set of main bearing from Tomei Japan, after received and found that Tomei main bearing is exactlly same as ACL, but the thickness between bearings are more precisely, so he use it on his rebuild SR, and runs fine till now, almost 6 months since hsi rebuild.

[tommey]

ACL bearings are made by KING in Israel..
Whats the point of a bearing that is so hard that it damages the crankshaft before the bearing gives?

[r34 gtr]

I had Clevite 77s in my engine, and they withstood some serious abuse. For the last, oh I don't know, 6 months? before I pulled and disassembled the engine, I had zero oil pressure for probably 30 seconds every time I started the car. And I daily drove it like that. Yeah the bearings were a bit beaten up, but none were worryingly bad. I would recommend Clevite 77 engine bearings to anyone and everyone building a motor.

That said, the classiest looking bearings I ever put in a motor were Federal Mogul bearings I put in a Jeep 258ci inline 6. Damn those things were classy.

E. I have always said, if Clevite 77 bearings are good enough for John Force, they damn well ought to be good enough for me. John Force, REAL AMERICAN HERO!

[float_6969]

ACL bearings are made by KING in Israel..
Whats the point of a bearing that is so hard that it damages the crankshaft before the bearing gives?

Exactly. I'm 100% confident that the Clevites in my motor saved my crankshaft when the oil filter failed and blew it's guts into the motor. There was SOO much stuff imbedded into the bearings, I couldn't believe it. The crank barely had any damage. You could see some light marking on the crank, but it wasn't even enough to feel. The machinist said it probably didn't even need any work, but he polished it up just to be safe. He also told me the same thing, that the Clevites did their job and saved the crank.

[tommey]

I like to use NPR bearings from Japan, they are available locally and they seem to be the same as Clevite.
It says "made in Japan" on the Clevite bearings i have used, i suspect they are made in the same factory .

[mdb4879]

I think that the problem with the ACL's is the spec they give for the journal size is wrong (misprinted) and some people will have their crank crank to that spec without measuring the bearings and will have too much clearance. I would think if you sent everything down to a good machine shop and had them spec everything out then all the clearances should be fine and there wouldn't be any worries. But with the price of the Clevite's and the success everyone on here has had with them I would go Clevite any day.

About the ACL's being hard, now correct me if I'm wrong, I once heard they're made hard so they can withstand extremely high loads without crushing or distorting the bearing. But with all the high horsepower CA's with Clevite's, once again I see no reason to get anything other than Clevite's unless you just can't source them at all.

[tommey]

I dont think deformation or crushing of the bearings is a real factor.
In serious motorsport and racing they use "normal" bearings.

[float_6969]

If that's true about the ACL's, it's probably a marketing gimmick. All of the bearing surfaces are separated by an oil film. This means that when a load is placed in one direction inside the journal, that load is distributed throughout the bearing via the oil film. It's not completely even distributed, but I would think enough that the bearings are going to deform long after another major component fails first, IMHO.

[boost_boy]

I use a very "normal bearing" and they hold up just fine. Just ask "Overboosted180" how his 600+whp CA is holding. It starts with the trueness of the mating surfaces, then clearances gets factored in and the cleanliness of the install of internal soft components. If you don't have the ability to determine the trueness of the bore for your crank's journals, then it's best to take your block, bearing caps, girdle and crank to a machine shop to get them checked-out. Even then, balancing of all rotating components become a factor when it comes to the bearings as well. It's too many variables involved before you start pointing at the bearings themselves. Well, I covered those variables and the worthless@ss ACL "race bearings" still failed before I even put 5 minutes on the engine. That was my bad because I was warned by the crank's inability to turn freely after installation, but still chanced it. I ended up taking the engine back out, open the oil pan, remove the lower rotational assembly, clean-up my journals, put some less expensive bearings in the cradles and 11k miles later and 536whp@30psi of boost, the engine is as quiet as it wants to be with excellent oil pressure

[bimeur]

I have OEM ones, plastigauge them, everything was fine, and some oil chamferring.

Now, the engine runs since 23 000km, 14PSI of boost and 250WHP, nothing special....