While on eBay late one night I came across a set of rods that I could not pass up. They are not Godspeed though they might be made in the same factory. They are cheaper then GSP but use 3/8" ARP rod bolts instead of some no name bits that who knows what they are made of. The ARP's are 8740 but they also offer ARP 2000 and L19.

Here is the link:

VW Volkswagen Audi 1 8 2 0L H Beam Rod 144mm A Set of 4 with ARP8740 Bolts | eBay

At first review the weight tolerance of 4 grams is a bit scary but if you are like me I planned on balancing them before install. Still this variance speaks to the quality of the rods in my opinion.

Here is a picture of some of the tools used. Top to bottom are dial bore guage that reads in .00005" (about 1/80th the thickness of a sheet or printing paper), dial calipers that read both metric and standard, and inside micrometer. I also used a set of digital scales to check weight variance.



Here is a photo of the rods themselves.



The rods come numbered on the bottom 2 halves. My first major concern was the weights. These are the actual rod numbers listed. The first weight is with bolts installed and second is without.

458- 574.5g - 521.5g
313- 574.4g - 521.5g
229- 574.1g - 521.4g
148- 574.4g - 521.5g

Overall pretty damn good. Alot better then the 4 grams I expected. I do plan on side balancing them before install as well. I do believe that I could get these spot on by swapping rod bolts around.

Here is the little end measurements measured inline with the rods center line and then at 90 degree rotation from that.

458- .787" - .787"
313- .787" - .787"
229- .787" - .787"
148- .787" - .787"

They are all dead on .787" which is good.

The big end bore is up next. I used the dial bore guage and zero'd it out. The width of these is supposed to 1.8819". The way a dial bore guage reads is a variance of that number. + .0010 would mean 1.8829" and - .0010" would mean 1.8809". I measured these starting at the rods center line and then at 45 degree increments for 4 measurements.

458- .00000" - .00000" - .00000" - .00000"
313- .00003" - +.00002" - +.00000" - .00000"
229- .00000" - .00000" - .00000" - +.00002"
148- .00000" - .00000" - .00000" - .00000"

These are excellent numbers. This is about as consistent as it gets and the variance shown on the 2 rods could simply be temperature (though I took multiple readings with proper recalibrations), dust, or whatever but even Big Name brand company's like Eagle these would be well within their tolerances. Also these comes with a grease like coating that I did my best to get cleaned off and I would highly suspect that there was some left between the halves of the mating surfaces that skewed my results.

Overall my impression of the rods is Satisified but not Blown Away. I will definitely use them but their appearance is less then spectactular. They really could have used a final machining but that adds cost to the mix and these are produced to be cost effective and not pleasing to the eye. Who really cares about that since they are going to be mere slaves and never see the light of day again. At this point I would suggest them to other members but I am really wanting to see what these will do when the boost is turned up.

 

Good info on the specs but as is the case with 99% of eBay stuff, the concern is the raw materials used more so than the fitment. eBay tube manifolds are cheaper than Full Race tube manifolds because they use cheap, brittle stainless that cracks when it gets hot welded together by child laborers at gun point (ok i prolly made that last part up).

Very interested to see how this turns out though, I hope this ends up being one of those rare items on eBay that people can actually trust and save some money on. If it were me however, I wouldn't take the chance.

Good luck!

 

sounds pretty accurate to me

 

Seeing that the rods are a very important part of the engine, it isn't somewhere I would cut corners just to save a little money. Nothing like having to build a whole new motor because you saved $100-$150. lol

 

I was thinking the same thing Mike, why would you want to cut corners on the most import part of the car? Just like Chris said, theres certain alloys for certain things. If the improper one is used, it may work but it wont be the same. They are cheap because millions of dollars wasn't invested in R&D.

 

I am not diasgreeing with you guys on this at all. It is questionable tactic to use parts that are unproven. There are a couple replies to this topic from some fairly respected individuals. If I had money pouring out of my ears I would buy a name brand set. However I don't see a publicized R&D from any of the destributors. Not Eagle (which buy blanks from China), not Manley, Not Scat which buys completed rods from China, not Crower, and so on. I am not questioning their products but what I am emphasizing is that out of the 3 replies there has been shared conscensus on R&D and as a key selling point yet there is no published documentation. If it were me and I was selling a product and I knew that I had a leg up on the competition I would drive it as the main selling point and none of those manufacturers do.

Everyone is pushing to make a cheaper product. Materials are an almost a non factor in cost. There are items sold that packaging and its process of being destributed costs more then materials themselves. It is labor that costs you and this is why so many factory and specialized jobs have departed to China, Taiwan, Korea, Philipines, etc. If you would get the ISO documentation from these main line distributors I am sure you all would be surprised as to the origin of many of the products used today.

The materials are unchanged. The process to manufacture is unchanged. Only the person making it and the guise inwhich it is manufactured is different. I would suspect that these rods are going to be no different then any other rod for sale.


Another thing guys about China made parts especially those sold on eBay. You guys think they are made with subpar materials and techniques because they are being cheap. That has nothing to do with it. Just like how many manufactures in the US source their own parts from China. These people are manufacturing copies and what you all are considering sub par products because there is a market for them and they sale. If the market demanded R&D that is what we would get but cost is the driving force so until people stop buying it it is going to be continued to be sold.

I know there is multiple factories that produce rods like this in China. The Big one is CAT and I am about 99% sure these are made there. If you look at Manley Rods you will see some distinct similiarities. They even weigh the same amount....

 

This sounds interesting. Make sure you update this thread.

 

i've been running a set of no name off brand rods for the last 4,000 miles. i didnt balance a damn thing and last i checked there isnt a hole in my block. i didnt buy mine off ebay but im sure they are the same damn thing.

 

These are the kind of replies I'm hoping to see more of as time goes on!

 

I'd check for the hole first before bragging about... LMDO!!!