Aftermarket RAVE Valves

[JeremyD615]

What is the consensus opinion on aftermarket RAVE valves? I’ve heard some rumblings about faster wear rates than normal on some aftermarket valves and housings, but then I’ve also heard that SBT uses their aftermarket valves in all of their rebuilds. You don’t hear much about failures in those SBT motors, so I wanted to ask the question.

There appear to be three “tiers” of valves and housings out there.

- Cheap valves from eBay or places like JSP. I assume these are the ones that people have trouble with...

-Aftermarket valves from “reputable” suppliers like WSM and SBT. These are similar in price to the eBay parts, but I don’t hear much about success or failure with them. That may be a good thing...

-OEM valves. Of course these are the ticket, but at $125ea, plus another $80ea for the housings, they are pretty pricey.

Just wanted some opinions before I order parts for my 96XP...

 

[Mekanix]

I've been using the wsm valves and housings for about a year now.
No failures to speak of yet and no wear that would seem different from what I've seen from oem parts when kept up properly.

Wish we could just drill oem housings and press in replacement bushings. Brass maybe or maybe built in orings ?

 

[JeremyD615]

That’s good to hear about the WSM stuff. I was thinking the same thing, that it would be really nice to have a serviceable bushing there, but overall we really don’t hear of too many wear issues with the stock parts...

 

[POPPS]

Never had sbt rav problems. The critical part is to make sure you clear the valve with the rings, 020". I usually go overboard on this, I have had many engines come to me that blew again because the ravs were too close to the rings after the cylinders were rebored.