Thoughts on Crane Energizer roller rockers?

What are your experiences with Crane Energizer roller rockers? NOT the Crane Gold series.

The reason I am asking is because I need to buy a new set...I had a mishap under one of my valve covers the other day and now need a couple new pushrods and a couple roller rockers. I currently have Scorpion 1.6's but I've decided to go with 1.7's this time around to get a bit of extra lift from my XE270HR. I have been considering the FMS Cobra 1.7's or the Crane Energizer 1.7's. I know lots of people use Crane/FMS roller rockers but I did a search on the Corral and apparently some guys have had trouble with the Crane/FMS roller rockers. I can't quote exactly what right now, because their server is down and I can't do a search, but it had something to do with them not lasting...like the needle bearings eventually come out and the roller tips mess up. Something to that effect, I can provide more detail or link to one of the threads later when the site is working.

But I know a lot of guys run them and probably have no problems. I just wanted to hear your opinions and experiences with these roller rockers. Are they really to be avoided? One guy went so far as to call them "maintenance items," as in replacing them every 20k miles or so. I say that's but hey, I don't know everything. However I do know there are a lot of 5.0 Cobras out there with the FMS/Crane 1.7's on them that have gone dozens of thousands of miles without needing new roller rockers.

I've heard and read that Crane makes the rockers for Ford that are repackaged under the FRPP brand. So one shouldn't necessarily be better than the other, right? I was going to order the Crane 1.7's instead of the FMS Cobra 1.7's simply because the Cranes come with a shim kit for about the same price as the FMS kit, which may come in handy if the pushrod lengths are off when everything goes back together.

ALSO, what is the difference between the FMS "Cobra" 1.7 bolt down rockers (part # M-6564-A50) and the other set of FMS 1.7 bolt down rockers (part # M-6564-E351)? I've seen both sets advertised at several sites and don't really see a difference in the actual rocker arms, though the Cobra set is almost always significantly cheaper. Here is a link to illustrate my point:http://www.mustangwarehouse.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=1&Category_Code=50B5

Appreciate any feedback!

Thanks for the input guys. This car is my daily driver, not a dedicated track car, so longevity and reliability are very important. If anyone else has info, feel free to comment.

cevtv said:

Well, think of it like this........The Cobra rockers were a factory Ford part - do you really think they would have put them on if they required all kinds of maintenance?

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That's what I thought too, but those guys said the reason they last on Cobras is because they are set up right the first time from the factory where tolerances are well within spec, there is no wear on parts yet, and the rocker geometry is dead-on. They said the main problem comes from installing them on a combo where everything might not be set up as well as it is from the factory. But that wouldn't really be the rocker's fault, it would be the installer. If a rocker fails due to incorrect geometry, it's not the fault of the part...

They would do anything they could to avoid warranty work.........

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Apparently not all car manufacturers think like that. Just look at the trannies in Dodge trucks.