Billet & Forged Crankshafts

[ronniejoe]

Thanks Hubert.

That link does a good job of explaining the designation system. I actually asked the question in a rhetorical sense to be a bit of a smart alec...please forgive me.

[Robyn]

I agree with the materials as posted so far.

The cost of the machinery to forge crankshafts has got to be pretty hefty and unless the production runs are going to be in the 7 figure numbers it may well be more cost effective to use a billet piece.
And has been mentioned with the new CNC machines they can chew up steel in a hurry and poop out cranks pretty fast with minimal effort once the machines are set up.

Even with the high cost of materials the scrap is not going to be staggering compared to amortizing a drop forge.

I have seen and run cast iron, cast steel, forged steel and billet steel shafts.
I have personaly seen iron go away and do so in pieces.
The steel shafts I have owned (all types) have done well.
Now I must admit these were all in chevy big blocks from 396-500+ Cu in engines which have a fabulous reputation for durability and longevity.

I have seen 4130 cranks and have seen some billet cranks made from 8620
The 8620 will surface harden well and still retain a very tough core.
We have used 8620 for track roller shafts on Cat dozers.

Whatever product that comes down the pike for the 6.5 almost has to be better than the taffy shafts that we have now.

I personaly would like to see a forged shaft available .

One thing for sure, unless these are mass produced the price is bound to be a bit spendy.

I dont see these engines ever being used in a mass produced products slated for public consumption as was the case with pickups,SUVs ect by GM.

The military simply cant suck up enough of this stuff I dont think.

Possibly if these engines find there way into enough other high sales uses the costs might be palatable.

This has been an interesting thread though.

In getting back to the use of the term Billet.
Still highly overused me thinks
My son inlaw gets all these catalogs for dirt bike goodies and everything is a billet something.
Billet chain guides, billet fork covers, billet, billet billet AAAAAACK


I want a set of billet seat covers

OH on a serious Note


RJ
Please enjoy our humor, its the only way some of us can stay sane!! ;0)

Nobody is mocking or making fun, its just to bring a smile and give us all a bit of relief from the crap we all have to endure every day.

OH BTW if you find smiles and giggles in short supply, I have a unopened package of "Billet smiles" I'll send over..

Love ya guys

best to ya

Robyn

[Robyn]

Just a passing thought
Overall the serviceability on the 6.5 has not been all that bad.
The addition of just a little more durability in the block and the crank will most likely put the 6.5 over the top and make it a very dependable piece of equipment.

The only issue I see coming into play is all of "US" folks who like to see just how much more boost we can add or how much heavier a load we can pull.

The design will be put to the ultimate test no matter what is done to it by the wild ones.
If used as designed is the issue! The rest of us crazies are going to push the limits to the edge and beyond and then sweep up the pieces and go again.

No matter if its a little scooter or a heavy duty off road truck, someone is going to take it all the way to its point of failure and then complain that it did not hold up.


Where does it all stop????

Robyn