Roller Rocker arms hitting valve springs

[SP33DY]

So is putting a relief in the rocker out of the question ?
Just a thought.Might be a stupid idea,then maybe not. 
        Coff  06     

No, it's not out of the question. It's been done often, and usually successfully. A clean smooth radius is necessary. It's a balance of not removing too much material and having an adequate radius.

[RomeoTango]

Spoke to my builder who said the springs were an SE heavy part. I found an older catalog online that listed them as SE Race, double wound, supporting .660 lift.

Managed to speak to Vulcan and S&S the last couple days.

Vulcan had never heard of this fitment issue. Could not really speculate on the issue, but did say that their plate at one point was contracted to HD as an SE part (anodized gold and all). At some later point they ended the contract. So the Vulcan piece is fine.

Talking to S&S today. Speculation is that the SE springs and collars are wide/big. Interferes with the action of the arm. Some additional conversation of protrusion, etc (that has been mentioned here) - but the bottom line is the size of the springs. Beehives would likely solve, or just use the stock arms. Seemed to have no issue or concern with using the stock arms with the .630 lift. Good conversation.

So I believe I will go the route of using the stock arms with the Vulcan plate. I'll need to set them up to be sure all fits well.

[FLDavetrain]

Seemed to have no issue or concern with using the stock arms with the .630 lift. Good conversation.

So I believe I will go the route of using the stock arms with the Vulcan plate. I'll need to set them up to be sure all fits well.

I've done same set up on a bike with.630 lift, no issue at all

[Deye76]

Those SE springs are overkill, the source of noise for many, myself included. As WFO Larry pointed out, changing the springs makes perfect sense.

[RomeoTango]

Any recommendations for springs in the event I go that direction?

I mocked up the stock rockers and billet plates this evening against the fitment of stock plates - all seems fine.

A new noticed issue is some pitting on two rocker arm contact surfaces, and on two arms the rocker bushings look very...dirty/gray. I cleaned with brake clean to no affect. Seems my luck continues to wane.

If replacing rockers, are the S&S regular, non-roller forged the same as stock (exact same arm shapes)? I've called my local HD dealer only to be told the stock arms are on back order until the end of September. Next dealers are 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours away. I'll call and make the drive if they have, but I might guess this is not an item they carry on the shelves. I've also seen Drag Specialties and a couple others offer replacement arms, but know nothing about these (manufacturer, quality).

[Deye76]

"Any recommendations for springs in the event I go that direction?"

WFO Larry
John Sachs.

[JSD]

I would change out to beehives mine are CompCams but plenty to chose from. Also i like Rollers on lift more than .585"

[Hilly13]

I live by the motto of modify adapt and overcome, bearing blue and a smallish, sharp single cut half round file will get you your clearance, nice smooth curves, as long as you are not removing bulk material they will be fine(cover the roller each filing session so you don't inadvertently clip it with the file and no filings get in there), think of it as fine tuning.....beehives would work but you can't just chuck them in there, measurements need to be made because you don't know what you have there.

[jsachs1]

"Any recommendations for springs in the event I go that direction?"

WFO Larry
John Sachs.

I use AV&V 90 % of the time. 1.350" OD retainer steel.
                                                 1.365" OD retainer titanium.
Retainers sit pretty high on the AV&V spring, (less valve tip protrusion).
I don't have any Kibblewhites in the shop currently. I know that with the Kibblewhite springs, there is more valve tip protrusion.
Also, if you have to grind the lower rocker box for valve spring retainer clearance, can be another tell tale sign that you may have a retainer, or installed height problem/issue.
John

[Ohio HD]

I tried to get a good clean photo of the two rocker arms, R&R and S&S. This is the best I can do without a better way to fixture the two together. It appears that the R&R (front arm) has a very slight amount of clearance that the S&S doesn't have. You can see a slight image under the arms curve, that's the S&S rocker arm.

I guess the best way to check these is to mount them on a head, the same head and same valve spring. Then try to measure any clearance difference with a feeler gauge or wire.


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[RomeoTango]

Thanks Ohio. Seems they are close enough that I would expect R&R to interfere the same.

At this point I'll stay with stock arms. I'd rather not have the bike down any further or go through the expense of new springs (labor and time mostly), and running stock arms seems suitable enough (opinions seem to be split 50/50).

Although, a couple of the bearings on my OEM don't look healthy to me. Not sure about bearing replacement - so I've ordered a set of S&S Standard rocker arms and a set of OEM replacement from Drag Specialties (Harley on backorder). One of those sets will hopefully work out, the other will go back.

[Ohio HD]

You'll be fine with stock rocker arms with 0.630" lift. Keep in mind that the 120r comes with standard Twin Cam rocker arms and it has 0.658" lift with heavy duty springs. 

[jsachs1]

S&S has a titanium retainer, for their springs, that slopes down from the keeper groove to the OD of the spring. It's width is 1.425".
 Did you ever check valve protrusion?    If not, are your rocker tips hitting the center of the valve stem ?
John

[RomeoTango]

Team HTT - greatly appreciate all! As it goes, I'm headed out on planned vacation this week. Ordered rockers are inbound, so I'll get back on this once I return. Of course, rockers arrive the day I depart...

[RomeoTango]

Quick wrap up. Ended using S&S standard rocker arms with the billet supports. They cleared the valve springs. The stock replacements from Drag Specialties looked only ok. The S&S pieces looked much better made.