i was supprised to hear that the raptor's piston, connecting rod, and crankshaft were made of aluminum. it seems like the engine would wear out faster than if they used steel in the major engine components. does anyone know if the engine will last as long between rebuilds as other four stroke atv engines?

 

Why are you surprised to find out the Raptor's piston is made of aluminum? Every other engine in the world has an aluminum piston.

Your information source is completely wrong about the crankshaft being made from aluminum.

 

"Forged aluminum piston, con rod and crankshaft reduces internal inertia weight, creating a hard-hitting, quick-revving powerplant that's not only the fastest-accelerating, but revs all the way to an incredible 9000 RPM as well."

I got this off the yamaha web page. it DOES say it has an alum. crankshaft. so i guess you are wrong this time. HAHA. do your home work on quads before you start typing

 

no sorry but you are wrong,and we don't care what you read,the crank is not aluminum,neither is the rod,you need to try this in another forum cause we are sick of tards

 

dstevens-THE CRANK IS ALUMINUM! where did you hear differently? It says the crank is aluminum on yamaha's web page. they would have no reason to lie about the crank being ALUM. who's the "Tard", i think you are just trying to start something between us. so knock it off! go to yamaha.com and look under raptor

 

I hate to burst your bubble Yamahagye, but yes, you are wrong. I won't however, reduce myself to the namecalling gig. The problem is your interpretation of the word "lightweight". There isn't an engine in existance that uses an aluminum crank or rod. Alumimun cannot withstand the heavy strains that these rotational components endure. Pistons however, are indeed made of aluminum, because of the need to keep reciprocating weight down. The engine would tear itself up otherwise. Yamaha is referring to the crank being of a lighweight design, (not to be misconstrued as aluminum in construction) of the web-shaped variety. This means that the counterweights rather than being circular are shaved away somewhat so as to lighten the mass of the crank thereby enabling the engine to spin it up faster. They wanted the motor to have no more mass than a typical 400cc engine. So, they accomplished their goals without resorting to engine components that cannot function reliably. This engine is as reliable or more so, than anything else out there. Hope this solves the confusion.

 

It's all in the syntax of how it is written. Notice the word reduces , it has the "s" on the end because it is referring to them in a singular way. It they were all included in the statement about being aluminum, it would be something more on the order of: Aluminum piston, con rod and crank reduce the internal weight.

If any of this is confusing, just put the word "The" in front of the Yamaha statement. It should all be clear to you by now.

 

With all due respect Scott, there are several engines, especially high performance engines in particular, that have used aluminum connecting Rods.

I don't believe the Raptor hads them though.

But I do agree with your statement regarding crankshafts though.

 

they use an aluminum "alloy" for the crank and connecting rod. that means it is mixed with other materials that make it stronger than just regular aluminum. it is still mostly alum.

 

Dude why don't you listen to people that know a little more about engines than you do? If you believe everything you read you are extreemly simple minded. If you were to ask anyone that has mecanical knowledge they will tell you that a Raptor doesn't have a aluminum crank or rod, normally only drag cars have aluminum rods because they stretch and have a very short life span.