I changed my TC 88 to hydraulic tensioners at 15,000 miles. It now has 72,000 miles on it with no further changes. I still open the camchest every 10K to ease my mind. Great informative video!
I changed my TC 88 to hydraulic tensioners at 15,000 miles. It now has 72,000 miles on it with no further changes. I still open the camchest every 10K to ease my mind. Great informative video! Definitely buy the proper tools to hold the sprockets and the plate to change out the inner cam bearings. You saved this amount of money doing this yourself.
Steve, you have a gift for simplicity when explaining "how to" information. Seeing the 'average guy' version of how to do this will help many accomplish this chore. People like to see the real version of DIY instead of some expert who flies through through the instructions and someone has to play the video back 398 times to see what is going on. No matter what engine it is, cam tensioners take a lot of pressure. Being that the tensioner is such an intricate part, especially with a twin cam motor, guys who sit at red lights revving the crap out of their engines don't realize what damage they are doing to them. Hey man, its good to see you on and posting videos again. Really hope you get to get back out there and start filing some camping and traveling. Best to you, bro.
My 2002 Roadking inner tensioner did exact same thing. I went with 535 lift Fueling "conversion cams" High volume oil pump & hydraulic cam plate tensioner. (So this won't ever be an issue again) New upper end w/95" kit. Took a week but did it all myself in my one car garage. You should be proud as well doing this yourself! 🛠️
that sprocket holder tool has an up and a down side because the teeth on the 2 sprockets are different same with the front tensioner tool there is an up and down the little blade on the edge goes up. always put your o ring in the housing not on the oil pump. the 2 cam plate bolts that go through the dowel pins only tighten to 90 inch pounds because threads are shorter
I do a lot of conversions on the earlier twin cams in my shop. I've seen some with as low as 20,000 miles that need them done. There's no Rhyme or Reason to it it doesn't matter how often you change the oil. More often than not the tensioner on the back side is completely wiped out usually down to the metal while the tensioner on the front still has plenty of meat on it. If your crankshaft runs true enough the best conversion is Gear Drive. But most crankshafts aren't true enough for that so the next best alternative is to convert it to the hydraulic tensioners.
@@briandavis8977 I would plan on changing them out at 30k. That’ll buy you another 30k. Or if you have the funds upgrade to hydraulics. I’ll probably upgrade in another 30k. Watch for my video in two years! lol
Great video. My 06 Heritage Softail is still less than 20k miles but should do this sooner than later. Did you use HD replacement or aftermarket tensioners?
There is a big difference between 99-02 and 03-06. The Cam chain was made smoother on the 03-06. Tensioners were made of a longer lasting material on 03-06. My 04 has 10K miles the tensioners have zero wear. I had a 2001 and they were shot. Just pull the cone off and look no big deal. If they are bad then get bolt cutters and get busy changing them. Even the 99-02 usually last for 30K or more.
Hey Steve, awesome video. I have hydraulic tensioners. (2015 RK) The front one needs to be replaced. Could I get away with taking the cam plate off without taking off the chain and gears? Since I don't have to relieve any tension on the chain. Thanks, Eric
All the bushings still looked in great shape. I'll change them all out in 30K-40K when I do this again. In fact I'll probably change it all out for hydraulic tensioners.
I changed my TC 88 to hydraulic tensioners at 15,000 miles. It now has 72,000 miles on it with no further changes. I still open the camchest every 10K to ease my mind.
Great informative video!
I changed my TC 88 to hydraulic tensioners at 15,000 miles. It now has 72,000 miles on it with no further changes. I still open the camchest every 10K to ease my mind.
Great informative video!
Definitely buy the proper tools to hold the sprockets and the plate to change out the inner cam bearings. You saved this amount of money doing this yourself.
Steve, you have a gift for simplicity when explaining "how to" information. Seeing the 'average guy' version of how to do this will help many accomplish this chore. People like to see the real version of DIY instead of some expert who flies through through the instructions and someone has to play the video back 398 times to see what is going on.
No matter what engine it is, cam tensioners take a lot of pressure. Being that the tensioner is such an intricate part, especially with a twin cam motor, guys who sit at red lights revving the crap out of their engines don't realize what damage they are doing to them.
Hey man, its good to see you on and posting videos again. Really hope you get to get back out there and start filing some camping and traveling.
Best to you, bro.
@@Old-Biker-Dude thank you. I watched several videos before I did it. I wanted to create a video that I wished I had seen.
I'm about to undertake this task on my '03 Road King, having watched you do the job is going to make it much easier for me, many thanks!
