I don't think you can go wrong with S&S Premium. I wish I could talk you into an aftermarket cam, too! Just because i know you would love it.

EDIT: I see "Precision" and "Premium" I thought they were the same, but the description says they replace Premium, anyway, I have these https://www.fuelmotousa.com/i-238968...lwaukee-8.html

 

I by far am no expert either but just to play devil's advocate for a moment, could a small amount of rotation from the plastic cuffs possibly cause the lifter to fail? Thinking about it from a layman's pov it seems like enough of angle on the roller would cause it to fail or at least rotate further. Like I say don't know either way. Just had that though and figured I'd throw it out there.

 

No, I did not change the cuffs. They’re not the cause of lifter failure IMO.
If a lifter starts to fail and an aluminum cuff keep it from spinning, it’s still going to fail eventually as no one is checking the condition of their lifters regularly.
I’m going to open another can of worms and say heat and oil break down are why lifters fail. Extreme heat is why the metal starts to flake off of the cam or lifter rollers when the oil viscosity deteriorates allowing parts to touch. It all goes south from there. Use the highest quality oil with the highest thermal properties and stop worrying about lifter cuffs.

 

trust me , I don’t worry about anything. Like I said I was just curious. Good luck with your build .

 

I asked Jim (Max Cell cams) who did my fitted pistons if I can keep the stock cuffs, he said because of the .550 lift cam I used, to change the cuffs.

 

Sucks that it blew up and hope you get it back soon.

Lots of engines use plastic cuffs. Ford/International diesels are a great example. I've seen tons of lifter failures but it always seems to be the roller seizing or dropping needle bearings. When the roller stops turning it no longer matters what direction the lifters are facing, you're getting lots of metal where it doesn't belong

 

I think we can all Agee that HD lifters are problematic. Meaning it’s no surprise when they fail prematurely or go on for many miles. Last I knew they were still coming from Mexico. I have always replaced any part on any of my Harley’s that is questionable. If it’s a waist of money, I don’t give a rats a$$

 

I would have done the same with that much lift and the spring pressure required. I try to tell myself it shouldn’t be necessary as they should never touch but when you build big, every ounce of prevention helps.

 

so 485 is good for stock cuffs in a 128 fuel moto build but 550 in a 131 replace? Come on.

 

I’m running stock heads and stock valve springs. Diameter of the pistons doesn’t effect valve spring pressure.
A stock M8 has 10.5 compression, I’m only at 10.75. I went with the 485 as I’m not using my Ultra as a bar hopper, it’s our low rpm cruiser at that’s how I built it. If I were to build a high horsepower M8, the crank would come out and go to Darkhorse and come back trued, welded and balanced. Yes, I would use S&S lifter cuffs in that scenario plus their oil pump.

If my reasoning doesn’t make sense to you, I don’t care. My bike, my build, my money but there was some thought that went into it. This is only my opinion that I’m sharing but I would like someone to show me a stock lifter cuff that actually broke while using stock M8 heads and springs. A spun, chewed up lifter in a stock cuff from one engine out of tens of thousands sold doesn’t send me off the deep end.

I will say this, if I did not have the knowledge to build my own engines and understand the mechanics for the operations of it, I would not hesitate to tell the builder to install the $60 cuffs but that’s not the point of whether they’re necessary or not.