Cam chain tensioners - running on borrowed time!
- Thread starter TQuentin1
- Start date
Not really. If you are going to go gear drive, the worries I have above still exist. If the engine you are working on is from an "extra" bike, no problem. You have the time to dissassemble the engine's right side to the point where you can measure the pinion shaft runout. If that is OK (below .003), order the cam drive gear kits. If at or above .003, then you need to decide if you are going to split the case and redo the entire engine to fix that. If not, then order the roller chain conversion kit and do that. Unfortunately, I will be down until I get the cams drive system decided and installed. That means with no bike to ride. I have been waiting to do this until I have my little bike back on the road, but that is not happening.
If the runout is OK and you get the kits in (from S&S, Andrews, or others) then swap out the cam shaft bearings in the case, assemble the backside of the plate and install it, then check for backlash to make sure it is in the range (.0005 to .0010). If less or more, then get the appropriate oversize or undersize 34T gear. Once OK, then assemble the outside of the plate. Check for backlash and see if it is in range (again .0005 to .0010). If not, get the appropriate oversize or undersize 31T gear. Once all done, put the nose cone back on. If all this stuff is coming in from online sources, the shipping time is going to have an impact on how long the job takes especially if multiple orders are required to get everything.
The heads are another issue and not dependent on the gear drive issue. Whatever cams you want can be the same cam whether gear drive or roller chain. The cam you pick will of course impact the heads setup depending on how radical you want to get with your cams.
TQ
USMCCWO5
Junior Member
Does anyone have comments about the cam support plate with parent material bushings? I think the SE and some aftermarket plates have actual bronze bushing in them.
I was talked out of gear cams because of questionable reliability of the cam support plate. Anyone else hear of problems with the cam support plate?
I was talked out of gear cams because of questionable reliability of the cam support plate. Anyone else hear of problems with the cam support plate?
The original plate has bearing pressed in it that support the outboard ends of the camshafts. Upgrading to the gear drive does not change this although the kits have new bearings to replace the existing ones.
On the roller chain upgrade, a new plate is supplied and the outboard end of the cams is a larger diameter to fit in the journal bearing profiles of the plate. There are no bearings pressed into the plate to support the outboard ends of the camshafts. I can't tell if there are bronze bushings in the plate supporting the camshafts, since I have not actually seen one, but I don't believe so.
TQ
kemo
R.I.P
No, there is no insert of any sort in the new Harley cam support plate. It relies strictly on the oil surface, that is why you want a good quality oil. The cam support plate has oil delivery to this area. This is a very common design in metric engines and automotive engines so I don't see any problems.
96Ci Engines do not have any kind fo bearing in the cam support plate ..nada
it is a parent material bearing they call it in other words the cam is spinning on the cam plate.. well ya hope not oil pressure is supposed to float the cams enough so they dont wear
breeze110riding
New Member
Thanks Got all the parts just need the pullers
papaseven
Member
You're right TQ. No chains in the EVO. That's one of the reasons they went to a T/C design because the MOCO couldn't get the noise numbers down enough on the EVO to satisfy the Feds.
That's the one thing I'll never understand about Harley. It would have cost them all of $20 bucks to tig the crank and true it at the factory level.
Without the so called "Acceptable" crank runout we wouldn't be discussing this issue right now.
In the 40 years I've been riding Harleys I can't ever remember the percentage of people that are so plauged with engine problems.
My 57 HT is sitting next to my 03 RK right now and the only thing I ever worry about on it is whether it will take two or four kicks to bust it off tomorrow.
Well! That and rather it's time to change the piece of carpet under it.
Geno:rofl
That noise rumor is just crap.The reason they went to chains is so they could use a junk pressed together crank with "acceptable" runout.Never seen a Jims pressed together crank with the numbers I see out of the factory.The old cranks were time consuming to assemble and true.It's all about the money.I am so sick of working on junk I jump at the chance to work on an Evo or Shovel.