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Rod Bearings
Pontiac V8 Rod Bearings
Journal First, Brand Second — Rod Bearings for Pontiac V8s
Rod bearings take the hardest hit in a Pontiac V8. They see the combustion load every cycle, and on a stroker they see it with more leverage than the factory ever intended. Which set you need starts with one measurement: the rod journal diameter on your crankshaft.
Butler stocks three lines here, each on its own page — Clevite, Federal Mogul and King Racing — covering the factory 2.250" Pontiac journal, the 2.200" big-block journal that most stroker cranks use, and the sizes in between.
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More About Rod Bearings
1. Measure the rod journal
This page exists because people order rod bearings by engine, and rod bearings are not sold by engine.
| 2.250" Pontiac | The factory rod journal on every Pontiac V8 from the 350 up through the 455, and on new cranks ordered with Pontiac journals. All three brands have a set for it. |
| 2.200" big-block | What most aftermarket Pontiac stroker cranks are cut with. A 455-based stroker is very often on this journal even though the engine is a 455, so check the crank, not the badge. |
| Other sizes | Federal Mogul also catalogues a 2.100" journal bearing here for combinations built that way. |
2. The three lines and what each is for
All three are on the shelf because they answer different questions.
| Clevite | The specifier's line. The H, P, V and M series letters and the suffix codes let you choose eccentricity, groove pattern, narrowing and clearance deliberately rather than taking what comes. |
| Federal Mogul | The widest size coverage, with undersizes out to .040" on the Pontiac-journal sets. Butler's own product copy states it uses only the highest quality bearings made by Clevite 77 and Federal Mogul. |
| King Racing | Material-led. A bi-metal silicon aluminum HP series and a tri-metal copper-lead CP series, for builders who want a specific bearing face rather than a specific groove. |
3. Size, clearance and the rods themselves
Three details that decide whether the order is right the first time.
| Undersize follows the grind | Standard, .010", .020", .030" and .040" are all stocked across these lines. Order to what the crank was turned to. |
| Clearance variants | Extra-clearance and reduced-clearance sets exist in all three lines. That is a separate decision from the undersize, made on purpose for a particular build. |
| Tell us the rods | Aluminum rods want a bearing drilled for them, and narrowed bearings exist for cranks ground with oversized fillets. What rods are going in changes the answer. |
Rod journal diameter, undersize, rod type, rpm. Four short answers and the right set is on the counter.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.