im upgrading to the 6.1L hemi exhaust springs, and the 6.1L pushrods, can i re-use the old retainers??? or do i need to get new retainers as well?

 

anytime you change springs, change the retainers. The 6.1s are fine and are relatively cheap, but a lot of performance shops recommend titanium retainers...

 

hmmm i called my machine shop and he said as long as the new springs fit over the existing retainers they should be fine. I had ordered titanium retainers but they ended up getting back ordered, grrrrr. Now they are ready to put the engine back together and dont want to wait. So i might just leave them the way they are.

 

I asked the guys at Henson Motors about the need for new retainers when doing a cam swap and they told me that replacing them is not necessary.

 

Unless you are doing some crazy high revving cam, then the stock retainers are fine.

 

+1 or if your engine has over 100kmi which you wouldn't be doing a cam swap anyways. otherwise. Stock retainers are fine.

 

I just got a response from the guys at KRC Performance who said they ALWAYS replace the retainers, unless the vehicle already has undergone a swap and has titanium retainers in it. The steel ones conform to the original spring shape and wire thickness.
So I guess it depends on who you ask.
I can understand not going the $200 for titaniums, but damn, the 6.1 steel retainers list for .55 cents at the dealer, you're already in there, why would you not at least go with those for the whopping $8 and change?

 

6.1L retainers are the exact same ones as the 5.7L so why replace them? they arent any better or worse

 

They do that to save their own butt just in case for some weird reason something happened, especially since it's only $8 as you stated.
As far as the spring shape and wire thickness....That's negligible at best and arguable. As stated before, most guys who do a cam swap don't do it on a 100kmi truck. You shouldn't ever do a cam swap on anything over 10kmi if you are using the same bearings.

 

No cam swap over 10k miles? Guys are doing them with 160k on the truck.