A roller camshaft lifter and rocker arm have a roller bearing at one end of the lifter to help reduce friction, heat, wear, and drag in the engine. Those components also aid the engine to rpm quicker and higher than a solid or conventional hydraulic lifter engine.

Roller cams are usually found in engines that make power in the 8,000-11,000 rpm range. In order for the camshaft to live at that rpm range, the manufacturers had to develop valvetrain components using stronger and more expensive material. So "roller" camshafts were made from a solid piece of billet steel instead of cast material, roller bearing lifters were specially engineered for improved durability, and valve springs were made of expensive steel using expensive methods.

So, you are asking, what does all of this have to do with the subject of hydraulic roller cams and bracket or Sportsman racing. Well, fellow racers, here is the deal.

BENEFITS

1. With some limitations, hydraulic roller camshafts offer a racer many of the benefits of a roller cam with almost none of the drawbacks. Instead of a conventional roller lifter, they use a hydraulic lifter with a roller bearing on one end. True, the hydraulic lifters are heavier than the conventional roller lifters, but, generally speaking, once they've been adjusted you can forget them.
2. Hydraulic roller cams, because of the weight of the lifter, generally rev up past 7,000-rpm so springs, rocker arms and push rods don't take much abuse or need much maintenance.
3. Both the roller and hydraulic lifter cams are turned from a piece of billet material hydraulic rollers so both offer durability
4. A hydraulic roller costs a bit less than a regular roller.

So, you ask, will a hydraulic roller make the horsepower and torque I need to run between

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7.50 and 10.90? The cam people I talked to gave me a qualified yes. In doing research for this article, I talked to cam designers from Isky Racing Cams, Competition Cams, and Crane Cams, engine builder Jim Oddy, Stan Ray of Ohio Crankshaft, and Scott Walker of ASW Race Engines.

The general opinion among all of them was that for all but the most high horsepower requirements a hydraulic roller cam was probably the best compromise between a regular high performance flat-tappet cam and a full-boogie, roller-lifter cam. Everyone agreed that up to about 7,000 rpm the hydraulic roller cam will make approximately the same horsepower and torque that a conventional roller cam will in a like engine. The only apparent drawback is that if your applications require an engine that operates above 7,000 rpm you'll have to take a pass on the hydraulic roller.

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