sealed power rings

[41/53dodges]

has anybody bought sealed power piston rings from NAPA? they carry economy ($56) and premium rings ($76), the premiums are $20 more and seem to have a different finish. any recommendations?

[Dave72dt]

May be the difference between cast iron and moly rings. If that's the case, I prefer the molys. I prefer to spend a little more for better quality so I'm not doing them twice or am disappointed in the life of the parts. Same thing goes for brgs and gaskets. It's a lot of work to replace them so I use good stuff the first time.

[41/53dodges]

I was thinking cast or chrome, but moly would make some sense too. my rings were cast, and only had about .240" end gap! truck had stock 57000 miles, dunno when the engine was redone, but me thinks the cast iron rings didnt last!

[Rusty O'Toole]

With a long stroke engine the rings take a beating especially in a low geared truck.

[Don Coatney]

With a long stroke engine the rings take a beating especially in a low geared truck.

I dont understand. Can you explain that a bit further?

[Merle Coggins]

I think what he means is that on a long stroke engine the rings cover a lot of real estate as they travel up and down, and with a lower geared truck running at higher RPMs they cover that ground MANY times.

Merle

[Rusty O'Toole]

I was thinking of piston speed and the distance traveled by the piston and rings in a long stroke engine at hiway speed, compared to modern short stroke engines. And the sudden stop top and bottom every turn of the crankshaft.

Plymouth and Dodge engines have a habit of breaking the rings and upper ring lands on the pistons. I always attributed this to the stress or pounding they took especially if the ring groove got worn.

This bothers me. I was thinking that the best modern piston rings would be a good investment in terms of engine life.