I need somebody's opinion, is it really worth all the extra money to buy a roller cam? And just an estimate, how many miles do the flat-tappet lifters last if they are broke in right and everything.

 

roller lifter cam will give you more power in the same application due to the more agressive cam profile - it's really a matter of how much power you want and how much are you willing to spend for it - flat tapet cam lifters life will depend not only the break in but the cam profile.

 

About how many miles do you think I could get out of this one if broke in right. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/LUN-60102LK/

 

My personal choice is a flat tappet cam, but with roller rockers. I think the combination is the best buy for the price. If you're not racing and running your engine to max RPM's every shift, this combination should easily run as long as the rest the engine runs. I've got 20,000 miles on this setup with a 427 running around 465hp, and still running great.
That's a great choice for the cam and lifters at Summit.

 

Well why does everybody say that flat-tappet lifters don't last long at all.

 

I've never had one fail - I used one for a daily driver in my z11 for about 5 years.

 

I have no idea who you're talking to that would say that. Factory high performance engines have used flat tappet cams for eons, and not had issues. My '71 427 has 170,000 miles on it now, and has had two cams in that time period. The first 10 years I spent a lot of weeekend time running hard 1/4 mile runs, and never had a cam problem.
Somebody's pulling your leg, or doesn't know what they're talking about. A roller cam setup has a lot more things that can and do go wrong, than a flat tappet cam. Lots of little rollers, keepers, support brackets to pair up lifters, etc.... Every part you add to a engine is subject to failure, and in the case of roller cams you're adding a lot of little components that can fail, especially at high RPM's.
I'm not saying a roller cam is not as good, but it too has it's drawbacks. The few failures I've seen in flat tappet cams were either loss of oiling, wrong assembly lube, or not properly broken in. If properly installed they will easily last 60,000-100,000 miles.

 

Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better about buying a flat-tappet cam.

 

Thanks so much for sharing the post.