[ronn39]

I have an '02 FLHR (carbed) with 38K miles on it and having read in various places about the short life of the cam adjusters, I figured I'd go ahead and replace them with the new stuff (Hydraulic vs Spring, Roller Chain vs "Silent") and get the updated oil pump by buying the kit from Harley. In the catalog, it also says you need to buy the spacer kit (whatever that serves), so I picked them both up, as well as new lifters and adjustable pushrods.

Not having the time nor knowing if I'd have all the right equipment, I turned it over to an Indy (factory trained) that I trust. When we opened the kit box, it was obvious that there was a lot of stuff not in it. Seems HD neglected to mention that you also need to buy the "Cam Installation Kit" which contains the bearings, gaskets, etc. So now we have more downtime to locate a source of the kit needed and more expense.

My Indy said it was a good thing I got it to him when I did. One of the adjusters was down to the point of catastrophic failure and would have gone in less than hundred miles before grenading. That would have been a really big expense!

If that wasn’t enough, one of the cams was worn down through the hardened service into the soft metal. Now this is an engine that gets frequent oil changes and service with synthetic oil. So now we’re going to replace them with a couple Andrews 26s (this is a big old bagger, not a hot rod). More expense.

A buddy of mine just had the same job done to his 2001 Heritage Soft Tail. The cam bearings were also bad and as a result he had to replace his cams as well. I didn’t ask about the condition of the cam bearings in mine. I know that HD used some inferior versions and later switched. But I don’t know when they did that; I assume the “Installation Kit” will have the latest ones.

I’m making an assumption that ’07 and later twin-cams no longer suffer this pain. But if you have an earlier engine, be forwarned. And maybe just buy the whole damn kit from Andrews in the first place.