Clevite piston rings are Application Engineered and are pre-lapped to seat immediately. In fact, each ring is lapped to be "light tight," assuring the best possible seal and seating action with the least amount of friction.

Clevite provides quality ring sets designed to exacting specifications. Piston ring quality and tolerances are very critical, as they perform the function of sealing combustion gases in the combustion chamber, plus they prevent lubricating and cooling oil from entering the combustion area.

Clevite® heavy duty engine parts offer exclusive products not available from the OE or any other Aftermarket company. These include Clevite's Gray Armor™ piston rings with PC380 coating and Clevite's C3™ piston ring sets that reduce oil consumption and ring embedment.

The Gray Armor™ coating was originally developed to operate in the harsh environment of the EGR engines and in those applications it offers much improved wear characteristics over ring sets using chrome or any of the thermal coatings currently available.

When used in a non-EGR engine the benefits are even more pronounced. Tests demonstrate liner and ring wear is reduced by up to 75% when used in conjunction with a hardened liner.

Clevite C3™ ring design employs a nitrided steel oil ring. The nitriding process hardens all the surfaces of the ring, including the spring groove surface, which greatly enhances its resistance to embedment of the coiled wire expander spring. Diesel oil rings are very susceptible to spring embedment, which causes loss of oil control, and can lead to engine failure. The nitrided surface surpasses EVEN chrome in its resistance to spring embedment. This results in extending the usable life of the entire ring pack. Another advantage of steel is ease of installation. Cast iron rings at reduced cross-sections get very fragile and are prone to breakage. Although these rings should be installed with the same care as a cast iron ring, it is unlikely that these oil rings will break during installation or during the life of the engine.

We have eliminated chrome through the use of nitriding. Chrome, used in most commercial plating processes, is less environmentally friendly. Since the nitrided design eliminates chrome in a cost effective manner, both the manufacturing process and emissions characteristics of the rings are more environmentally safe. Competitors still use chrome on their rings in this application.

On close inspection you may notice that there are fewer and smaller drain back holes than you would traditionally find on rings of this type. Our tests have found this to be an improvement over the OE design. The fewer and smaller drain back holes allow for flatter sides and less rail flexing. These characteristics mean less oil consumption, while still providing adequate drain-back capacity. The nitriding process results in better dimensional control on critical contact surfaces, allowing for more predictable unit pressure, which in turn improves oil control.

While this particular ring is somewhat heavier in design than most steel oil rings, it follows the design intent that steel oil rings usually have a smaller cross-section of the oil ring body. This smaller cross-section also adds to improved oil control.

For foreign nameplate applications, we offer the same OE quality heavy duty engine parts in the MAHLE Original brand.