| There has always been a great amount of interest
regarding the application of hydraulic lifters with performance camshafts.
On H/D engines, this attention relates to Twin 88s, EV80 big twins and
Sportsters (1991 and later) since all of these engines now use hydraulic
lifters as stock components.
Because we hear so many questions about whether to use
"solids" or "hydraulics" we felt that some discussion might help in deciding
when one type of lifter or the other would be the best for specific
applications. Each type of lifter design has distinct advantages.
First, all Andrews Products H/D camshafts will operate
properly with hydraulic lifters if the engine and heads are set up
correctly.
If hydraulic lifters are installed and correctly adjusted,
they have some definite advantages:
- Quiet operation
- Long time service intervals
- No loss of lift and duration from heat expansion
For hydraulic lifters to operate properly in your engine,
the most important point to consider at the time of installation is to make
sure that the oil feed holes in the lifter blocks are in position to feed
oil to the lifters when the cam is positioned at the lowest lift point. For
this to occur with high lift cams, it may be necessary to modify the lifter
blocks or lifters so oil can flow into the feed hole on the tappet body.
However, solid lifters real advantage relates to all out
racing. For anything else including all kinds of street riding, we recommend
that hydraulic lifters be used.
For all out dragsters, a properly designed cam
with solid lifters will be the best choice. But for most street bikes, the
idea of low maintenance hydraulic lifters is pretty attractive. New H/D
hydraulic lifters work so well that unless you really need 6500+ RPM, don't
bother with solid lifters on a street bike. Hydraulic lifters are a little
harder to install and adjust, but you will end up with a quieter engine that
needs less servicing.
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