400ex connecting rod

I got my motor apart putting it back to 397cc for Sport class next year. I want to change the connecting rod while everything is apart, but I'm not sure what to put in. I've heard about Hot Rods blowing up and trashing motors. I know that Corilla's are great but you can get an entire Hot Rod crank and rod for less than just the Corrila rod. OEM is way to expensive also, so my question is has anybody had any good or bad experiences with Hot Rods? Or are there different brands out there? Any input would be great.

The Corilla rod is probably the strongest. I have a hot rods stroker in mine and havnt had any problems. As long as it is done correctly, I dont see where you will have any problems with anything you decide to do. It is racing though and there is always that chance something can go wrong, but that just comes with the sport.

True, but even with racing having a rod break should not happen.
I wish you could by an OEM rod sepperate, because I'd do that. I don't want to spend $350 on an entire crank though.

I paid $175 for my Carrillo rod directly from Carrillo Industries. Call them and tell them what you need. They were really great to work with. Once you get the rod, most shops will install it onto your crank for about $75. As long as your lower bearing is in good shape, it can be reused. My engine was several years old when mine was done, but the bearing was still tight so it was reused. Absolutely no problems since the install.

How about you Hot Rods guys? How about some input.

The hot rods is deffinantly stronger than the stock rod. The one thing i like about the hot rods is the bronze bushed small end. I dont like the way the factory dont do this. For the price i would get the hot rods set up because by the time you get an aftermarket rod and then pay to have the crank seperated your more than a drop in hot rods crank and rod. Ive seen them brand new on ebay for about 225-250.

Has anybody ever had a Hot Rod fail on them? I know a guy that builds motors and he had two of them break. He told me not to run them. That's why I was asking for some more input .

To me, they don't look much more stout than the stock rod, but I don't know anything about how they're made (material, heat treating, etc.). I do know that my Carrillo rod looks like it would be almost impossible to bend or break. I wouldn't have any concerns about running a 13:1 piston with it, but I won't because I don't want to buy race fuel all the time.

Well I have a stroker crank from hotrods and the rod is thicker then the stock one but I don't know about the none stroker ones. I never had any trouble with it.