Is a true roller chain suppose to have a little slack in it ?

302efi

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Mar 16, 2003

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Sunny Florida

Jun 17, 2004

#1

• Jun 17, 2004

• #1

I'm doing a cam swap for a friend and he has a Ture roller timing set on the car. He has had it on there for about 1000 miles or so.Today when I when to put the timing chain back on the car I noticed that it has a little slack in it ???

This is a quote from a website: "The roller chains are lightweight for lower operating tension and less wear"

Should the chain have some slack in it ???

 

EMW150

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May 22, 2000

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Roaring Spring,PA

Jun 17, 2004

#2

• Jun 17, 2004

• #2

They all do stretch a little so yes it's normal.

 

302efi

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Mar 16, 2003

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Sunny Florida

Jun 17, 2004

#3

• Jun 17, 2004

• #3

After 1000 miles ? I know that the True roller sets are pretty expensive, so I was thinking that it wouldnt stretch that fast ? So I guess the true rollers are built with a little more slack in them as opposed to a double or single roller so the the true roller can have lower operating tension ?

 

EMW150

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May 22, 2000

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Roaring Spring,PA

Jun 17, 2004

#4

• Jun 17, 2004

• #4

302efi said:

After 1000 miles ? I know that the True roller sets are pretty expensive, so I was thinking that it wouldnt stretch that fast ? So I guess the true rollers are built with a little more slack in them as opposed to a double or single roller so the the true roller can have lower operating tension ?

Click to expand...

They'll stretch the most during the first heat cycle of the engine and then level off. When you install them they're tight but as the engine heats up, things expand and the chain has to stretch a bit. If it was possible to check it when the engine is hot you probably wouldn't see quite as much slack but there has to be some unfortunately.

 

90mustangGT

I felt sorry for girls because

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Jan 15, 2002

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Dallas, GA

Jun 17, 2004

#5

• Jun 17, 2004

• #5

There is supposed to be a little slack, mine does, but it's nothing like the stock 135K+ chain it replaced.

 

302efi

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Mar 16, 2003

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Sunny Florida

Jun 17, 2004

#6

• Jun 17, 2004

• #6

Alright guys, I'm going to pit it back together with the same set/cover. BTW the timing set is a Rollmaster, so I was a little confused about the stretch.

Thanks guys!!!

 

bmo37

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Jun 27, 2001

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New Jersey

Jun 17, 2004

#7

• Jun 17, 2004

• #7

get a haynes or chilton manual and there is a spec in there for chain deflection.

 

88stangmangt

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Nov 25, 2003

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Stafford,VA

Jun 17, 2004

#8

• Jun 17, 2004

• #8

bmo37 said:

get a haynes or chilton manual and there is a spec in there for chain deflection.

Click to expand...

where do you get em i cant find any???

 

bmo37

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Jun 17, 2004

#9

• Jun 17, 2004

• #9

hmm think I bought one from pepboys and the other from strauss discount auto. If you still can't find them checkout ebay, type in chilton mustang and you'll see them for like anywhere from 3-12 bux Basically if you have more than 1/2" of deflection in the chain than you need to replace it.