ok has anybody ever actually had a crank bend or warp cause they stored it on their side? ive never heard of anybody actually having a crank bent like that. i dont think it'll bend if you lay it down on the counterweights like i said earlier.

 

yes it can and will happen. the crank will settle. the crank is only strong when supported by the main caps in the engine. it can distort. machine shops use crank racks to hold them. i built myself a crank rack.

 

I doubt anyone has had it happen....it really does sound like "someone told me" and it just keeps getting passed along as such. I would be most interested to hear of an actual account of this, not just hearsay. I have seen endless numbers of cranks stored on end, which could lead to distortion also if they are this prone to distort, and they all seem to work just fine.

 

94 f150 i agree 100% with u. next time i'm at the crank regrinding shop i'm gonna ask em how many bent cranks they've seen from improper storage.

 

i went to nascar technical institute, but i did not graduate. however i did go through an automotive engines and repair class and they said the safest place to store a crank is in the block. There there second recomendation was to hang it from the flanged end. And set down on the flange end as a last resort. Thats what i was told at least.

 

A crank can bend over time if laid on its side, not myth it really will.
Best way for storage is hanging them off of the flange on the back.

 

I dunno Tim, seems to me I may need to keep the pistons in my spare block then to keep the cylinders round...

If storing them on their side will bend them, then in the same theory, hanging them off the flange on the back as you have said should strech them too...

I've always heard that the purpose behind proper crankshaft storage is to keep other objects from hitting them and possible causing bending or journal damage that way, not protection from gravity.

 

Why do people have such a hard time believing that cranks will bend if they are left on their sides? Now we are talking about leaving them on their sides for months or years before they do this. They are not being supported like when they are in the engine block. We are talking thousandths that they will bend, it can't be seen with the naked eye. But this is enough to wipe out a set of bearings shortly after puttin the crank in. I am a machinist and am speaking from experience. Crankshafts will even bend in a running engine over time. 6 cyl inline engines are the worst and I have seen them come in with .003 to .005 bend in them. Its amazing they are still running. And certain cranks will have more of a tendency to bend compared to others.

 

Humm, most inline 6 cylinder engines are considered bulletproof, many go 200K and still purr like new.

 

Yes they do go 200 or more, but when they come in, the majority of them are bent and have to be straightened and reground to be reused with new bearings. It is rare to just polish a 6 cyl crank and put in standard bearings. And yes the 300 is a very good engine, but at 200, or 300 thousand, they need some work just like any other engine.

 

You have got to be kidding

 

kidding?

 

Having grown up in Daytona, I had the priveledge of knowing Smokey Yunick. The first time I saw crankshafts hanging in his shop I asked him why they had to be hung. He said "So they won't bend". I liked to challenge his answers as often as possible, probably because he had little patience for some kid nosing around his shop asking dumb questions. He stopped what he was doing long enough to explain that the steel of the crank is very stable and if a crank were laid on it's side and not subject to change in temperature or vibration it may never bend. However, as the temperature goes up and down during the day this thermal cycling can "relax" a crank that is not supported evenly by it's main journals. It sounded logical to me so I have never had a reason to believe any differently. In fact I believe everything Smokey ever told me except for when he told me that Chevys were better than Fords. We'll miss him.........

 

dam if smokey said so i believe it. finally got some good evidence with mvoeller- a machinest that's seen it happen. im changin my mind on the crank storage issue! next time i'm in my storage unit im settin my 302 crank upright. thats what i was lookin for someone who actually works with machining them who has actually seen the effects of im proper storage. everybody can say they will bend laying down but if you have no reasons to support the idea its questionable. i just hate that when somebody says something but has no evidence or reasons or first hand experiance with what there talkin about. one thing i know smokey was never wrong about anything- except that chevys r better than fords!

 

So if it stretched that way would it be a stoker crank