camdoctor
New Member
Gear drive vs. Conversion style Cams.
Gear driven cams offer a slight increase in power over the Conversion style camshafts.
Anytime you apply pressure to a drive chain your going to suffer some parasitic loss of power. On the gear driven cams you only have backlash between gears. Virtually no loss in power from friction. But there are also installation issues to deal with.
Gear drive installation should not be performed by anyone who doe’s not have the proper measuring equipment Pinion shaft run out is very critical and if not installed within specification can cause excessive noise. Whining too tight or ticking too loose.
And in some cases extreme tightness can cause catastrophic engine damage. This can only be determined by accurately measuring the Gear backlash and pinion run out with a dial indicator properly secured and reads in ten thousandths of an inch.. If your Pinion run out is within specification .003 of total run out you can use gear drive. Then you must check the backlash between all four gears. This is also difficult. If you have a gear that is not within specification you need to exchange it for a new gear that will put your backlash in spec. That means waiting for another gear to be shipped while your in the middle of your installation. If your lucky your size will not be on back order. Which is nearly always the case. Most Hobbyists would not have these expensive tools for a one time installation and the cost for this tedious job is not cheap.
Hydraulic roller conversion cams do not require any special tools for installation.
These new style tensioners are factory equipment on 2006 Dyna models and all Models 2007 and later. The new roller chain and hydraulic tensioners replace the previous style spring loaded tensioners and link belt style chains. The link belt chains themselves are a very abrasive chain rectangular with sharp edges this helps to promote premature failure.
Then your using a spring with 35lbs of pressure to insure the chain stays on a poorly designed sprocket. Spring tension is also hard to control a spring rate can vary from piece to piece. This early configuration have been known for their inconsistencies and short service life. The Hydraulic roller conversion uses a very smooth bicycle style chain and a new Hydraulic tensioner with only 11lbs. of pressure and a new tensioning shoe made out of a longer wearing material. The parasitic loss of power is minimal. This smooth running set up ensures long intervals before shoe replacement. Along with the new tensioners added reliability there is another advantage . The new style oil pump and support plate are used for the conversion the new style redesigned oil pump provides better scavenging and increase volume of oil. This new pump is an upgrade from the previous style used with the spring loaded tensioners early style support plate.
Surprisingly with all the parts needed to perform the conversion it is still less expensive than gear driven cams not to mention installation costs. The Spring loaded tensioners have to go! Premature failure is inevitable and detrimental to the engine. Oil pump and lifter failure are common when debris form the tensioning shoes circulate thru the engines oiling system. Gear Drive vs. Conversion , We choose Conversion These cams were my idea and I made all the reversions to the instruction sheet while working at Andrews Products and testing them at my independent shop.
Gear driven cams offer a slight increase in power over the Conversion style camshafts.
Anytime you apply pressure to a drive chain your going to suffer some parasitic loss of power. On the gear driven cams you only have backlash between gears. Virtually no loss in power from friction. But there are also installation issues to deal with.
Gear drive installation should not be performed by anyone who doe’s not have the proper measuring equipment Pinion shaft run out is very critical and if not installed within specification can cause excessive noise. Whining too tight or ticking too loose.
And in some cases extreme tightness can cause catastrophic engine damage. This can only be determined by accurately measuring the Gear backlash and pinion run out with a dial indicator properly secured and reads in ten thousandths of an inch.. If your Pinion run out is within specification .003 of total run out you can use gear drive. Then you must check the backlash between all four gears. This is also difficult. If you have a gear that is not within specification you need to exchange it for a new gear that will put your backlash in spec. That means waiting for another gear to be shipped while your in the middle of your installation. If your lucky your size will not be on back order. Which is nearly always the case. Most Hobbyists would not have these expensive tools for a one time installation and the cost for this tedious job is not cheap.
Hydraulic roller conversion cams do not require any special tools for installation.
These new style tensioners are factory equipment on 2006 Dyna models and all Models 2007 and later. The new roller chain and hydraulic tensioners replace the previous style spring loaded tensioners and link belt style chains. The link belt chains themselves are a very abrasive chain rectangular with sharp edges this helps to promote premature failure.
Then your using a spring with 35lbs of pressure to insure the chain stays on a poorly designed sprocket. Spring tension is also hard to control a spring rate can vary from piece to piece. This early configuration have been known for their inconsistencies and short service life. The Hydraulic roller conversion uses a very smooth bicycle style chain and a new Hydraulic tensioner with only 11lbs. of pressure and a new tensioning shoe made out of a longer wearing material. The parasitic loss of power is minimal. This smooth running set up ensures long intervals before shoe replacement. Along with the new tensioners added reliability there is another advantage . The new style oil pump and support plate are used for the conversion the new style redesigned oil pump provides better scavenging and increase volume of oil. This new pump is an upgrade from the previous style used with the spring loaded tensioners early style support plate.
Surprisingly with all the parts needed to perform the conversion it is still less expensive than gear driven cams not to mention installation costs. The Spring loaded tensioners have to go! Premature failure is inevitable and detrimental to the engine. Oil pump and lifter failure are common when debris form the tensioning shoes circulate thru the engines oiling system. Gear Drive vs. Conversion , We choose Conversion These cams were my idea and I made all the reversions to the instruction sheet while working at Andrews Products and testing them at my independent shop.
