A friend of mine has a 1996 Road King and the belt broke. I had a used belt from a 1998 Electra Glide to which I gave him. He called me and said it did not fit. I took a look and it’s too lose….and there is no more adjustment left I went online and the swingarms changed in 1997. So, any recommendations? Look for 1997-1999 swingarm, buy the right belt, or change the pulley combinations to make it work? Easiest would be to change rear pulley, but which one? The 1997-1999 swingarms are expensive and hard to find. He’s on a budget….

 

40001-85 is the belt part number, understand the budget thing but man putting a belt on a bagger is alot of work to install a used belt. Early model Twin Cam swing arms will work, stronger and the go to, the 97-98 is known to crack is why they are not plentiful. Installing a larger front drive pulley is common to reduce rpm's at highway speeds, will take up the slack in the loose belt but will need to take the inner primary off again. I'm not aware of a 2 or 3 tooth larger sprocket for the back of a bagger, it may be possible but very few try to lower the gear ratio on a bagger. On a swingarm change getting the steel shaft out of a aluminum trans can turn into a nightmare if thing got go right.

Early model Twin Cam swing arms have a smaller axle needed, adapters for the bearings are available or non tapered bearings. A new correct belt sure seems like a good option after thinking about deflecting away from the main problem.

 

I understand what you’re saying. It definitely is a lot of work to change all that stuff on the baggers. I upgraded my 1998 FLHTCUI about 12-14 years ago to Twin Cam era parts….best upgrade. The 1996 Road King uses a 136 belt and the 1998 uses a 139 belt. It has a good 1.5 inches of slack in it and l’m not sure there’s a big enough front pulley to draw in all that slack.

I wish I still had my old 1998 swingarm, because that would have been a bolt-in without taking the primary apart again. However, that was sold years ago.

He’s probably better off to suck it up and go back through all the labor again, only with the correct belt.

I don’t understand why the old EVO era swingarms are so expensive and I certainly don’t want one on my bike again.

 

If there is only a three tooth difference in the belt.. For every one tooth on the drive pulley on the trans you pick up two teeth on the belt so if he went from a 32 to a 34 tooth on the trans pulley he shouldn't have an issue using a 139 belt..

 

The rule of thumb is that about 1/2 the number of teeth change in the belt is what's required for the pulley.. In this case since the number is 3, 1 or 2 should work. You need to look at the position of the axle before the change. If it's close to all the way out 2 would be better.

 

The axle is all the way to the back. Much rather remove the primary and replace the pulley. If the 34T would be enough to take the slack out…that would be great.

 

Is a 1996 RoadKing a conventional swing arm, a Softail, or FXR type frame? I am wondering what is up with crack prone swing arms on the earlier models, post Shovelhead.

 

Should be.. It move the axle forward about 14mm from where it wants to be..

 

If keeping cost minimum, look on eBay. There are lifetime warranty belts for $50. If pulleys are good, I’d go that route because it’s the cheapest.

 

So how many times are you willing to rip apart the primary to change a $50 belt that's got a lifetime warranty??? I know I'd rather do it just once..