As there are similar (but different) rocker shaft inserts on the market, I wanted to briefly explain why I recommend removing the rocker support plates when installing my ROCKOUT inserts...

There is an old saying that things always go right... until they don't. I have had my rocker components out more times than I care to remember, and my instructions are the result of that experience. I want to make sure you are successful and have no issues with your installation.

First, if you have gone through the trouble of removing the seat, tank, rocker covers, rocker support bolts, etc., you are literally like 20 seconds from removing the whole assembly so you can work on it on the bench. It's removing 2 more bolts. Once on the bench you can inspect for worn out shafts, rocker arms, rocker arm bushings, etc. These things are actually cheap to replace if needed, and now's the time.

Second, there is an O-Ring that is under the rocker support plate that sits in a recess in the rocker box. That O-ring is about .105 thick and sits in a pocket about .077 deep. When the assembly is installed the O-ring is flattened, then heated to as much as 300 degrees+ over and over again. It can stay flattened & lose it's ability to seal. Also, when the support plate raises up, whether removed or just loosened, there is about a 30% chance the O-ring will stick to the plate rather than stay in it's pocket. I have seen it many times....



If you think that slimy oil covered O-ring will then sit right back down into it's pocket when the support plate is tightened, OK. I don't If it gets caught halfway in the pocket & the plate is tightened....

Next there is the issue of oil getting in the bolt holes when the bolts are removed. If it happens, and it DOES happen, the oil will have nowhere to go when the bolts are threaded back in. The condition is called hydrolocked. When the bolt is tightened it can blow the bottom out of the pocket, cracking the casting. That oil NEEDS to be blown out, ask any engine builder. Here's oil I blew out of a bolt hole with a little can of compressed air...



What are the chances of these things happening to you when taking a shortcut? I don't know. But I do know you can make sure they can't happen. This is why I include new O-rings & some simple installation hardware with my kits. It takes so little time to be on the safe side.

I hope this clears up any confusion there may have been.

As always, thank you so much for the awesome support

 

Great information.

 

FWIW... here's what can happen...https://www.hdforums.com/forum/engin...l#post13747704

It's a known issue.

 

Thanks a lot for taking the time effort to keep the people that will be doing this mod out of what could be more then a little trouble.

Scott

 

a big THANK YOU as this is going to be one of my winter projects.

 

Got your kit today from Amazon. Love the Prime shipping. Just took 2 days. Great looking product that is professionaly packaged.

I'll definitly remove the rocker box and blow the holes. Why would you want to take a chance installing them in place?

Thanks again for making these available.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Please let us know how they work out for you.

 

Will do. I went by the local Harley shop today and picked up the gaskets today. Other than some time I guess that's all I need. Will report back.

 

Over the weekend I installed the inserts, and am amazed by how much quieter the top end is. I though I would pass along an observation and a question.

Observation: While in the rocker box, I replaced the breathers with new ones. The new breathers are "thinner" (top to bottom) than the stock breathers on my 2010 with about 30k miles on it.

As part of the breather kit, new bolts are included. The new bolt are shorter than the originals, but even with the thinner new breather dimension, the breather bolts extend farther into the threads than the originals did. And I had a serious case of hydro-lock.

Thank goodness the hydro-lock issue has been posted here or I would have broken through the bolt holes for sure. An awful lot of oil blew out of the breather bolt holes, and once cleaned out, they fastened right down.

Question: The original rocker plate bolts clearly had no thread lock on them. The manual did not specify applying thread lock on the bolts during reassembly (and I didn't).

Normally, I'm a "locktite everything" guy, but between the manual and the clean original bolts, I did not this time.

Any thoughts on if threat lock really should be used there? Maybe I'll give them a check in a few hundred miles.

Thanks. -Pat

 

I didn't use any on my rocker support plate bolts since the service manual did not specify to use when reinstalling.Did use on rocker cover bolts since manual shows this.As long as its torqued to specs,it should be OK