How do I tell if I have forged rods??

[rammertide07]

I posted this in "engine and drivetrain" forum but nobody has posted anything there in over a month so figured I'd post it here jic.

I was looking for a way to see if I have forged or powder coated rods. I found the following on another forum....

"Start of production thru 1425746 are Forged Rods
1425747 thru 1440712 are Powdered Rods
1446713 thru 1498318 are Forged Rods
1498319 thru final production run are all powdered"

I found the sticker on the driver side of the engine that said 7.3L Turbo Diesel, Navistar, I think the date of production was Jan 15 (or 16), 2000.
The only numbers on that sticker was "50100380". Was that suppose to be the tag I was looking for? I found another sticker on the "front-driver side of the engine with a long barcode. I can see some numbers at the top but I can not tell because its too dirty to read. I tried wiping it with a dry piece of paper towel and rubbing my knife against it to scrape off the dirt....not a good idea. The engine is hot right now and I dont want to get the sticker wet and ruin it. Any advice????

 

[JLDickmon]

it's forged rods
the powdered metal ones didn't come until '01

 

[rammertide07]

Ok thanks. Thats what I have heard but just wanted to make sure. Any reason why ford would go from forged to powder coated?....

 

[DaveBen]

Cost of Manufacturing. Powdered Metal rods are cheaper to make.

Dave

 

[rammertide07]

Well thats crap on Ford's part. Give us an engine with cheaper parts. Well at least I have the forged rods.

 

[JimmyDee]

Well thats crap on Ford's part. Give us an engine with cheaper parts.

Actually the powered rods are more than adequate for the stock engine and even slightly hopped up a bit. It has been said that they are good to 400 HP. Exceed that HP and when they go, they break and not bend like the forged ones.
Jim

 

[rammertide07]

what hp are the forged rods rated?

 

[rammertide07]

The 7.3 stock has 275hp. So according to your stats, about the only mod you can do with powder coated rods would be a 100hp chip setting (375hp). Think I will stick with my forged rods. What would it take to bend and forged rods?

 

[JimmyDee]

The 7.3 stock has 275hp. So according to your stats, about the only mod you can do with powder coated rods would be a 100hp chip setting (375hp). Think I will stick with my forged rods. What would it take to bend and forged rods?

They are not power coated. the rods are made from a process that uses powered metal that is somehow packed into a mold under extreme pressure and then is heated to almost a melting temp. The result is a very precision casting that is strong and a lot cheaper than forged. For most conditions, it does a good job.
Jim

 

[DaveBen]

We used this process for magnetic parts, years ago, in the 1970's. It is a good process even if you don't like the application.

Dave