Which is better hydraulic or solid lifters?

Asked by: Sarah Younger

Solid lifter cams can be a good choice for a hot street or race engine. They usually have faster ramps (lobes) than hydraulic cams, but not as fast as roller cams. They also need stouter springs than a hydraulic cam, but not nearly as stiff as a roller cam.

Are solid lifters better than hydraulic?

You may be under the false assumption that a solid lifter camshaft makes more power than a hydraulic design. That is not true in a pure sense. A solid lifter has the potential to follow a more aggressive camshaft lobe and also to work effectively at higher engine speeds.

What are the benefits of solid lifters?

They allow for a more aggressive cam profile than hydraulics do. And, they don’t get damaged with over-revving.

What is the advantage of hydraulic lifters?

The hydraulic lifter was designed to compensate for this small tolerance, allowing the valve train to operate with zero clearance—leading to quieter operation, longer engine life, and eliminating the need for periodic adjustment of valve clearance.

What is the primary advantage of hydraulic valve lifters over solid lifters?

Easier to adjust and set tappet clearance • Hydraulic lifters are much easier to adjust and set than solid lifters. Note: It is critical that all air is bled from the lifters when initially installed; otherwise the lifters will collapse and work improperly.

Can you replace solid lifters with hydraulic lifters?

It is possible to run hydraulic flat-tappet lifters on a solid flat-tappet cam, and hydraulic roller lifters on a mechanical roller cam. The rules in some racing classes restrict competitors to running hydraulic valve lifters.

How can you tell a solid lifter from a hydraulic lifter?

We're removing this set of lifters right here which is the hydraulic setup and we're installing the solid over here you can see the hydraulic setup has a longer lifter body which is very typical.

Can you run solid lifters with a hydraulic cam?

It is possible to run solid flat tappets on a hydraulic flat-tappet cam and even mechanical roller lifters on a hydraulic-roller cam.

Are hydraulic lifters self adjusting?

Hydraulic Lifters automatically adjust. They have a spring-loaded plunger inside. As the engine runs, the body of the lifter fills with oil. The spring and oil allow the plunger to move up and down as needed.

Do hydraulic lifters need adjusted?

One of the advantages of hydraulic lifters is they don’t normally require adjustment other than the initial installation. However, there may be situations where the valvetrain is partially disassembled, during the installation of roller rocker arms as an example, which will require adjusting the lifters.

Why does Honda not use hydraulic lifters?

There’s a good reason Honda doesn’t use hydraulic lifters on these engines. Because of the single cam and shaft mounted rocker arms, the only place to put hydraulic lifters would be on the tip of the rocker arm where it pushes on the valve stem.

Can you run a solid roller cam on the street?

If you are doing a street solid roller, what I like recommending is actually getting a street roller lobe design that requires less valvespring pressure, put a good lifter on it, and you shouldn’t have any issues.”

Which is better roller cam or flat tappet?

The roller design is far less likely to fail compared to a flat tappet since they are not as reliant on oil splash to keep things functioning properly. Also, with flat tappet cams, dialing in the right spring pressure is far more critical compared to the more forgiving roller design.

Do roller lifters add horsepower?

The total difference in horsepower between the solid roller and hydraulic roller setup is just slightly over 8 horsepower. In fact, both cams actually made about the same ft-lbs of torque at the same RPM.

Are roller rockers better than stock?

Besides the potential power benefits of an increase in rocker ratio, roller rockers have several additional power-adding advantages compared with a stamped rocker. The advertised ratio of aftermarket roller-tip rockers is more accurate than the claimed ratio of typical stock stamped rockers.

Do roller rockers add horsepower?

Whether you’re dealing with a mostly stock junkyard small-block or a highly modified race engine, rocker arms play a big role in freeing up horsepower and helping reduce friction in the valvetrain.

Why are roller rockers better?

A roller rocker has a small roller that rolls over the end of the valve stem. This virtually eliminates side load on the stem and greatly reduces wear. Another area of high friction and wear is between the rocker arm and rocker shaft.

How much HP does 1.6 Rockers add?

20 hp

Those results found the 1.6 rockers making more than 20 hp over the stock 1.5 rockers.

How much lift do 1.6 roller rockers add?

0.508-inch

With a 1.6:1 rocker, this gives us 0.508-inch valve lift at max lift, an increase of 0.031 inch. It doesn’t sound like much, yet it was enough to show a sizeable gain, mainly because it increases the amount of time that the valves are open at higher lifts, allowing more air to flow through the heads.

What is the difference between a 1.5 and a 1.6 rocker arm?

1.5 rockers lift the valve 1.5 times the lobe lift of the cam, 1.6 lift the valve 1.6 times lobe lift. Generally, 1.6 rockers are used to improve the lift of a camshaft that has low lift. They can also be used to get the valve lift into a specific head flow range.

What rocker arm ratio do I need?

Divide the number from the valve by the number from the lifter. The answer is your rocker arm ratio.



How do I know what my rocker ratio is?

Can you use roller rockers on a flat tappet cam?

The two don’t necessarily need to be used together. Roller camshafts and lifters can be used in an engine that features nonroller rockers; by the same token, roller rocker arms can be used in an engine that features a flat-tappet solid or hydraulic camshaft.

What kind of oil do you use on a flat tappet cam?

AMO 10W-40 and ARO 20W-50 Synthetic Premium Protection oils are recommended for flat-tappet and late-model high-performance motors. Amsoil’s TRO 20W-50 Premium Synthetic Racing oil is recommended for highly modified, high-horsepower street or race motors.

Can you replace lifters without replacing cam?

The camshaft does not necessarily need to be replaced when replacing lifters, and often times is not. In the case of a 4 cylinder, especially, I would replace lifters without doing the camshaft since you can replace the lifters without removing the head.

How do you break-in a flat tappet cam?

Spend at least 30 minutes varying the engine rpm periodically from 2,000 to 2,500 to direct oil splash to different areas of the camshaft.

Can I use new lifters on old cam?

Don’t doubt that someone has already answered this but new lifters on an old cam is OK. Old lifters on a new cam is a bad thing. The lifters wear into the cam and all cams are a little different. The lifter is the part that is made to wear the cam is not.

Do new lifters need to be broken?

Super Moderator. I believe 30 minutes is generally recommended on a new cam and lifters. Make sure to use cam break in lube.