V-Twin Forum banner

Crankshaft Problems - How Many ??

13K views 31 replies 27 participants last post by  ktwillys 
#1 ·
I have looked at every board I can find to get info on the problems with
the Cranks - scissoring and run-out issues.

I have spoken to dealers and never seem to get a straight answer. They
just say, some do and some don't. Does the factory have a fix for this
issue?? Got to be costing them a bunch in warranty !!!!!

My question is, I am thinking of building the top end of my 07 this
winter. Nothing exotic, just the standard 103 build, with heads and cams.
Looking for the 107-110 hp area. Will I be driving around with the "pucker"
factor, waiting for this thing to puke?

I am just looking for some good info, to give me in-site if I will be throwing
good money after bad :hmmm:

Thanks In Advance
Geezer-Very Confused :hmmm:
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Well i have a 2003 FLHTI, and my crankshaft had .020 runout. I developed a oil sumping problem after my build. My builder is a stand up guy and tore the engine back down and sent the crankshaft out to be trued and welded. I think we are going to be hearing alot more about crankshat runout after these high torque and HP builds get on the street next spring. all i would suggest is, If you have your cases split for the timken conversion, have the crankshaft trued and welded. A little extra spent during that time can save you alot of cash and down time later.




Ride Safe
 
#3 ·
keithb505 said:
A little extra spent can save you alot of cash and down time later.

@gree: you can save money and time doing it right the first time, rather than repairing it the second time.



{salute( :spank: {salute(
 
#4 ·
keithb505 said:
Well i have a 2003 FLHTI, and my crankshaft had .020 runout. I developed a oil sumping problem after my build. My builder is a stand up guy and tore the engine back down and sent the crankshaft out to be trued and welded. I think we are going to be hearing alot more about crankshat runout after these high torque and HP builds get on the street next spring. all i would suggest is, If you have your cases split for the timken conversion, have the crankshaft trued and welded. A little extra spent during that time can save you alot of cash and down time later.




Ride Safe
exact same issue with my 03 FLSTFI after it was built. If you are near or over 100/100, it is a crap shoot as to how long it will hold together. If I had it to do over I would have checked the crank and had the Timken done first, and saved the pump, camplate, etc. along with hours of cleaning out metal fragments.
 
#6 ·
Cranks

The problem is also that even untouched OE bikes, are experiencing issues with owners, jumping on the binders too hard in 6th gear, and it pulls on the sprocket shaft so hard that they will shift the wheels on the pin. Never had that problem with an Evo or Shovel. You could pour the coals to one of those builds and the cranks never acted up. We did, although, used to weld the crank on our racer, but that was in a different environment altogather.
 
#7 ·
Just out of curiosity, I thought those bearings were only rated for a max of 100hp by Harley. Anyone know if thats true or not?

Really sucks how the quality has gone down but the price keeps going up. Im just going to drive mine till it takes a dump, then fix it to last a lifetime.
 
#8 ·
We have 3 in our shop right now with excessive runout. One is an S&S 106 that had .048 runout along with a shattered oil pump gear. Another is a Zippers supplied 120" with .0065 runout (gear drive cams so it was REAL noisey). Third one is a 2007 103" with just over .010. We always check them without the cam cover.
If I was building one for myself with over 100 hp, it would have a welded crank. Hard to convince many customers of that until they experience it for themselves. It's a lot cheaper to do it now than to have to tear it down when (not if) it happens. JMHO
 
#9 ·
It seems more widespread than postings.Some owners might not even realize an out of true set.Some have posted about oil puking out A/C,started out slightly,others have said it hurt to ride bike because vibration was so bad.These were the more severe cases.Acouple thousands out may never be felt by owner but oil pump will eventually show the signs.Sure HD shouldnt warrant bike beyond stock setup ut like was posted here it has happened to stock bikes.Dont see how HD will tackle these other than fixing the ones that have failed or are out of their new limits.
 
#10 ·
HAWGZILLA said:
If I was building one for myself with over 100 hp, it would have a welded crank. Hard to convince many customers of that until they experience it for themselves. It's a lot cheaper to do it now than to have to tear it down when (not if) it happens. JMHO
I agree! My build is over 100hp and I don't even worry about my crank and runout anymore because it is welded and timken bearing installed.

