Renegade Racing Components/RPM International

Renegade Racing Components, Lenexa KS
Racing Parts Maximum, RPM International Inc., Brea CA

Just wondering if anyone is familiar with this/these companies (not sure, appear to be inter-related), and their connecting rods in particular.  I have a set of their H-Beam rods in a short block I picked up (assembled), but am reluctant to trust after reading 5pointslow's recent misfortune   As far as I can tell they look to be LG3-6605H, H-Beam 4340 w/ARP 8740 cap screws.  My intended use is a Kaase SCJ-headed 466, with possibly a relatively small NOS shot compared to most here.. lol.  I'd appreciate any advice, especially if I'm sitting on a set of $400 paper weights

DFI429 wrote:Renegade Racing Components, Lenexa KS
Racing Parts Maximum, RPM International Inc., Brea CA

Just wondering if anyone is familiar with this/these companies (not sure, appear to be inter-related), and their connecting rods in particular.  I have a set of their H-Beam rods in a short block I picked up (assembled), but am reluctant to trust after reading 5pointslow's recent misfortune   As far as I can tell they look to be LG3-6605H, H-Beam 4340 w/ARP 8740 cap screws.  My intended use is a Kaase SCJ-headed 466, with possibly a relatively small NOS shot compared to most here.. lol.  I'd appreciate any advice, especially if I'm sitting on a set of $400 paper weights

I don't know about Renegade but, I used to buy some semi-machined 4340 H-Beam rods from Kevin at RPM. The rod bolts he uses are genuine ARP bolts. Not to say how they were handled after that.
I have never had a problem with the RPM stuff; I am sure that someone has had their own problem with probably anyone, somewhere along the line.

There are some companies who re-box RPM rods, and I suspect Renegade is one of them.

I haven't used any Renegade branded parts, but I have used a ton of RPM rods, cranks, etc. and have never had an issue with any of them. As I said in 5pointslow's post, his failure is FAR more likely to have been the result of a mistake made during assembly or by the dyno operator, and he wasn't involved in either. There is no reason to think all rods, or bolts, or whatever are junk because one guy had a failure, especially when others have had what probably amounts to hundreds of thousands of miles use/abuse without issue.

Do your due diligence, and go through the shortblock. Retorque the bolts, check them for stretch, etc. (at the least) and if it all checks out, go ahead and run it.

I have been using the same RPM crank and rods since 2009-ish. Lots of street miles, Drag Week, etc.

I'm just a regular guy that builds my own stuff, but I have been very happy with them and would not hesitate to buy from them again.

Thank you guys for the feedback.. Carl, I figured something like the re-boxing you referred to was the case here, as the paper spec sheet (with weights) that came with the rods reads verbatim to the RPM website, but was titled with the 'Renegade' moniker.  I wasn't looking to discount them (although it may have sounded that way).. Rather I was looking for knowledge/experience with the product that I knew I could find here...  Thank you again, gents

I'm not sure they are related but they "could" both be buying from the same Chinese source. There are about 5 grades of imported H beam rods , based on quality of the work and dimensional accuracy.

I am running a RPM crank and rods in my 552 the guy that did my balancing told the rods was dead on but my crank he did have to add mallery to it.

Yeah, it seems the RPM brand is out there, I couldn't find much of anything on Renegade - that initially made me a bit nervous.  As mentioned above, the Renegade literature is a carbon copy of the RPM stuff..