Autozone Reman. Crank

[87witmoreboost]

Yes, I know this has been covered but it was in a thread that got sidetracked on hot dogs. Don't ask...

I am rebuilding my motor and doing the lower end bearings. They all look really good but of course I am replacing them. There are a few options.

First, I could get new toyota bearings by matching the numbers on the originals and replacing them with the specific 1-5 sizes. The real proper way to do this is plastigage the originals and adjust sizes 1-5 to meet spec. The bearings total at $388/set (called toyota yesterday).

Second, I could get clevites and have a shop polish the crank to the right size. They do come in standard but I hear its a crapshoot to just drop them in. The clevites are $125 and would need machining, so $350 total?

Third, Autozone remanufactured crank with sized bearings. After core, it'd be $265. To me this is a no-brainer. "You get a polished crank with sized bearings that meets OE spec."

So, I had a family member who has a shop call autozone and get info on the crank. The cranks are done by "Crankshaft Rebuilders" out of Sanford, FL. I called them up to pick their brain. I spoke to a rep that said they use all CNC's and they oversize the crank and they don't leave the shop until they are within OE spec. They use a few different bearings depending upon motor, but two he mentioned were ACL and clevite.

Does anybody have any experience with this company OR has anyone purchased an autozone reman crank and had good (or bad) luck? (aside from you, [Mmmboost] - I saw that you liked yours).

I want to call back in a few minutes so that I can speak to a technician and ask what they use for bearings on our engine.

 

[Doward]

It's bullshit - I've seen Autozone Reman'd cranks as much as 0.004" out.

Avoid them for even a stock rebuild on a 7M.

What you need to do:

1) Have your crank mic'd by a REPUTABLE machinist. He/she will be able to tell you if you can run stock sized bearings or not.

2) If yes - buy Clevite bearings and let machinist VERIFY clearances.

3) If no - buy 0.010" oversized Clevites, and have machinist set your clearances after cutting/polishing crank. I'd recommend 0.0015-0.0020" all across mains / rods for a 'stock' style rebuild.

 

[87witmoreboost]

It's bullshit - I've seen Autozone Reman'd cranks as much as 0.004" out.

Avoid them for even a stock rebuild on a 7M.

What you need to do:

1) Have your crank mic'd by a REPUTABLE machinist. He/she will be able to tell you if you can run stock sized bearings or not.

2) If yes - buy Clevite bearings and let machinist VERIFY clearances.

3) If no - buy 0.010" oversized Clevites, and have machinist set your clearances after cutting/polishing crank. I'd recommend 0.0015-0.0020" all across mains / rods for a 'stock' style rebuild.

Word.

Are you possibly generalizing off of one crank? Just curious.

I have access to micrometers and can buy plastigage. May I be o.k. ordering clevites and checking them myself? My crank at 100k miles looks perfect. Not a single scratch on a bearing surface.

 

[suprarich]

To use aftermarket bearings such as the clevite or acl, you will have to check the size of not just the crank main and rod journals, but also the rod big ends and main bearing housing holes.

 

[87witmoreboost]

Rich, do you have any experience with a reman crank with sized bearings such as the one mentioned?

 

[Zumtizzle]

Okay....

You need to have the crank checked out by a crank only shop....(preferred)

Then they'll decide if they micropolish the crank or grind it.

If grinding is done they take off .25MM then you'll buy .010 or .25MM oversize bearings.

If micropolished you can go the standard or select fit size. (Select fit is what i recommend.)

No clue on vatozone crank...i would be cautious...

 

[87witmoreboost]

I just spoke to a tech at the shop that supplies autozone.

He says that every journal is turned to the same size to allow the bearings (clevites, ACL's, king, or whatever it may be) to be dropped in without a specific location required. He says that when I was told it was CNC that it was a lie because there are no CNC crank machines, which makes sense. It'd be all manual anyway unless there was a program for EVERY crank.

He swears by them, of course, and says they will be within OE spec on clearances.

