Aftermarket Hydraulic Cam Chain Tensioners

[David Jackson]

Hi Mike;

Me again. Did you once tell me something about a couple of companies which manufacture hydraulic cam chain tensioners for HDs?

David Jackson

[Mike]

Andrews Products introduced a kit in Cinncinati that retrofits the 06 Dyna style roller chain, Hydraulic tensioners and oil pump to 05 and earlier TC's. This kit requires unique cams due to the inner bearing differences between the Dyna's and others (I.E.-you cannot use 06 Dyna cams, the inner brg journal is too large and only Andrews cams can be used at this time). Rumor has it that H-D is working on a similar kit and since it has now been shown to be possible, the H-D kit may not be far away. In support of that rumor, Jims 120's will soon come with a cam support plate that uses the 06 Dyna oil pump but still use the Hi-Vo chain and spring tensioners. Enterestingly, Jims will be using a polished Hi-Vo (to reduce tensioner wear). Polishing was strongly critized by H-D in their PHD classes for fear the polishing compound could not be completely cleaned out of the chain and thus actually lead to premature wear of not only the tensioners but other engine components as well. Apparently Jims has solved this concern. It would be neat to install the Andrews kit into the Jims 120 but cam selection may not be optimal. I do not know if the Andrerws kit is yet available.
Thanks, Mike

[David Jackson]

Hi Mike;

I went down to the local dealer and saw my cam chain tensioner nylon blocks yesterday. After only about 5,000 miles (actually probably less mileage than that) there are pits in the center portion of the nylon blocks where the cam chains run across them. Obviously no one wants to put those parts back!

And so, inasmuch as I don't like the gear drive noise, I find myself in a bit of a quandry. Do I have the chain tensioners replaced at every other oil change or what? (ha ha, but not really.)

I appreciate what you are saying about the polishing of the cam chain; both pluses and the minuses, which minuses the technician working on my motor expressed. (Little bits of metal in the oil supply and thus floating around other bearing surfaces etc.)

I wonder about waiting until these retrofit kits are available before having my motor reassembled. I also wonder if the method of tensioning the cam chains matters much as long as the nylon blocks which are contacted by the chain deteriorate as quickly as mine did.

I see Bobby Wood advertises the existence of his belt drive silent cam drive system but no price or availability info yet.

Your thoughts?

Regards;

David Jackson

[Mike]

The wood auto setup is $1000-1200 from what I've been told. I do not know if this includes cams. Uses a special cam plate to seal off the oil from the cam chest and uses gear drive for the inner, secondary drive. Standard gear drive cams are used. The pitting is normal for the tensioners and is not considered to be a problem from H-D. This goes to how critical the tecnician is when deciding whether to replace or not. The standard is the pad thickness were the chain rides, if less than 50% (compared to an area the chain does not touch) it should be replaced. If the tensioners require replacing, we recommend replacing the chains as well.
Thanks, Mike