I bought a 1999 FXDX with only 4900 miles on it last year. The original owner passed away and his daughter was selling it. Unfortunately no history with paperwork for work done.

Rode it a year and it now has 10k miles on it. It has been a blast but I have been wanting to take a peek at the cam chest since I know the early TC88 and especially the 1999 are prone to tensioner failure and cam bearing issues.

Both tensioners appear to be in good shape. Some minor pitting seen on the outer tensioner pad but overall looking good.

Pleasantly surprised to see an Andrews cam sprocket. Now, I'm not sure if the cams are stock but I know Andrews sold the updated cam sprocket for the 1999 that had the splines part #288015. I don't see any other numbers so they may just be stock cams with the updated sprocket.

I was also able to barely see B-148 stamped on the very outer race on the inner cam bearings. Great to see that. Someone was obviously in the cam chest before.

I am unable to see if the left cam outer cam bearing is the problematic ball bearing or if it was updated to roller. I am going to *assume* seeing the B-148 inner bearings and updated Andrews sprocket that the outer left bearing was updated.

I also saw some yellow markings "G 10/23" on the inside.... maybe from the person who did the updates.

Safe to say I can put the cover back on and motor along another 10k miles before another inspection?

This will be a long term motorcycle for me. My plan was to ride it as-is until about 30k and then do a 95" upgrade with gear drive cams, updated oil pump, new lifters etc.

 

Those shoes appear stock to me, On my '02 FXDL, (purchased Sept '21 at 22,000 miles,) my shoes were also in good condition but I inspect the shoes every 5,000 (during the service that's due at the same time.)
(FWIW, my '00 Road Glide's tensioner shoes made it to 83,000 before I finally had to go with gear drive cams.)
On my Dyna, being the 'local' bike, I'll address the tensioners only if they need it (Currently at 27000 miles.)

 

JMHO but the longevity of the OEM tensioners is a crap shoot. At 12K miles on my '05 FXSTD the outer was worn down to the metal carrier; caught it just before what very likely would have been a catastrophic failure. At 25K miles on my '02 FLHT, both were worn well past the 50% limit and the outer was cracked. It doesn't cost much to replace them with a set of CYCOs. If the OP chooses to run them for another 20K miles, Stiggy's advice of checking every 5K miles should be considered; JMHO.

 

CYCOs was the only route I was considering. I don't really want to update the cam plate, oil pump etc etc unless I am doing a 95" kit. I feel a bit at ease seeing the Torrington bearings.

I will check them every 5k. Very easy to do as I learned today.

 

It's your bike and your decision of course, but those pits in the tensioner shoe means pieces of plastic are now somewhere else in your engine. Sometimes harmless, in some cases blocking an oil passage.

Me personally would not drive one more meter with those tensioner.

You have a 99, go gear drive

 

How do you know it's an andrews spline spur gear? Andrews also made a gear with a hardened key for the 99s. In order to go to splines the rear cam would have to be changed.

If going to a later cam plate, you'll have to plug a hole in the back of the plate that is used for counter ballancer tensioners on the softails.. Later rubber mounts have a boss with an O ring.

Tensioner would another 10K easy but I'd check to make sure that the rear bearing is roller. You might be able to look between the cam plate and the sprocket to see the outer washer. With the rear cylinder on TDC comp, the cam should slide in and out a bit..

 

Ah I did not know Andrews also made a hardened key sprocket I only see splined ones in the *current* catalog so thank you for that knowledge.

With that said then yes I do not know if it is just a hardened key sprocket or upgraded cams (I don't see any other markings).

I tried looking thoroughly for signs of a roller bearing. I will try the TDC trick.