Accelerate Your Skills with the Drivability Practice Exam 2026 – Rev Up for Success!

The key idea is that the rocker arm is the lever that converts the push from the pushrod into valve movement. In a typical pushrod engine, the camshaft lobes push a lifter, which pushes a pushrod. The pushrod then acts on the rocker arm, which pivots on a fulcrum and pushes down on the valve stem to open the valve against the valve spring. The camshaft is the source of the motion, and the lifter and pushrod merely pass it along, but the rocker arm is the component that directly transfers that motion to move the valve.