Gear drives(GOOD or BAD)

[MiMAX]

I am wondering wheather to install a gear drive in my 64 Dodge Polara 500max wedge. I have heard bad reports on mopar with gear drives,but have NOT know anyone directly that has had a bad experience with one. Hoping someone will shed some lite on this subject. Thanks MiMax PS Love the sound.

[sanborn]

I have been using gear drives on various race engines for the past 25 years---without any problems.

But, gear drives arn't for everyone. They are noisy, need some lubrication and MUST be installed correctly. For serious race engines, I think they are the only way to go! I prefer Milidon drives- we are using one Milidon drive system over 15 years old. I sold a Keith Black gear drive system last year that was 25 years old- and it was OK, just had some wear.

A chain(or belt) will work well for their intended application as well. If you want something easy to install, don't have excessive spring pressure, are primarily street driven(or drag strip use), chains work well.

But, if you are using 700+ lbs. of spring pressure, up/down the RPM range or turing high RPM(8000+) all the time, I would use a gear drive system.

[pishta]

I like the gear, I have seen many chains sloppy after only a few thousand miles. Matter of fact, I have never torn down a motor that didnt have a chain that would not yeild at least 1 inch sag when held sideways. Gears, like a PJ or a Miloden are very tight in the clearances so you have to set them up right or youll end up heating them up until they turn blue and making them very brittle. they also transfer harmonics to the cam. I got no idea what this would cause but it is an issue on 500 lap races. Gotta love the sound, people know something is up when they hear the whine of a gear drive. Also the gear makes the timing marks rock steady under a gun. that has to be better than the small variations you see with a chain whipping around in there. Durability? Industrial 413 motors used a 2 cog gear drive with a reverse rotation cam and they are still pumping swamps in the south.

[DartGT66]

If you go with a gear drive, invest to a good one. I would not install a cheap dual idler gear drive; I have installed three of them and one of them is still in use, two has broken. If you don't have money for a fixed idler gear drive, go with a good quality chain, one like Rollmaster, instead. The dual idler is easy to install, but it works just like a sloppy chain; The chain is tight because the crank pulls the cam, the slack is on the other side. Dual idler works just the same; if you rotate the engine counterclockwise there is a bigger slack than even with a loose chain, and you may actually have problems with valve to piston clearances when turning the engine counterclockwise. We have had one P&J go bad after five years of stret & strip use; The shafts or the middle plates holes wore out so much, that hte idler gears teeth started trying to climb on the cam gears. We noticed that one before too late, and replaced it with a chain. An Edelbrock dual idler unit broke a couple of years ago after less than one year of use, lost it's teeth and the vales hit pistons etc. Meanwhile, the single idler milodon has been going strong for over ten years and is still in use. While the noice is cool for a moment, I didn't like it a lot after a couple of years. That's why I went with a Jesel instead in my driver.

[Dart 65]

I'd like to run one, too. As for the sound, I don't think a ricer would know the difference between the sounds that a gear drive, a timing chain, or his boyfriend's ass makes.

[Dick]

Originally Posted by Dart 65

I'd like to run one, too. As for the sound, I don't think a ricer would know the difference between the sounds that a gear drive, a timing chain, or his boyfriend's ass makes.

Dart, you do have a way with words...................

[Rust collector]

[Dart 65]

Who, little old me?