Clevite Chev 348 409 Cam Bearing Set (SH-398S) SH-398S-(8)

Clevite Chev 348 409 Cam Bearing Set (SH-398S)

Heavy Duty CamBearings

AL-3 Steelback aluminium alloy withoutoverlay

In the lastdecade or so enginedevelopment has increaseddramatically. Each time anexisting engine is revised ora new engine is developed, itpushes the limits of what itspredecessor could produceboth in horsepower and torqueas well as fuel efficiency.With these gains, comes anincreased load on theinternal parts of theseengines. One of these partsthat are continually asked toperform under greater andgreater pressures is the cambearing. In engineconfigurations such as V6'sand high RPM 4 cylinders, thecam bearing is a vital linkalong the path of the enginesoiling system. If a cambearing wears out prematurelythe engine loses some of itsoil pressure, which we allknow can lead to prematureengine failure. Otherproblems, which can be causedby premature cam bearingwear, are excessive cam loberunout, improper timing, andgenerally poor runningconditions. This is wherestrength and durabilitybecome key issues. This iswhy, in most applications,the O.E. manufacturers haveturned to higher performingcam bearing materials.Traditional Babbitt can onlywithstand up to 1800 psi.Clevite's AL-3 material canwithstand up to 5000 psi.Quite a difference. Whentrying to adapt Babbitt to anapplication that requires amore durable material, extraoil grooves are needed on theoutside diameter of thebearing itself to help getoil to the rest of theengine. This only addressesthe oil starvation symptominherent to the real problemof premature wear. All of theother symptoms that werelisted above still occur withthe right material for thejob, such as Clevite's AL-3,these extra oil groovesaren't needed at all. In factthis gives more bearingcontact area to the block tohelp in transferring heataway from these parts andprolonging bearing and enginelife. Remember, when strengthand durabilityis part of thequestion, Clevite is theanswer.

On certainmodified performanceapplications Clevite alsooffers a TriMetal cam bearingmaterial (TM-1) that provideseven greater strength anddurability. These cambearings are able towithstand loads in excess of8,000 psi, while providingsurface characteristics thatare very forgiving andconformable.