LS Trunnion Upgrade Kits & Rocker Arms - Relialibity Info Wanted

[66 C10 383]

First and foremost - I'm not wanting to bash any companies making the upgrade kits. I'm looking for 1st hand info on the reliability of these.

I did do a search on these in the LS Engine section and the only thread I've been able to find was from 2019.

1 - We have the stock rocker arms that have seen, in some cases, over 300k miles. They have limited range when changing to higher lift cams and higher pressure valve springs.

2 - The aftermarket makes the trunnion upgrade kits that use either a brass/bronze bushing or a roller bearing. I've found out some companies started out using bearings stating "Made in USA" on the bearing that faces outward to now using a no-doubt cost cutting Chinese bearing (C&U KN 101305).

I've heard of the stock ones falling apart, and I've heard stories of both types of upgrade kits failing.

At what point do you actually NEED the upgraded rocker trunnions? Is it the added lift or the added spring pressure or maybe the increased rpm?

Are either the bushings or rollers reliable enough for a true daily driven engine that's not looking for that last .02 second gain. By daily driver I mean put your family in it and drive 3 states over for vacation without worrying about your rockers falling apart.


I'm old school, I like a good sounding truck/car or whatever I drive. I like to drive to the shows hundreds of miles away when I attend without the aid of a trailer in case something breaks. I'm not doing any racing of any kind. Maybe a quick blast up to 6000 once in a while ...

In fairness to all companies, I'm looking at .550" to .600" lift range and somewhere in the LS6 valve spring pressure area.

GM shows the same rocker arms used from 2000 (1999?) to at least 2012 on everything from the stock 4.8/5.3 even including the LS1, LS2, LS6 engines. I think the LS6 had a valve lift of around .550" area. Would it be better to just go salvage yarding & buy some newer lower mileage rockers from say a 2010 Silverado ...

Would you stay with the stock LS rocker arms or do one of the upgrade kits, roller or bushing and why.

Doug

[Accelo]

If you stay under about 112 @ .050 and .6" on lift, you will not have any issues with the stock rocker arms. Especially if you stay with the LS6 springs. Be sure to set the push-rod length. The reliability issues you wrote about typically arise when going way beyond these specifications.