Best option, hands down.
Inner cam bearing woes
Thread Starter
|
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 7
Likes: 1
From: Pottsville Beach, Australia
Inner cam bearing woes
Hi all.
Not exactly a new issue by any means. My inner cam bearing decided to explore what the term “disintegrate” means and succeeded quite admirably. Fragments broke a couple of teeth off the cam gear amongst other damage. The difficult one is the bearing seat which is badly scored from bearing spin I gather and thus the crux of my dilemma. (I replaced the engine with a good used, low mileage unit from a ‘96 Fatboy). My question is: can the bearing seat be repaired (I.e. machined, insert back to standard or machined for oversize etc) WITHOUT TAKING THE CASES APART? All pieces of the bearing were recovered. Has anyone done a repair this way?
Not exactly a new issue by any means. My inner cam bearing decided to explore what the term “disintegrate” means and succeeded quite admirably. Fragments broke a couple of teeth off the cam gear amongst other damage. The difficult one is the bearing seat which is badly scored from bearing spin I gather and thus the crux of my dilemma. (I replaced the engine with a good used, low mileage unit from a ‘96 Fatboy). My question is: can the bearing seat be repaired (I.e. machined, insert back to standard or machined for oversize etc) WITHOUT TAKING THE CASES APART? All pieces of the bearing were recovered. Has anyone done a repair this way?
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,197
Likes: 1,852
From: England
I suppose in theory you could, but I'm not sure why anyone would. Whatever machine work is done to re form the bearing seat is going to produce swarf, and swarf has a habit of ending up where you least want it.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,422
Likes: 2,621
From: NC USA
Well, yes, no, maybe. It's all subjective to how bad the bore is, who does it, and what you're looking for in the end. Oversize bearing - not available to my knowledge.
Machined, welded and re-bored or sleeved, would require splitting the cases, which isn't a big deal since it's already "on the ground." Left side takes some work, but the right case is easy to separate after the cylinders are off.
They'd have to have the right case only and use the nose cone as a centering jig. The bearing bore has to be centered with the nose cone cam bushing.
If you're confident you got it all cleaned out, I've seen this done on cam bearings, and have personally done it on many other applications with great success. If the bore is simply loose (and that's a judgement call) and not wallowed out of round, you can carefully peen with a sharp punch several places around the inside bore and install the new bearing with Loctite 640. Takes some patience but very do-able. And heaven help you if you get any on the rollers!
It really is best to have the cylinders off to at least get a magnet down in there to insure there's no pieces left in the case. Doesn't take much debris getting into the main/pinion bearings or blown back into the cam side to trash it out all over again.
If you took it to a shop, chances are they'd tell you "no, have to split the cases." If you had a Twin Cam under warranty that spun the bearing and took it to a dealer, chances are they'd do what I just described above, (but they would never tell you the did it).
.
Machined, welded and re-bored or sleeved, would require splitting the cases, which isn't a big deal since it's already "on the ground." Left side takes some work, but the right case is easy to separate after the cylinders are off.
They'd have to have the right case only and use the nose cone as a centering jig. The bearing bore has to be centered with the nose cone cam bushing.
If you're confident you got it all cleaned out, I've seen this done on cam bearings, and have personally done it on many other applications with great success. If the bore is simply loose (and that's a judgement call) and not wallowed out of round, you can carefully peen with a sharp punch several places around the inside bore and install the new bearing with Loctite 640. Takes some patience but very do-able. And heaven help you if you get any on the rollers!
It really is best to have the cylinders off to at least get a magnet down in there to insure there's no pieces left in the case. Doesn't take much debris getting into the main/pinion bearings or blown back into the cam side to trash it out all over again.
If you took it to a shop, chances are they'd tell you "no, have to split the cases." If you had a Twin Cam under warranty that spun the bearing and took it to a dealer, chances are they'd do what I just described above, (but they would never tell you the did it).
.
Thread Starter
|
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 7
Likes: 1
From: Pottsville Beach, Australia
Thanks for the feedback guys. I assumed as much but was hoping for a miracle. Well I do have the time especially now in Covid 19 season and retired and a beer fridge in my shed. Time to get dirty. Cheers.
Trending Topics
Tourer
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 285
Likes: 282
From: Prescott, AZ
Lesson learned. Heat the tappet cuff screws.
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Verdad Gallardo
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
60Gunner
Multi-Fit Parts and Accessories
0
Apr 9, 2020 11:59 AM
Z
Exhaust System Topics
9
Oct 22, 2009 05:10 PM