Bike: '99 fxds Twin Cam
Mileage: 17,500

I brought my bottom end to a mechanic to have it assembled and he noticed blueing on the connecting rods and was concerned about the longevity of them and going through the trouble of building the engine to only have to tear down again if the rods bind. I was curious if anybody on here has experience with this issue and if my only option at this point is to buy a new flywheel set up (my crank has already been welded). I checked the rod side play it was at .011 which is in tolerance what else should I check relative to the rods?

 

HD dosnt use races in the big end of twin cam rods.the blue is were they harden the end of the rod to run the rollers right on the rod and is normal.id have to say,if your guy dosnt know this id be looking for another shop

 

a lot of rods are induction harden. they are not subjected to a flame or oven process which effects the entire piece. the part is placed in a strong electromagnetic field and a specific area is targeted, the field causes strong molecular excitation which creates heat and causes the metal structure to tighten up, the density increasing surface hardening. can this process cause issues, well sure. if not done right, the part becomes brittle.
if that kind of heat was there on tear down, as mr. pro brought out, you would be pulling it down for other major reasons. drag on bro!

 

Thank you for the information, Im looking for another shop to work with for assembly now.

 

Thank you for all the info in your response, been going through hell trying to get my bike back up and running. On the final stretch now, just got to find the right shop to work with and Ill be ripping again!