I have 17500 miles on my 02'. It started making a noise almost like lifter noise. Anyway My mechanic said it is pretty common to wear them out if you ride harder than normal. Well I do. He said they have done about 200 switches to the direct gear cam drivers with push rods. Is this the best option? They are from S&S.

 

I put the S&S 510 gear drive cams in my 99 last fall. No more worries about those stupid tensioners failing on me. Yes it's the best option if you plan to keep your bike for a long time.

 

If you have an extended warrenty the cam chain tensioners are covered. Once my warrenty expires, I will go to a gear drive.

 

So how much does it cost to switch to gear drive cams? Obviously if you do NOT have the extended warranty?

 

Well depends if you can find someone that has the tools you need. I couldn't so I had to buy them, not cheap. I plan on keeping my bike for a long time so I did it right. New cams and gear drivesetup, New S&S adjustable push rods and tubes, new lifters. About $1000.00+ another $250.00 for the tools. Did it myself, so I know it's done right. I don't trust too many people working on my vehicles, be it bike or truck. I'm an electrical Dumb A$$ so I'll take that stuff to a shop.

 

Headquaters cams are about $325, geardrive at $475, push rods at $150, and then gaskets, bearings and labour or tools. $1200 to $1300 should do it. The extended warrenty cost me $1500, and I have got about $3,000 out of it so far, and I still have 2 years left. Good deal IMO.

 

I was planning on switching to the gear drive set up, but when I talked to our Dealer, he whips out two sets of gear drive setups that were stripped out. He showed them to me. The teeth were sheared right off. He said it would be a mistake.
I have looked at the S&S set up at the Myrtle beach rally and they seem to free up the engine a lot also. That was my plan until I saw the 2 sets at the dealership.
I am really confused about the whole deal.

 

I believe you saw some stripped gears. I also believe that your dealer is not being truthful about what happened to them.

 

I bought a complete kit with Andrews cams, the S&S inner and outer gears, bearings, and a gasket cover for $535 shipped to my door. A SE pushrod kit was about 120 bucks. Due to my high miles, I swapped in new lifters. I used Crane 10530 lifters for a small block Chevy. Four set me back about $50.00. That's $705.00 for my parts. I rented the tools for about $60.00.

 

I agree.
He probably showed you two gears that were stripped when the cam chain tensioners failed. [:'(]