Howards Cams Valve Train

Howards Cams Valve Train: Built from the Cam Out

When a brand earns its reputation by grinding camshafts for Top Fuel dragsters and circle track warriors, its valve train components carry that same race-bred DNA. Howards Cams has been synonymous with high-performance valve actuation since its founding in 1945, and the company's valve train lineup is engineered as a natural extension of its legendary camshaft work — ensuring every lobe profile is supported by components built to the same exacting standard.

A Legacy of Valve Train Innovation

Few brands can claim as many valve train firsts as Howards. In 1996, the company pioneered its Direct Lube lifter technology for mechanical flat tappet applications, featuring a precision laser EDM hole in the center of the lifter face that supplies a constant oil film directly to the cam lobe interface. This innovation allows for higher valve spring pressures, more aggressive lobe profiles, and significantly reduced cam wear — a solution that addressed one of the most persistent failure points in high-performance flat tappet engines.

The Direct Lube concept was later expanded to hydraulic flat tappet lifters, where a precision minor flat ground on the side of the lifter body maintains a continuous oil supply to the cam lobe. The result is a system capable of handling elevated spring pressures without the lobe wear traditionally associated with aggressive hydraulic grinds.

What Howards Cams Valve Train Includes

Howards offers a comprehensive selection of valve train hardware designed to complement their camshaft profiles across a wide range of popular American V8 platforms. Key product categories include:

• Lifters — hydraulic flat tappet (including Direct Lube variants), hydraulic roller (OE-style and Maximum Effort retro-fit), and solid roller lifters. Hydraulic and mechanical lifters are 100% Rockwell checked for hardness at the Oshkosh, Wisconsin facility.
• Pushrods — Swedged End pushrod kits constructed from 4130 chrome moly steel with black oxide finish, available in multiple diameters and wall thicknesses, heat-treated and compatible with guideplates.
• Rocker Arms & Accessories — including LS Series direct bolt-on aluminum roller rockers with needle-bearing fulcrums and roller tips to reduce friction, as well as stud girdle kits designed for high-RPM competition engines not running shaft rockers.
• Valve Springs, Retainers & Locks — performance spring kits in single and dual configurations, plus forged steel 10-degree valve locks engineered for durability under high-pressure race conditions.

Designed to Work Together

What separates Howards Cams valve train parts from generic replacements is the system-level thinking behind each component. Because Howards designs and manufactures both the camshaft and the supporting valve train hardware in-house, the lifters, pushrods, and rocker geometry are all developed to complement specific cam profiles. The LS Series roller rockers, for example, are engineered as direct bolt-on replacements requiring no changes to pushrods, guideplates, or valve covers — an important detail for builders wanting maximum performance with minimal hassle.

Whether you're upgrading a classic small-block Chevy with a Maximum Effort retro-fit roller lifter kit, sourcing chrome moly pushrods for a custom stroker build, or refreshing a Ford 5.0L valvetrain with precision pushrods matched to your cam selection, Howards Cams delivers American-made components built to hold up under real racing conditions.