BTR quality

B

BHall

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Aug 7, 2021
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I recently did some valve train work to my 5.3. Bought the BTR .560" valve springs and their V1 trunnion kit. During the installation of the trunnion kit the very first pair I installed did not feel smooth at all. The rotation felt like a zip tie. Closer examination of the trunnion bearing surface showed dinged, pitted and gouged surfaces (see pics below of the brand new trunnions). All of the trunnions were packaged together in one bag and I am most certain that is how the surfaces got damaged was them rubbing and banging against one another during shipping/handling. It was my mistake and I didn't realize at the time of purchase that BTR has a V2 kit that seems to have addressed this issue as it has pressed on hardened bearing surfaces. They really shouldn't even sell the V1 kits anymore at all. Additionally, the actual bearings that come with the V1 kits are china bearings.

This is my first experience with Brian Tooley racing products and their customer service (or lack there of) and I am not impressed at all. I tried to contact their customer service and it took a couple of e-mails for them to actually reply and all I got was to contact the company through which I purchased them.

Putting this out there for two reasons:
1. This being my first experiences with BTR, is all of their other stuff crap too?
2. As a warning to those who may be inclined to purchase the V1 trunnion kit from Brian Tooley racing. Don't do it! I really can't even suggest their V2 kit but it seems that it would be better?

trunnion1_fff9a92feb89a9eda5d26d7e8c05af69f4e580d8.jpg

trunnion2_49bd59509a421a11576e3b606edaeeedf9752e28.jpg

trunnion3_75fc2f1aa84d5e8e5a65deadc8ebbf5f20284f28.jpg

trunnion4_fbec19b966f2e674081f568209b39d85a6449731.jpg

trunnion5_609af5901e0c7ddc30c4c7e031e7ab05730fb19b.jpg

trunnion6_470656531e1f4623c71f837874fa655460e2d0ba.jpg

And yes, these are supposed to be brand new trunnions.
 
So, I'll be honest.

When Brian started off, his stuff was super good. The cam would have the random bur but springs/seats/trunnions etc were perfect.

He's seem to blow up a bit and is no longer approachable anymore and this is the 3rd time i've seen quality issues.

Could be a classic case of getting big too fast and outsourcing...

On my 04, I went with a PatG spec cam and had TSP cut the cam. Being TSP my expectations were lowish just due to the volume they put out but the cam I received was absolutely flawless. No burs or shavings, everything was clean and smooth.
 
Well I went ahead and purchased the V2 BTR trunion kit as I am expecting to send back the V1 kit for a refund. Received the V2 kit which is supposed to be better with pressed on hardened bearing inner surfaces and one of the trunions received looked like this..........

20221201_171240_66469351058a80f9d8ce3685c67dbb2902814444.jpg

20221201_171309_ba4753dab9e0c89e345d04e5f722f3ddeb9ed64b.jpg

W.T.F.!!!
I notified the vendor and they are sending me another one to replace it. Additionally, the bearings that came with the "upgraded" V2 kit are the same china bearings the V1 kit had. I thought I saw a review of the V2 kit somewhere on youtube where the v2 kit came with bearings made in USA, guess not. I really wish I would not have even messed with this "upgrade" as the OEM rocker trunion bearings were still good from what I can tell. All I can say is that both the V1 and V2 trunion upgrade kits from BTR are crap. I guess this is just a sign of the times, who needs quality control anyway?

Brian
 
I'm very happy with my BTR cam itself, but I've heard many negative things about their other stuff. I plan to go with the CHE Trunnion kit for my squarebody when the time comes. My buddy that's a tuner and builds engines all the time swears by them.
 
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