WSM pistons

[Waternut]

I just ordered a set of regular WSM pistons trying to get something to my door quickly and therefore didn't really read any reviews on them before hand. I really just wanted something basic since I'm really itching for a bigger engine this winter.

Now that I've read some reviews, I see that a lot of people don't like them but very very few have any piston related failures within the last 4-5 years. I've heard of snagged rings, crank bearing failures, and overheated motors that weakened the skirt. The first two are unrelated to the piston itself and IMO the weakened skirt is a problem with cast in general. Some cast is better than others but they all suffer from heat related weakening.

So have I made a mistake trying to put WSM pistons in my motor? I'm currently running a b-piped ported motor with 165psi and total loss.

 

[Idok]

run em

 

[tbaer]

what pistons are better, wsm or sudco? there are some on ebay i was going to buy, but i am not sure of the quality. what are the "best" pistons?

 

[Idok]

what pistons are better, wsm or sudco? there are some on ebay i was going to buy, but i am not sure of the quality. what are the "best" pistons?

wiseco's will probably be what most people say are the best...lightweight and forged..

you do have ________ piston:wall clearance with a wiseco......they definatly need to be warmed up before hammered on...


for a cast piston I like pro-x....which are the same as sudco/art

 

[WFO Speedracer]

wiseco's will probably be what most people say are the best...lightweight and forged..

you do have to run a tighter piston:wall clearance with a wiseco......they definatly need to be warmed up before hammered on...


for a cast piston I like pro-x....which are the same as sudco/art

That would be a looser piston to wall clearance because of the forged material the wisecos are made from,the forged aluminum is denser and has a higher expansion rate.I mostly build stock couch motors ,lots of them,I use WSM pistons in my builds if available,I have never had a single piston related failure to date.I had one WSM coated piston that the owner ran out of oil.there was about two inches of air in th oil feed line going to the pump,the piston had rubbed the coating offf in places,the cylinder wall was totally screwed and had to be bored to the next oversize,not a scratch on that piston though.If I were building a high performance engines with higher compression and porting I would use Wiseco ,Vertex or Pro -X pistions in them.WSM pistons are great for stock engines and you can't beat them for the money spent.

 

[Cannibal]

A local builder here only uses WSM for mild to limited setups. He loves them and has never had a piston related failure yet. I wouldn't hesitate to run them in a regular build. If you are going full big bore or stroker, might as well pony up for Wiseco at that point.

 

[Nuklear6]

I did a 1mm over bore on my blaster with WSM pistons and as far as cast pistons go i believe they are every bit as good as any other. Although the WSM are a bit too heavy (and cast) for serious high performance applications. So for serious all out builds wiseco is def the way to go, but besides that i think WSM is the best bet for what you get for the money. Ive seen no problems at all and my blaster RIPS. There are a few people here that have ridden it and cant believe it doesnt have anything other then a Protec pipe.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

The guy that bores my cylinders could not believe how tight the mfg tolerances were on the WSM pistons,very rarely is there any appreciable difference in the sizes of two different WSM pistons.

 

[Waternut]

Ok I guess I need to ask another question. A few people have said the WSM's are good for regular to limited engine setups and lower compression. So what do you guys consider a limited setup? Would a limited setup be any engine modification short of race gas, strokers, and big bores?

I always considered my engine to be fairly heavily modified considering I've done pretty much everything to it I can without taking the plung into the multi-thousand dollar mods.

 

[Cannibal]

The guy I know said they would be good for your typical performance mods. Mild porting, intake, B pipe, 185psi compression, etc. Unless you are going to be running it right on the razors edge, these pistons would be fine.

 

[tbaer]

The guy I know said they would be good for your typical performance mods. Mild porting, intake, B pipe, 185psi compression, etc. Unless you are going to be running it right on the razors edge, these pistons would be fine.

so running 200 psi on these pistons would not be good?

 

[Cannibal]

That I don't know. I'm just relaying what I've been told and the experiences of an engine builder. I'm sure there is a limit to what they can take. Hard to say where that line is though.

There's got to be a point where that $100 upgrade to Wisecos make more sense.

 

[D-Roc]

run them but next time go wiescos.

 

[jetskimechanic]

WSM has stepped it up from the original pistons made! They increased the silica contents about 5 years ago! I also use WSM in our engine rebuilds! When I build a big bore or race motor I use Pro-X or Wiseco depending... Now I do performance coat my race pistons for years!! It works!!!