Gear drive timing set

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Badart

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Has anyone used one of these yet? It is for a sb mopar. They are selling on ebay for $129. He told me he would sell me a noisy set for $120 shipped.

timing set.jpg
 
Nope, and I dont think I would. It's Milodon or Bust for me when I want one.
 
I've heard it's not a good idea to use gear drives on street engines. Something about the gears applying too much pressure against the front main bearing and possibly wiping it out. But if I were to go with a gear drive, I'd spend the 3 bills and go with the Milodon set-up too.

I wouldn't trust a $120 gear drive that could cause catastrofic damage if it went tits-up.... :angry7:
 
i agree milodon is tested and proven though these guys may have a good solid kit do you really want to take the chance in spending less now and always have the thought that its going to cost you way more in the long run if it goes south.
 
Another "bell on the cat" topic.
People are interested in the product, but noone wants to be the one to possibly get hurt.
We need more dirt trackers into Mopars, they aren't scared of NOTHING!

As far as wiping out main bearings, I'd say that's not a plausible defense to not trying it out, here's why:

'66 to '71 Mopar Big Block Industrial engines were gear-to-gear timed and never had issues.
These engines had TREMENDOUS crank loads, some were even actually driving accessories with the crank snout!
How many 240/300 Ford 6es ran multiple hundred thousand miles with no issues?
GM used gear-to-gear in the "Iron Duke" 151, also a long lived and durable little 4 cylinder.

Then there's the Cummins Turbodiesel and numerous other diesels out there, are they going to have main bearing failures?
These are all very durable and long-lived engines and, except for the Ford's poor rocker arm/stud design, quite stable.
These, except for the Industrial Mopar, are all engines that have been made with gear on gear timing for many years, most from original concept.

NONE of the engines above were ever prone to, or experienced, main bearing failures due to the timing components causing undue loading.

Ever broken, or seen broken, a timing chain on a smallblock Mopar? No?
Why on earth would you expect to break a gear drive?

Truth be known an idler gear, which the set-up above has, same principle as Milodon, actually REDUCES loading.

Mark.
 
I was just passing on here-say. Having solid examples of why they DO work, and not hurt, an engine is appreciated. Truth be known, I almost bought a gear drive for my car until I realized it was just for the "WOW" factor and not really needed.

Good points Mark, thank you. :thumrigh:
 
I have three small blocks with Milodon drives and have never had any issues. As for the "other" SB drives out there, ask reputable engine builders which one they would use. That should give you a better idea of what and what not to use.
 
A gear drive will probably actually put less load on the front main. Instead of the crank sprocket trying to "climb the chain" forcing the crank to the top of the bearing, the crank only has to turn an idler gear which is on it's own shaft to carry half of the sideways thrust. The loads will be trying to spit the idler gear out sideways. The idler will need a high capacity front bearing with a dedicated oil feed. The Milodon setup uses dual idler gears which use opposite thrust forces to balance, but neither has a direct oil feed.

The picture shows something that looks to be pattered after a Pete Jackson single idler setup for like a third of the price. Might be good, might fail and leave you with bent valves and a crankcase full of shrapnel. A $75 roller chain set will run for years and do everything the $120 gears will do except make a lot of noise. Why would you want a lot of noise? It's either going to sound like a worn out timing set (hacker) or the blower you don't have (poser). The factory used chains for a reason, they're cheap and they work.
 
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