Pistons

[dd1228]

Can anyone tell me the difference between cast pistons and forged pistons and the advanages or disadvantages of both. I plan on replacing mine and want to do the right thing.

 

[R_W_B]

Many (many) yrs ago I used to drag race cars.

The way I remember it Forged is stronger, and more expensive. They are made by heating the steel to a pliable temperature and then stamping them into their shape.

The cast ones are made by melting the steel (or whatever) into a flowing liquid and then inserting the liguid into a mold to cool.

The cast ones should be fine if you are not reving your engine to it's limits on a regular basis.

 

[Breeze3at]

+1 on the above.
My biggest concern when replacing pistons is that they are equal in weight.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Forged pistons tend to be a bit noisey but are a lot stronger than cast

 

[Fossil]

In the Pan Head engines balancing them was not necessary. You could even put in one piston that was a size larger or smaller than the other. This was because high compression pistons didn't like burning the leaded gasoline available then. That plus the national interstates were not completed yet and every one rode on local and state roads. When Harley was owned by AMF their biggest savior was the 55 mph national limit.