Has Anyone Ever Killed a Stroker?

[GraniteCow]

Has anyone ever destroyed a stroked 4.0 that you know about? As in broken piston or rod? I'm leaning towards building one using 4.2 rods and dished 2229 pistons, but it seems like most people go with 4.0 rods and forged pistons now…something about shorter rods dropping the piston too low in the cylinder, but does this really cause issues? Staying with hypereuectic would give me more customization for running cheap gas, be cheaper, and not slap when it’s cold.

 

[RCP Phx]

The piston stroke in the bore is the same if you have the correct pin height, the piston does "dwell" longer at the top and bottom of the stroke with shorter connecting rods!

 

[GraniteCow]

The piston stroke in the bore is the same if you have the correct pin height, the piston does "dwell" longer at the top and bottom of the stroke with shorter connecting rods!

You just helped me realize something: The piston is going to be located at the top of cylinder via pin height regardless of rod length...which means that the people saying the 4.2 rods pull the piston farther out of the bottom of the cylinder are mistaken, correct? Is this what you're saying? The Silvolite 2229 pistons require decking the block something like 0.030 to 0.040, so in reality the 4.2 rods would only pull the pistons down around 0.040 farther than 4.0 rods and forged pistons, which is negligible? If I understand this correctly, the main advantage of 4.0 rods is a slightly improved rod angle, such as when the piston is halfway down the cylinder. Is this change in rod angle considerable improvement?

 

[RCP Phx]

It sounds like those are the wrong pistons with a incorrect pin height. The only difference is rod length is in the powerband and it is fairly insignificant.