Regards,
NC
 
#11 ·
GPO03FatBoy said:
exact same issue with my 03 FLSTFI after it was built. If you are near or over 100/100, it is a crap shoot as to how long it will hold together. If I had it to do over I would have checked the crank and had the Timken done first, and saved the pump, camplate, etc. along with hours of cleaning out metal fragments.
Oh..crap!

If I take it apart..I gotta go BIGGER...crap.
 
#12 ·
vafatboy said:
Oh..crap!

If I take it apart..I gotta go BIGGER...crap.
oh c'mon! You know you want to go bigger!!!

Besides, by the time you get ready, I'll either have all the tools, or will have figured out a way to get things done...
 
#13 ·
GPO03FatBoy said:
exact same issue with my 03 FLSTFI after it was built. If you are near or over 100/100, it is a crap shoot as to how long it will hold together. If I had it to do over I would have checked the crank and had the Timken done first, and saved the pump, camplate, etc. along with hours of cleaning out metal fragments.
Same problem with my 05, 025 runout.
 
#18 ·
Onegeezer said:
I have looked at every board I can find to get info on the problems with
the Cranks - scissoring and run-out issues.

I have spoken to dealers and never seem to get a straight answer. They
just say, some do and some don't. Does the factory have a fix for this
issue?? Got to be costing them a bunch in warranty !!!!!

My question is, I am thinking of building the top end of my 07 this
winter. Nothing exotic, just the standard 103 build, with heads and cams.
Looking for the 107-110 hp area. Will I be driving around with the "pucker"
factor, waiting for this thing to puke?

I am just looking for some good info, to give me in-site if I will be throwing
good money after bad :hmmm:

Thanks In Advance
Geezer-Very Confused :hmmm:
I had a 103 build. 97 hp. 104 TQ. Sliped the crank at 2000 miles.
 
#19 ·
Onegeezer said:
My question is, I am thinking of building the top end of my 07 this
winter. Nothing exotic, just the standard 103 build, with heads and cams.
Looking for the 107-110 hp area. Will I be driving around with the "pucker"
factor, waiting for this thing to puke?

QUOTE]

My experience has shown me I wouldn't consider a future build without figuring in the crank work and the Timken upgrade. My "05" 98" build slipped the wheels and tore up my cam gear. .038" runout.

Maybe If I had taken it a little easier with the way I ride it wouldn't have happened.......but what fun would that be?

Rick​
 
#21 ·
skidmark316 said:
Where can I buy Falicon and Darkhorse stock? :wootdnc:

Darkhorse is Hoban Brothers in WI. Falicon is Falicon. Rev does them, too. I had my new 26000-00 set taken out of the box, tig welded in 4 places on each side of the pin and trued, lightened and balanced to a 57%factor. Ouch, lots of money in those wheels, but worth it. Lightening really does wonders for throttle response. I bent a crank with 105 hp and I always rpm match when down shifting and never torque the wheels with too much engine braking. Now that is not an issue, of course, I still try not to load the bottom by lugging or slamming downshifts. That is asking for trouble on a big build.
 
#22 ·
At about 26k miles, my 04 Softail had about .004-.005 runout measured at the cam plate. This prevented me from doing gear drive cams that I wanted to do at that time. 10k miles later, I've taken it to a local indie. He checked the runout at about .005 while in the case, and about .003 on the truing stand. But by now the cam plate bearing is worn out-of-round about .006, and is starting to show signs of scuffing from the oil pump. And the pump is also starting to show a bit of scuffing internally. Crank has been trued and welded, and the case half sent for Timkin conversion.

It was stated on another thread here, that the R&R cam plate could stabilize runout up to about .006, but I don't see how that would work. That steel flywheel shaft wobbling in my stock cam plate was tearing up the bushing pretty badly. Does that R&R cam plate have some kind of different bushing/bearing that can stand up to that kind of punishment?

-- gr8whyt
 
#25 ·
never torque the wheels with too much engine braking. Now that is not an issue, of course, I still try not to load the bottom by lugging or slamming downshifts

Words of wisdom and a lighter pocket book after a mistake I am sure.
Also as the CR rises this load increases dramatically. So those 11/1 builds full throttle assaults in low gear then compression braking, see you at the shop.
 
#26 ·
Yep, did a 103 build last winter, put 10k miles on it this summer and just pulled it down. Has .012 runout. HD initially set .010 as the upper limit. but I have heard they are now doing nothing until past .012.

New JIM's 4-5/8" crank and cases now at Darkhorse. At least I didn't break anything:thumbsdn:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top