Timing chain set

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Let me ask this, then. The one I have is the Cloyes make, which is pretty much the only one I see being sold. Mopar might have one, but it woulda taken more searching than I did.

Looking at the plastic...it just looks cheap. My presumption is the Chrysler produced (OEM) plastic might have been better. Yes or no?

I know what you are saying regarding the speed change, but to be picky, it's only when there is a slow down in engine speed, not an increase, that the cam retards. I don't think that's a good thing, but I'm not so sure it a bad thing either. If an engine were super-tight on piston-valve clearance it could cause trouble, but otherwise it might just be one of those things that isn't theoretically perfect but doesn't seem to show much actual effect.
 
gregcon said:
Let me ask this, then. The one I have is the Cloyes make, which is pretty much the only one I see being sold. Mopar might have one, but it woulda taken more searching than I did.

Looking at the plastic...it just looks cheap. My presumption is the Chrysler produced (OEM) plastic might have been better. Yes or no?

I know what you are saying regarding the speed change, but to be picky, it's only when there is a slow down in engine speed, not an increase, that the cam retards. I don't think that's a good thing, but I'm not so sure it a bad thing either. If an engine were super-tight on piston-valve clearance it could cause trouble, but otherwise it might just be one of those things that isn't theoretically perfect but doesn't seem to show much actual effect.
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Yeah, you’re right. It’s when the engine slows down. So any time you decelerate or if you have a stick every time you shift...like that.

I hate things moving like that. Drives me nuts. That’s why I don’t run chains. I try to get anything I build to not use a chain, but some never get past the fact they’ve been using chains for decades.

IIRC, that plastic they use is UHMW and it’s tough. The harder it gets worked they tougher it gets.
 
Rock auto has the Cloyes tensioner for $25, and also now a Melling brand for $30. Both are good brands, just whatever your into.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Funny you bring that up. I've torn down both 3.9 V6s with factory double rollers WITH tensioners and a few cop car 318s with the same.
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And my 96 3.9 had no indication it had ever been apart before. No tensioner. What do you think?
 
Just my experience but I have used allot of diifferent chains and other than rollmaster and the hughes brand they all seem to be a mixture of the same parts. Last I head from the parts store guy most if not all are cloyes. I also have done allot of upgrade work to several engines with extremely low miles in the past few years (mostly mopar small blocks) and all the chains had more slack than acceptable, I don't know what the hell they are using for materials but it sucks. The only one that did not was a rollmaster I and I cannot say for sure about the hughes because it has not been apart.
 
I will say, when I bought my ramcharger eith 104,000 miles, I replaced the timing chain with one of the cheaper cloyes roller chain and put a tensioner on it as well. I had to change the timing cover some 8 months later and the tensioner was all chewed up from the roller links. Maybe 8,000 miles. I took it off. Now, I still use a tensioner but I make sure the back of the chain is flat where it rides against the plastic rubbing block.
 
How do you make sure the back of the chain is flat?
 
gregcon said:
How do you make sure the back of the chain is flat?
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The type, brand and style of chain. The type of links the chain has. You can look at the pictures of chains on rockauto.com and see the difference
 
gliderider06 said:
The type, brand and style of chain. The type of links the chain has. You can look at the pictures of chains on rockauto.com and see the difference
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I would recommend a tensioner for a standard chain and suggest the set with a metal cam gear. That's what my Dakota had in it in the video above.
 
So you mean a link type chain and not a roller type?

I think it's worth noting...chains don't really stretch. Rather, they 'seat in'. In other words, the metal isn't stretching...it's more a case of each of the hundreds of joints finding their final resting place relative to the others.

I coulda sworn the better chains were 'pre-stretched', meaning they were run under some tension to help accelerate that seating process.

Let's suppose you could take a 'stretched' chain off an engine with 20,000 miles on it. Then, reinstall it with slightly larger OD gears that used up the added length.....you'd have a tight chain again and I don't think it would keep 'stretching'.
 
gregcon said:
So you mean a link type chain and not a roller type?

I think it's worth noting...chains don't really stretch. Rather, they 'seat in'. In other words, the metal isn't stretching...it's more a case of each of the hundreds of joints finding their final resting place relative to the others.

I coulda sworn the better chains were 'pre-stretched', meaning they were run under some tension to help accelerate that seating process.

Let's suppose you could take a 'stretched' chain off an engine with 20,000 miles on it. Then, reinstall it with slightly larger OD gears that used up the added length.....you'd have a tight chain again and I don't think it would keep 'stretching'.
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Some of the slop comes from gear wear. I tried pre-stretched chains on my motorcycles and didn’t see any difference.

If you kept them very clean and lubed the chains would last better. But the chain wheels (sprockets) will wear no matter what you do. I’ve seen guys throw a new chain on old sprockets and on a 40 mile ride we would have to stop and tighten the chain several times.

By the time you’re back to the truck, the new chain was junk.

I hate chain drive anything, but at times it’s a necessary evil.
 
So how noisy are the gear drives sold?

I've seen some nice looking Australian-made belt setups lately...
 
gregcon said:
So you mean a link type chain and not a roller type?

I think it's worth noting...chains don't really stretch. Rather, they 'seat in'. In other words, the metal isn't stretching...it's more a case of each of the hundreds of joints finding their final resting place relative to the others.

I coulda sworn the better chains were 'pre-stretched', meaning they were run under some tension to help accelerate that seating process.

Let's suppose you could take a 'stretched' chain off an engine with 20,000 miles on it. Then, reinstall it with slightly larger OD gears that used up the added length.....you'd have a tight chain again and I don't think it would keep 'stretching'.
Click to expand...

I just cannot agree there. I've seen double roller chains with steel gears so loose, I could have gotten a prybar and pryed them off easily. That's a lot more than "seated in".
 
lead69 said:
Just my experience but I have used allot of diifferent chains and other than rollmaster and the hughes brand they all seem to be a mixture of the same parts. Last I head from the parts store guy most if not all are cloyes. I also have done allot of upgrade work to several engines with extremely low miles in the past few years (mostly mopar small blocks) and all the chains had more slack than acceptable, I don't know what the hell they are using for materials but it sucks. The only one that did not was a rollmaster I and I cannot say for sure about the hughes because it has not been apart.
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I have had good luck w/ rollmaster too-------
 
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