My best advice is to talk to a good machine shop about the rods. I felt as though the stock rods, while strong, do not stand up to any loads other then what is meant for them, what I mean is they cannot be dropped, or have the wrist pins pressed in and out with out the proper procedure. It is my understanding that there are machine shops out there reconditioning the stock rods, but I have no first hand experience. I either replace the whole engine at the dealership, or put some cheap H-beams in an engine I'm building.