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[HEADPAN62]

like to get some input here on tensioners and chit. Got 70,000 miles on the clock. Ready for a set again. Seems every 35,000 I need a set. I here some story's of bikes getting more life out of the tensioners then my scoot. I'm not intrested in cam drive, I tour with this bike,and if there is a issue out abroad, dealerships will have my parts if needed.
 So what about the screamin eagle oil pump and plate?I was gonna get them this time around. Do you  think this upgrade will give me longer tensioner life? open for sujjestions!

[Keats]

First, if you getting 35K miles on the twin cam tensioners I would consider you lucky.

I would have changed to gear driven cams with the mileage you are putting on, and any good dealer should be able to handle any repair with regards to them.

The biggest issue I see you may have in leaving the original tensioners in, is they had a tendency to come apart and ruin oil pump and then destroy other engine parts.

Which is very hard to get fixed quickly on the road.

[REGGAB]

like to get some input here on tensioners and chit. Got 70,000 miles on the clock. Ready for a set again. Seems every 35,000 I need a set. I here some story's of bikes getting more life out of the tensioners then my scoot. I'm not intrested in cam drive, I tour with this bike,and if there is a issue out abroad, dealerships will have my parts if needed.
 So what about the screamin eagle oil pump and plate?I was gonna get them this time around. Do you  think this upgrade will give me longer tensioner life? open for sujjestions!

I do not believe those components will extend your cam chain tensioners' life, however they do make a good base upon which to convert to the new style chain drive system.  Old style tensioners are old style tensioners.  They wear inconsistently across the fleet.  I've never had a bike with the new style tensioners, and the jury may still be out on them, but everything I'm hearing says that system is leaps and bounds above the old system as far as longevity and reliability are concerned.  Since you're not interested in gear driven cams, I'll hush now.....................






but the SE cam support plate and oil pump is an awesome base upon which to convert to gear driven cams should you change your mind.   

[Unbalanced]

Headpan,

If your bike is a pre 07 then you might consider the new cam plate and oil pump as well as new hydrolic tensioners, and the 07 style cam and still have no problem getting help abroad. 

[DCFIREMANN]

I agree with all of the post above. If you want to stay with tensioners then go with the new cam plate. If it was me I would have a set of gear driven cams in that bike.

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[gremlush]

Gear dr. and forget about it ! EVO's were gear driven cam. How many EVO's ,Shovel,Pan have 'over' 100,000 miles on them ? {check your crank for true 1st} if it less than  .002 go gear dr.

[Trapperdog]

Mine were toast at 20K. Had to stay away from gear drive due to .oo8 runout. plain shame

[Wildrat]

Man I have seen 3-4 different specs called out for the crank and gear drives. .005, then .003 to .005, then .003, and now .002. I am preparing to convert to gear drive on the two SG's and I am beginning to worry a little. I think I will investigate this myself now. I warned the wife last night about this so she would be prepared when I tell her we need to use the new chain drive cams and tensioners and,and,and.

[Rick1954]

Im new at this site and was directed here about (cam chain tenioners)..I have a 2006 Ultra Classic .  i changed my tensioners at 51,000 miles. After inspecting my tensioners after the shop changed them (keep all parts) my wear and tear and major pitting was getting low , maybe 1,000 miles more and I would have had major problems.  I changed to AMSOIL around 40,000 miles thinking it would help reduce my wear, the jury is still out on Amsoil but I am going to continue to use it until my next tensioner change and compare my parts from using Screaming Eagle Synthetic to Amsoil Synthetic. I thought about going gear on gear because of the miles I continue to put on her but I'm not wild about the "spinning" sound even though I know thats the best way to go.  Why Harley doesn't mention the upcoming problems is beyond me.  If a ringing sound occurs in your motor your tensioners are ready to pop....Now I'm looking at fuel pump problems among other nagging injuries on her.....My total bill for new tensioners, bearings adjustable push rods gaskets O -rings came to $585 labor included....

[Hoist!]

Man I have seen 3-4 different specs called out for the crank and gear drives. .005, then .003 to .005, then .003, and now .002. I am preparing to convert to gear drive on the two SG's and I am beginning to worry a little. I think I will investigate this myself now. I warned the wife last night about this so she would be prepared when I tell her we need to use the new chain drive cams and tensioners and,and,and.

DO NOT USE GEAR DRIVE CAMS ABOVE 0.003" CRANK RUNOUT ON EITHER SIDE!!! (0.002" or below is preferrable)

Less than that you should be OK.

HD spec is up to 0.012"!

Hoist!

[gremlush]

In the 'OLD' days , H-Ds cranks were within .001 { 99%} but things are dif now. YES , you can run gear dr. with .003 BUT , you will have 'tight spots' on the gears. You will have ALOT of wear in one little area and noise too.  If you have more than .002 ,then go with the NEW style chain dr. I have put cams in the new style chain {07 +} bikes with one having 12000+ miles on it and the shoes looked perfect. No wear ! We re-used the shoes. All we did was changed the inner cam bearing ,but have not heard of any problems with those {stock INA}  either. Dewey

[Admiral]

Im new at this site and was directed here about (cam chain tenioners)..I have a 2006 Ultra Classic .  i changed my tensioners at 51,000 miles. After inspecting my tensioners after the shop changed them (keep all parts) my wear and tear and major pitting was getting low , maybe 1,000 miles more and I would have had major problems.  I changed to AMSOIL around 40,000 miles thinking it would help reduce my wear, the jury is still out on Amsoil but I am going to continue to use it until my next tensioner change and compare my parts from using Screaming Eagle Synthetic to Amsoil Synthetic. I thought about going gear on gear because of the miles I continue to put on her but I'm not wild about the "spinning" sound even though I know thats the best way to go.  Why Harley doesn't mention the upcoming problems is beyond me.  If a ringing sound occurs in your motor your tensioners are ready to pop....Now I'm looking at fuel pump problems among other nagging injuries on her.....My total bill for new tensioners, bearings adjustable push rods gaskets O -rings came to $585 labor included....

Welcome from Texas                                                      

[Unbalanced]

For a guy that is worried about harley support abroad, I do not think going gear drives with his concerns is a wise move.  Stay within the Harley scope of what they can support easily and know and ride on from there.

I would like I said above convert to the 07 style of cam chest and supporting hardware and with that you should have no issues.

[Cvostu]

are the gear driven cams a big job to change over to? I haven't had any issues yet, but i turned 41k today and I'd rather take care of it before I have a problem. Do I dare trust the dealer to do this one?

[Unbalanced]

Most Dealers will charge around 6 hours for the job.

On our 04 we had to clearance the cases, they have a jig for doing it.   Not really a big deal and most dealers should be able to handle it. 

Usually biggest gotcha is the pinching of the 0 ring when putting the oil pump back on. 

I am not sure if John Sachs does cams only, I know he does do some builds / headwork if he doesn't I am sure he can point you at the right resource.   He is in the FT Lauderdale area.  Would highly recommend him over a dealer.