LB7: Cracked Piston

S Phinney

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Aug 15, 2008
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Running Arias pistons was the best decision I ever made.

Sorry to hear that Shane....really suxs:(

What is the difference between those and the Mahle Forged Simon? Have you had it apart to see how everything looks? Do you drive it any?

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codyn

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Aug 26, 2007
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Here are the ring lands after 40,000 miles of use on a Arias piston. It was sent back to Arias to inspect it. They are very happy with the results after that much use.
 

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sweetdiesel

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Aug 6, 2006
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The Arias have lower silcone value then the Mahle iirc

I use to drive Abby on the street before I twinned it. Had lots of passes on the 750hp range and then stepped up to twins after that I bent all the crappy cuningham rods and tore it down

I reused 7 piston as they where in perfect condition after I cleaned them and rings where still good but I did replace the rings. One piston was damaged because the rod bent so bad it damage the wrist pin area
 

codyn

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Aug 26, 2007
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Awesome Cody, thanks for that! Is that the only set that you know of with mileage like that?

Yea a lot of them are going into sled pullers and drag racing so they are not getting the mileage. There are some driving them every day. Have a set in a triple turbo setup. So we will see how well they do in his setup. I have made some little changes but nothing major.
 

RENODMAX

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Mar 4, 2008
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Damn 40k on forged is pretty awesome Sorry about your luck Shane. Unfortunately I dont think there are a great deal of guys running forged pistons on the street so information is probably somewhat lacking.
 

Fingers

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Im confused by this post?

Many factors play into the durability of the Pistons.

The Keystone design should be good for 150,000 - 200,000 or more miles. They kinda self correct themselves as they wear. Very neat design IMO. However, they put a lot of pressure on the ring land. More than aluminum can handle. Thus the steel insert in the Cast pistons.

The longevity of the Forged ring land is dependent on not only the time in the motor, but the pressures that the fire ring is seeing. I've heard of some people opening up the ring gap a tad to reduce the pressure across the ring and help reduce the pressure on the land.

So, your mileage on a set of Forged will differ from application to application.
 

Stingpuller

The Pusher Man
Jan 11, 2007
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Pistons

Some may not like what I have to say. You asked! If you or anyone thinks they are going to get 100k out of a RACE motor(800 hp or more) they are kidding themself's. If it's run at higher HP much at all it's not going to last! I drive and tow my stock truck that dynoed 550 hp daily. It has given me no problems(LBZ). BUT, i never run it hard or tow and let the motor lug down any. Anything can break and sometimes you find something that you can't break. My Arias pistons are the same pistons from 2009. They don't have a million miles on them but they have HARD MILES racing. ALWAYS!!!! under big power and still yet a problem. I spin the motor 5500 pass after pass and I don't worry about pistons. I replaced the rings for the first time since 2009 this year when I had to replaced the block. I only replaced them because it was a new block and I wanted everything new. I would never run a cast piston in a RACE motor nor would I expect a RACE motor to last 100K. This is no knock on Fingers piston's as I think they will make a good driver/mild race setup. They are still cast! The way he does the top i'm sure it helps but it's still a cast piston. Maybe the monotherms will be the answer for a race motor on the street i'm not sure. As of now you need to be real with yourself on what you want and hope you made the correct choice.
 

S Phinney

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Thanks Jeff for your honesty. I don't run it hard that much but then again don't want to spend 3-4 k every time I crack a piston either. That will get me a sure divorce. .

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Fingers

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Some may not like what I have to say. You asked! If you or anyone thinks they are going to get 100k out of a RACE motor(800 hp or more) they are kidding themself's. If it's run at higher HP much at all it's not going to last! I drive and tow my stock truck that dynoed 550 hp daily. It has given me no problems(LBZ). BUT, i never run it hard or tow and let the motor lug down any. Anything can break and sometimes you find something that you can't break. My Arias pistons are the same pistons from 2009. They don't have a million miles on them but they have HARD MILES racing. ALWAYS!!!! under big power and still yet a problem. I spin the motor 5500 pass after pass and I don't worry about pistons. I replaced the rings for the first time since 2009 this year when I had to replaced the block. I only replaced them because it was a new block and I wanted everything new. I would never run a cast piston in a RACE motor nor would I expect a RACE motor to last 100K. This is no knock on Fingers piston's as I think they will make a good driver/mild race setup. They are still cast! The way he does the top i'm sure it helps but it's still a cast piston. Maybe the monotherms will be the answer for a race motor on the street i'm not sure. As of now you need to be real with yourself on what you want and hope you made the correct choice.

I sell Forged too. BTW. Keep up, will ya!

For all your "they will not stand up in a race motor" dribble, just the opposite has been the case. There is more to it than cast and forged properties, but i'm not going to go into it here.
 

sweetdiesel

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I sell Forged too. BTW. Keep up, will ya!

For all your "they will not stand up in a race motor" dribble, just the opposite has been the case. There is more to it than cast and forged properties, but i'm not going to go into it here.

With all the uncertanty in a dmax race motor. I for one find it nice , that I dont worrie about pistons in my build. I also dont worry about cylinder pressure, perfect tuning either.

Perhaps you have a good formula that makes a cast piston " just the opposite" but for the price of my pistons it was a no brainer.
 

Stingpuller

The Pusher Man
Jan 11, 2007
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Pistons

I worry about a lot of stuff when I make a pass. Pistons is not one that I worry about. John you are a lot smarter than me on the tech stuff of metal. You have to agree a high silicon piston is a LOT more brittle than a soft 2618piston. They each have there purpose. One is made to go a lot of miles the other is made to take a lot of abuse. I'm a dumb racer that has to go round after round and not fix it every other week. I have to run stuff that i'm sure of not stuff that I hope is. There's way to many up and comer einsteins in the diesel world with the best of,first of trick of the week. I will run what works for me. I don't have the time to reinvent everything.
 

S Phinney

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Aug 15, 2008
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Jeff were is the best place to look into pistons like you have been running? How available are they? I need to thoroughly look at all possible options.

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Stingpuller

The Pusher Man
Jan 11, 2007
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Pistons

I got mine from Cody Nichol. They may not be for everyone but in my eyes I cant afford to not run them. I just reread my post and I didn't won't it to sound like i'm slamming Finger's pistons. I'm not. They seem to be working for some folks.
 

S Phinney

Active member
Aug 15, 2008
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Quncy, Fl
I got mine from Cody Nichol. They may not be for everyone but in my eyes I cant afford to not run them. I just reread my post and I didn't won't it to sound like i'm slamming Finger's pistons. I'm not. They seem to be working for some folks.

You think that the Mahle forged will not hold up as well as the Arias will?
 

Stingpuller

The Pusher Man
Jan 11, 2007
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Piston

Not at all. They are a high silicon piston just forged. Do yourself some a favor and look up the differances in piston material. It is some pretty good reading. Like I said they all have there place and they can explain it alot better than I can. I'm just a dumb hillbilly living a dream.
 

Fingers

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While you are looking at the differences, note the fatigue and strength at elevated temperatures. Pistons live at ~300°F. The impact resistance at temp is interesting also.