Originally posted by techinspector1
All 429/460 rods are the same length, but there is a difference in the way they were machined for the rod bolts. Low performance rods were milled with a square cut across the rod, providing a weak point. High performance and truck rods were broached for the bolt and use bolts with a football-shaped head. Start with broached rods and have them resized with ARP bolts.
Excuse me for butting in...just a few corrections here:

The passenger car rods are broached and the HP rods are not broached; they are spot face machined, which leaves more material around the big end (shoulder) of the rod.

That being said, techinically they are no stonger than the standard passenger car rods, because the big end of the rod rarely breaks....it is not the weak link in the BBF connecting rod. The place were most every Ford production rod breaks is mid-beam, and both the HP rod and the STD rod are exactly the same in this area.

For this reason, any production 429/460 rod is really about the same strength. Just do good prep work and inspection prior to their install, and absolutely use good aftermarket rod bolts such as ARP's. If your shift point will be greater than 6000 rpm, then you should probably be thinking about upgrading your connecting rods. (The BBF rods have been known to live at much higher rpm's, but the added security of a good rod is cheap insurance.)

Paul