Hey fellas,

I'm currently running with a Stage 1 consisting of V&H True Duals, Rinehart 3.5" slip-ons, S/E A/C with K&N Filter and PCV with an Autotune unit. Even with the Autotune I've been having some pretty severe pinging during warm weather rides, I just can't seem to get a good tune so I plan to get over to a local Dyno tuner that can do some timing adjustments and this guy has some pretty good references.

However after much consideration I've decided to swap out my stock cams for the S&S 551 Easy Starts before investing in the tune. I've been having hot start issues for the past several rides so I started out troubleshooting and decided the first thing to do (after a fresh battery) was to R&R the starter clutch. I put in an All ***** unit and immediately noticed better starts but still had one start where the battery could barely turn the engine over. Again, brand new battery, all connections are good.

So here's my shopping list: I've got the service manual and I've watched several YouTube videos, the best one being the one by Justin Bramstedt although he stops short of replacing the lifters, with 50K miles on my bike I think it's an absolute must to replace them. Also I will of course be examining the tensioner shoes.

Anything else you guys who've done this upgrade could advise me on? Things to watch out for or mistakes to avoid? Justin's video is pretty much on point with the exception of the lifter swap but I've found a few others that explain how to pre-fill and pump up the new lifters so I think I'm ready to jump in. Also it appears the Fueling Lifters have the same specs as the HD stockers, .200 total travel with a .09-.100 recommended pre-load.

One last comment on the hard starts. I know all about the compensator issues and realize that I may need to replace that too, but I want to get this pinging issue settled and if the hard/hot starts are still there than the comp will be the next thing to change out.

I'm very excited to get these cams in and then finally get a pro tune to get this bike running its very best!

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

 

I'd say you're ready to do it. Changing the lifters is no big deal, in fact they will fall out unless you do something to hold them in. I did mine with the video from JP cycles and it was very straight forward. Make sure you change all your o-rings and anything else that isn't metal. Also dynotune is a must, smart tune just doesn't cut it.

 

I did the S&S 585 ES cams with new rollers and adjustable pushrods. I bought the Vision Tuner and told the company what changes I made and they sent me a program to download. I should have changed the lifters but the bike was new and was already spending a lot of money. The bike runs great. It starts easy too.

 

With regard the Heartland inner cam bearing tool set ,, there seems to be an update in the later TC tool set ... The one in your list, (see pic), and in my opinion, the updated tool set, (see Pic).. No doubt either will do the job..
I am going to do cams in the future and was researching the Heartland tool sets, (install and removal ), and got a little confused which one to order...
May be worth contacting Heartland to confirm.... Or maybe someone here will put us both in the right direction ....