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MaXpeedingRods Rod unboxing and initial thoughts

linuxman51

Railspeeder Enthusiast #1
300+ Club
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Location
mont, AL
disclaimer: These rods were provided in exchange for review and sharing my thoughts about them.

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The folks at MaXpeedingRods reached out to me to gauge interest in testing some of their products, in this particular case, a set of their volvo drop-in rods.
Quick deets: ARP hardware (the normal 3/8s bolts), stock big end width (piston steered), H-beam gnarliness.
They say pictures are worth a thousand words, so I shot a video of the unboxing, which is probably predictably awkward since it was largely stream of consciousness. It's on my youtube channel and can be found here (watch me handle my rod!):
https://youtu.be/GjyZWYS-ku0

They're what we've all come to expect in terms of overseas rods, these in particular have a couple nice touches (that you'll only ever get to see hopefully once or twice)
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the logo of course is neat, but this was a nice touch imo:

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I haven't verified if the big number is the weight of the rod, or just a serial/day code (seems more likely) but having that on there is nice when you don't have any other external markings to indicate cap directionality. If you look at the bearing tangs, that'd keep you straight as well, but in the heat of combat, sometimes those details get lost (or, if you take an engine apart and just pile the pieces up in a box for later viewing.... not that I've done that....)

The rod bolts standard looking arp fare, except they have the company's name stamped in the bottom as well, kinda cool if you're into that.

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The box itself took a little beating in shipping, it also went to the wrong address (this happens to me on a fairly regular basis actually, so much so that I have the guy's number and we contact each other when we get the wrong stuff). apparently in the morning shuffle it's easy to mix up hall and chase :shrug:

everything inside though was packaged well and no worse for the wear; this is nicer than some other rods I've bought in the past, that will essentially show up tossed in a generic cardboard box and wrapped with that wax paper stuff. There's an installation guide with torque specs in the box (which is also nice, although I'm sure I'll lose it and have to google the torque specs later on as always seems to be the case for me :-/ )

So yeah, they look good, can't wait to get em in an engine for the black wagon, they'll complement the power goals nicely. It's been a position of mine for a while now that anyone shooting for power over 300hp, rods should be upgraded.. the cost point is increasingly outweighing the risk these days when engines aren't a dime a dozen in the junkyards anymore, and options like this are inexpensive enough that it should be a no-brainer. Do keep the steering in mind when ordering rods (esp if you're getting aftermarket pistons), we had that guy on FB recently that bought rods and pistons from Sten (or somewhere over there), and they were stock dimension rods, and pistons that were not set up for piston steering, chewed the bearings and rods up iirc pretty much on the first start.

Another part of the deal that may be beneficial to yall is a coupon code for 8% off orders over $200, that code is "linuxman". May not be a huge value right this second because their May discount is also 8%, but perhaps you can stack the two codes. I may go try that real fast :pauses post: Mmm sadly no, you can't.

The listing for the rods in this review is here:
https://bit.ly/3aDvdBh?tracking=linuxman

Some additional background on the company (provided by them, edited for clarity by me):
- Maxpeedingrods has been focused on performance auto parts over 10 years, with more than 3 million plus customers worldwide.
- We specifically provide accessories for street cars and race cars to consumers and business partners in over 170 countries and regions, mainly producing and selling connecting rods, crankshafts, turbochargers and coilovers, etc.
- We have a professional logistics system with worldwide warehouses in German, the UK, the USA, Australia and China.
https://www.maxpeedingrods.com/?tracking=linuxman

Anyway, great looking stock replacement rods with good fitment and a good pricepoint.
 
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Mine were within 1g each and measured perfect on the measuring machine. Axis alingment, roundness and cylindricity were all in the two digits ?m range. Can't tell about the material and tempering though. I poked them with a hardness tester on a few places, the readings were the same at least.
 
Mine are happily dealing with 20# of boost...

It was cheaper to buy a new set of rods than get the old ones re-bushed.
Can you do destructive testing on those rods?
The rods that were in the motor I built were no-name but the hidden machine work under the pin bushing was not acceptable. The bore was so rough there were voids behind the bushing which may have contributed to them going oversize. This in effect required that the rod bushing hole be honed for a custom made bushing.
Note: The pin bushings in these rods are not standard and if replaced will have to be custom made to fit.
 
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I'll likely have to snag a set soon. Any idea how long your referral code lasts, and if you get anything for referrals?
 
Honey (browser add-on) also has a 10% off $250+ coupon (honey10). Didn't personally try it, but it's there.
 
It's getting to be a lot more reasonable to build up a powerful redblock. Those are well over $100 less than when I bought H beam rods from RSI. Thanks for the review Kenny.
 
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