Your welcome and good luck!
My 2002 Roadking inner tensioner did exact same thing. I went with 535 lift Fueling "conversion cams" High volume oil pump & hydraulic cam plate tensioner. (So this won't ever be an issue again) New upper end w/95" kit. Took a week but did it all myself in my one car garage. You should be proud as well doing this yourself! 🛠️
I was on a budget. This'll give me 30K-35K miles to save up for hydraulics upgrade.
@@SteveOutdoors I understand. I spent about 3/4 value of bike on part's! LOL
The inner cam bearings you have in there are a ticking time bomb also. With 35K on your bike it was the right time to upgrade those.
Nice video, especially for a one man film crew. Good fix on the Cam Shoe replacement. It looks like you caught it just in time!
saving this for when it's time for me to change mine! thank you for the video!
I have to do this on my 2005 fatboy...thanks for taking your time and not just showing how "fast and easy" it is.
Absolutely
that sprocket holder tool has an up and a down side because the teeth on the 2 sprockets are different same with the front tensioner tool there is an up and down the little blade on the edge goes up. always put your o ring in the housing not on the oil pump. the 2 cam plate bolts that go through the dowel pins only tighten to 90 inch pounds because threads are shorter
great job! I'll be doing this soon, thanks for the pointers!
Nice job...real good video and explanations.
I do a lot of conversions on the earlier twin cams in my shop. I've seen some with as low as 20,000 miles that need them done. There's no Rhyme or Reason to it it doesn't matter how often you change the oil. More often than not the tensioner on the back side is completely wiped out usually down to the metal while the tensioner on the front still has plenty of meat on it. If your crankshaft runs true enough the best conversion is Gear Drive. But most crankshafts aren't true enough for that so the next best alternative is to convert it to the hydraulic tensioners.
My 06 heritage has 28,000 miles now. I've been worried about this. Great video
@@briandavis8977 I would plan on changing them out at 30k. That’ll buy you another 30k. Or if you have the funds upgrade to hydraulics. I’ll probably upgrade in another 30k. Watch for my video in two years! lol
@@SteveOutdoors Maybe I will do the hydro upgrade and be done with it.
Great job thank you. Would love to have seen you lost all the part numbers for tools and tensioners. All the parts etc.
I just picked up a 2000 road king and I'm on a budget myself because of rebuilding my evo
I think I'll go with the SS kit an do the cams as well. Its more $$$ but I wouldn't want to do this twice
Great video. My 06 Heritage Softail is still less than 20k miles but should do this sooner than later.
Did you use HD replacement or aftermarket tensioners?
I used Mid USA after market tensioners. But I couldn't find any available when I put links in the description.
The best replacements are phsycos
2006 Dynas had hydraulic tensioners. Only 88 that had them
There is a big difference between 99-02 and 03-06. The Cam chain was made smoother on the 03-06. Tensioners were made of a longer lasting material on 03-06. My 04 has 10K miles the tensioners have zero wear. I had a 2001 and they were shot. Just pull the cone off and look no big deal. If they are bad then get bolt cutters and get busy changing them. Even the 99-02 usually last for 30K or more.
Thanks for the insight.
Mine's an '04. I think I had around 32K at the time of making this video. As you can see the back tensioner was coming apart.
Thanks for posting. Did you perform oil pump alignment?
@@eb1941 I never took the oil pump off of the cam plate.
I have a 2013 Street Bob with the 103. Are the shoes a problem on those also, or did Harley fix the problem by then? Thanks
@@howdiedoodie8587 in 2007 they switched to hydraulic tensioners which last a lot longer.
@ ok, thanks. I appreciate the vid and your info. 👍
Hey Steve, awesome video. I have hydraulic tensioners. (2015 RK) The front one needs to be replaced. Could I get away with taking the cam plate off without taking off the chain and gears? Since I don't have to relieve any tension on the chain.
Thanks,
Eric
My 04 had screws for the cam plate behind the sprocket. It had to come off.
@@SteveOutdoors yeah I saw that after I took a closer look
I have a 2008 Heritage Classic
Isn't there a bushing behind the larger gear ??
All the bushings still looked in great shape. I'll change them all out in 30K-40K when I do this again. In fact I'll probably change it all out for hydraulic tensioners.
I need to do my 04 electra glide. Do you want to sell me the specialty tools? I'm in Phoenix.
Looks like a pain in the ass. LOL
It was definitely harder than an oil change.
Don't do what he did
What did he do?