Alumunum Rods In A Street Engine ?

[Paul Kane]

Originally Posted by olddog

Aluminum has a nasty habit of creeping. It is used commonly for electrical entrance service in houses. When you torque the wires down in the lugs, you need to do it right once. The connection will loosen over time as the aluminum flows out from under the lug. If you check the lug a few months later they will not be tight, but you do not want to keep tightening them up or you will eventually cut the wire in two.

The point is aluminum does not hold its shape in high stress applications.

This may be the case for electrical lugs for home power, but it is a poor and unfair comparison (and not even an analogy) for con rods. It's pretty safe to say that aluminum electrical lugs are not made of 7075 aluminum. Nor would the aluminum lugs be heat treated to T6 hardness. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.