I tried searching the threads, but I didn't see anything that described my situation.

I have a 2002 FXDWG

Just over 20k miles ago, I had a 1550 kit, flat top pistons, 37G gear drive cams installed and the heads ported and milled.

Last week I thought I detonated the rear piston, but turns out the push rod snapped and busted a lifter. So my mechanic is replacing the lifters and push rods. He is very concerned about the gear drive cams. This is my first harley, so I'm not sure I understood why he seems to be anti gear drive cam.

He's a very good mechanic and he's advised me to seriously consider investing in a new cam chest kit to avoid a catastrophic engine failure.

He explained to me TC88's and chain drives with tensioners and the problems associated with them. So everybody started doing gear drive cams, but I believe he thinks the tolerences are to low on the gear drive and doesn't take much wear on the teeth to make them fail.

He started explaining to me about hydraulic tensioners and I think that's the route he wants to go.

Basically I'm planning on redoing my cam chest ASAP and just wondering what the best route to go is?

Thanks.

 

This is very simple. First, what was the crank runout when you had the gear drives installed? I assume it was less than 0.003" or they should not have been put in. Second, assuming you were within spec, there is no problem running gear drive cams, and if the work was done properly you should have no worries...You can spend a bunch of money on the hydraulic setup if you want, but as I said, if all was (is) in spec you don't need to worry about it.

 

However, it is possible that even if your run out was within spec when the gear drive kit was installed, now 20k miles later it is out of spec. Before plopping down money either way, you should have the run out checked again properly. That may help you know what to do, and may save you money.

 

All the above info is good,you also have a good crank set up in there with tapered bearings,the 02 motor was the last year for them,and I would stay with the gear set up,just check it out and install it back in there.....