was always curious why they quit using the timken bearing in the motor after 2002? was it just being there greedy usual ornery bs or so robots could assemble the motors? doesn't make sense.

 

To keep their manufacturing costs down. That's what I heard.

 

They went from a Timken crowded bearing, meaning the rollers rub against each other, to a caged one, where the rollers are kept apart. Theoretically a good move, as caged races are supposed to be superior and can also be run at higher revs. But they got bitten for some reason! Must be poor quality in the replacements. It is easy to say they did it to save money, which may be true.

 

So they could sell you a Timken kit to install if you build the motor?

Lower mfg. costs is also my guess. It would seem cheaper to bore a hole than to machine in a precision angle to a precise depth.

 

I was talking to a Timken Rep. last year about this, and he said it all came down to money. HD wanted the Timken bearings for next to nothing, and Timken refused to give them away............so they parted ways.

Steve

 

I didn't know that Timkin rollers rub each other to point of causing a sore spot (hot spot). I always heard that they are superior to cages and gear cam kits use them too.

 

It was probably the cost. Timken Bearings are high quality bearings. We use a lot of their needle bearings in special aps.

 

Because they turned into a bunch of cheap bastards. It came down to continue making a stout bottom end or make a little more money. Same thing happened to the crankshafts. Compare an older 02 crank to a new one. They look a lot different.

 

Yep, and now their stock seats are getting crappier and they went from the dual exhausts down to one pipe. Of course the price hasn't come down and everything they do seems to be getting worse instead of better. For those prices they should be putting out a true quality product from the get go and we shouldn't have to keep putting a grand in just to get it where it should be. yea, like this hasn't been said before : )))

 

Its more a matter of assembly line proceedure than actual costs. It takes much longer to set precision end play than it does to stab a shft through a hole. Same reason for the chain drive cams as opposed to the gear drive set up from past motors. When production numbers go up in any manufacturing facility you have to find ways to do it quicker!