I could buy the crank kit and then plastigage it. If it was then off, I might be in trouble.

 

[HommerSimpson]

even cheap ass me would not use a autozone crank in my motor.. i took my crank and bearings to a good machine shop and he asked me what i wanted for clearances... that simple and easy.... and i was very happy with the way it turned out.. i have used several autozone cranks and autozone engines in past in american cars.. and for a stock hp daily driver i dont really even recomend Autozone that much..its cheap stufffffff cheap cheap cheap.....

 

[ms07s]

I would not trust AZ reman parts beyond stock spec power and nothing in the rotating assembly. I have worked for a few dealerships and just about everytime we used AZ parts it bit us in the ass hard.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

FWIW, I think I paid about $250 for all my crank and rod bearings from the dealership...but then again, I have a hook-up. I'd check prices with Jeff at Champion, $388 sound REALLY steep...typical stealership mark-up.

 

[87witmoreboost]

FWIW, I think I paid about $250 for all my crank and rod bearings from the dealership...but then again, I have a hook-up. I'd check prices with Jeff at Champion, $388 sound REALLY steep...typical stealership mark-up.

Yut, I have a family member that gets the discount. I'll price it out today. $250-$280 sounds about right for an average discount.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

Just remember, that was for a full set of crank AND rod bearings.

 

[87witmoreboost]

Just remember, that was for a full set of crank AND rod bearings.

Right.

To follow up, I called a local machine shop. Luckily, this guy was good to talk to unlike machine shop number one.

They want $150 to turn and polish the crank. This means i'm only looking at $265 for a polished crank and properly sized clevites. I'm gonna take this route.

 

[Mk3runner]

good deal.

 

[IwantMKIII]

why not just buy it and have it checked out by a reputable shop nearby? If its slightly off you can get them to fix it or just return it.

 

[IJ.]

The aftermarket Bearings need to be installed and measured in the block they're to be used in as the Main tunnels from Toyota can be within a range of sizes THEN you grind the crank to suit and install the bearings back in the exact location they were measured for.

Same goes for the rods.

 

[fixitman04]

i used a crank from these guys in my 5sfe for my celica, the motor lasted 500 miles and developed a rod knock, havent torn it down yet so i cannot say if it was the crank or the resized rods, the motor was professionally built by a shop here using the tfsm for specs/proceedures should have it torn down this weekend.

 

[Jeff Lange]

Thread moved out of 7M-GTE technical, the crank is the same between the engines, should be in General forums.

Jeff

 

[Doward]

IJs got it right - make certain your bearings come back numbered for their respective journals.

0.004" was the maximum runout I saw on 3 different Chevy 350 cranks (only ones our store kept in stock)

I was less than impressed.

 

[suprarich]

Rich, do you have any experience with a reman crank with sized bearings such as the one mentioned?

Not with autozone cranks I don't. I do all my own crank work.

Most 7m blocks will have the main bearing housing holes measure out all over the place. Many times, some will be off too far to use aftermarket bearings, since the aftermarket are all one size. For these I always line bore the mains to the std size specified by the individual bearing maker. This makes the installed main bearings all one exact size right down to 4 decimal places.

Then the crank is ground to size closely matching the desired oil clearance. Next, doing one crank main at a time, I polish the crank mains to reach the final oil clearance I want. I do this one bearing - one journal at a time as if I was doing 7 individual little jobs. If someone wants .0018 on the mains, they get .0018 exactly accross all the mains. No exception.

The rod big ends get checked for size and then resized (if needed) to std size according to the individual bearing manufacturers std size spec. This way, all 6 rods with the bearings installed, are exactly the same down to 4 decimal places. I don't believe in ranges. Then, the crank rod journals, are all ground to be close to the end size to make the oil clearance desired. Then again, one rod, and one crank rod journal at a time, the crank rod journals are polished untill the exact oil clearance is reached. I also do this as if I was doing 6 little individual jobs. If the rod clearance desired is .0015, then you should have .0015 exactly with out exception.