Fred Carrillo spent a substantial part of his life in the world of competitive racing. With several decades of experience competing in motorcycle, dragster, straightaway and championship-car racing, he identified the importance of and the need for more dependable connecting rods in the engines of these high-performance vehicles. He combined his aerospace background with his years of experience in competitive racing, and started Carrillo Industries in 1963.

Ever since, Carrillo Industries has been designing and manufacturing the most durable, long-lasting connecting rods in the industry. Carrillo Industries manufacturers connecting rods in a multitude of configurations and sells them for aftermarket distribution, and to individual end users. The company is recognized as The Official Connecting Rod Manufacturer for NASCAR.

Connecting rods transfer energy from the engine to the crankshaft and ultimately to the final drive mechanisms in these high-performance vehicles. The connecting rod is one of the engine parts most commonly linked to engine combustion and failure. For this reason, Carrillo has remained dedicated to manufacturing rods with superior precision and top-quality construction.

Because fatigue is the major cause of connecting rod failure, Carrillo’s connecting rods are designed to maximize strength and durability while minimizing weight. Manufactured from proprietary steel and under a strict series of stringent strength and durability requirements, they are designed to endure even the most severe conditions produced during high-performance
competition.

From Start to Finish Line

Carrillo manufactures two main styles of connecting rods: the more traditional and well-known “H-Beam”, and a modified version, the “A-Beam”. All connecting rods go through multiple processes, including roughing, milling, deburring, buffing, assembly, boring, balancing and finishing. Additionally, multiple accuracy checks and inspections are performed to ensure optimum performance from every single part the company manufactures.

“Carrillo Industries has established a reputation in the industry for the high-quality we produce,” says Marketing Manager Cindy Verkooij. “This quality of our work is what drives our growth. We seek out manufacturing partners that share our goals and will help us maintain top quality most efficiently.”

Strengthening Processes

Jeff Kuecker, Carillo’s Production Manager, oversees the entire production process, identifying new ways to strengthen processes, speed production and achieve top accuracies to preserve the company’s reputation.

“As technology advances, it is crucial that we stay in tune with manufacturing trends and the industry’s evolution,” explains Kuecker. “To maintain our position in the marketplace, we depend on our manufacturing partners to help us meet our goals in the most efficient, productive and cost-effective ways possible.”

Kuecker determined finish boring to be one of the most crucial, yet time-consuming, steps in the manufacturing process. Finish boring is the step in which every part is measured for accuracy and final tolerances at bore and center to center are established. He found the prep-time being invested on trial-cutting and measuring was costing the company valuable machining time.

A Boring Solution

To manufacture with the level of precision the racing industry demands, Carrillo Industries now relies exclusively on Big Kaiser’s boring heads during finish boring. “When you are making thousands of rods per week, every bit of productivity helps,” Kuecker explains.

Prior to transitioning to only Kaiser boring heads in this finishing step, Carrillo had a substantial inventory of heads in stock that varied in size, brand and style. With Kaiser’s precision and accuracy, Carrillo was able to minimize its stock to only ten different-sized Kaiser boring heads.

“Kaiser boring heads have the accuracy and precision to achieve tolerances of plus or minus .0001 inches. This was exactly the level of precision we needed to achieve the high finish-qualities Carrillo is known for. Kaiser heads allow us to take out as much or as little material as we need to and finish a part in only one pass,” says Kuecker.

When dealing with tolerances on bores down to ± .0001”, Carrillo can now simply adjust the Kaiser head by .0001” or .0002” to get the exact measurement needed.

“Now, once the tool is set and cutting to size, we can be confident in the adjustments we make,” he adds. By switching to only Kaiser boring heads during finish boring, Carrillo has reduced the amount of time being spent on setting up tooling, minimizing machine down-time and greatly improving overall production times.

Kaiser inserts have given Carrillo an additional source of confidence in the part-quality being produced.

“Kaiser inserts are the most precise inserts around,” says Kuecker. “When we’re dealing with measurements on such a tiny scale, we need the inserts to repeat consistently in the insert holders, so that we aren’t wasting a bunch of time continuously setting or checking our tools. The Kaiser inserts we buy vary only by a few tenths, which allows us to spend our time boring holes and manufacturing parts, not checking our tools constantly.”

A Partner to Rely On

In an industry where precision cannot be sacrificed for convenience, Big Kaiser has helped Carrillo Industries speed its production without compromising the integrity of the parts they produce. With decades of experience under its belt, and partnered with companies that will continue to increase efficiencies and strengthen processes, Carrillo Industries is sure to prosper for many years to come.

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