Forged-steel connecting rod

A method of forging a steel connecting rod blank comprising the steps of:

• (a) forging a one-piece elongated steel body formed at one end with a crankshaft eye formed with a large-diameter bore adapted to receive a portion of a crankshaft, a shank extending longitudinally from said bore, and a piston-pin eye at an end of said shank constituting an opposite end of said body, said piston-pin eye being formed with a small-diameter bore adapted to receive a piston pin and of a diameter less than a diameter of said large-diameter bore, said body being substantially flat and having opposite sides generally in planes perpendicular to axes of said small and large diameter bores, with at least one notch adapted to form a crevice, and mounds of material of said body displaced from said notch and disposed on opposite sides of flanks of the notch;
• and
• (b) die forging the body formed in step (a) to a finished blank while forcing said material back into said notch, thereby closing said notch to the crevice at a preset intended break location ensuring breakage of said crankshaft eye along a line extending said crevice into a piston rod and a bearing cap connectable with said piston rod.