HarleyTechTalk

To make a long story short and a lot money wasted, I'm having to rebuild...AGAIN.  Started with a 2000 Road Glide that I built to a 107, after multiple issues the stock crank let go.  Then I went with the 117 build with SE forged 4 3/8 crank (not plugged or welded) and guess what, yep, it let go as well.
So now that I have to do it all over again, should I consider going to a 124?  Are they any more reliable than the 117 build?  Does the change in the crank put less side load on the piston?  How much shorter is the piston skirt?  What are the main pitfalls of going to a 124 vrs staying at 117?  Thanks...

Why not just fix the crank and put it back together and ride it??? Seems like a wast if you were happy with the 117"

From what I've been able to gather, a new crank is only a couple hundred more than having mine rebuilt, trued, balanced, pinned/welded, new rods (Hoban).  Of course I would have to buy new cylinders and pistons if I went with the 124.  Just wondering since I have this thing completely tore down...is there a mechcanical advantage in going from 4 3/8 to 4 5/8 (7.667)

Well mine had .019 run out and sent to Falicon cranks and they charged me 150.00 to true and weld it got it back to just over .001 and have not had any problems with it. you might want to check them out. As far as the 4 3/8 and 4 5/8 I don't think I would spend the $$$

150.00 plus a new set of rings and go ride it. but that's ....JMO  Good luck on what ever way you go.





http://www.faliconcranks.com/

absoluty just send yours to get fixed. cheaper then a new one. 

Go 124.. The problem is your crank not the cubic inches. It costs the same to build either one. I went S&S with case work by Axtel..and iron lined cylinders and total seal second ring. Best setup I ever put together in 2 cylinders. I cant say enough good stuff about them. Dark horse is good and so is falicon for the cranks. If you are worried about rod/piston angle go with the longer rod. Once yoy do the crank right it makes no diffrence.

You are not the first person to have issues with the SE cranks ( Jim's) we got burnt as well. At this point I am paying to have a customers crank ( Jim's)  re done at Hobans. In the last several months issues with Jim's/ S&S have popped up??? Unsure as to why but it really does not matter. The warranty they offer is not worth much. Send it back they tell you that it is within specs ( there specs) so why bother ( that was a JIMS crank that time) . Lesson learned on our end. Sad that large company's like those two are not building the quality as they did in the past.  We had NIB S&S get dropped shipped to hobans about 6 weeks ago..... it needed a +2 pin to have the correct clearance on the rod pin/ rod bearing.  Spoke to S&S about this , " we have to look into that"  well never heard back, guess they did not look very hard. Several other large shops have run into the same issues.

JIM'S 4.625" stroker cranks are 4-6 weeks out if that, as of today.
S&S has 'em on the shelf. .002" over the high limit should be almost audible prior to install, but certainly should be able to be felt.
If in fact an outfit like S&S, or JIM'S, or whoever, tried to pull our pants down, I'd get to the bottom of that, double-quick, and you can take that to the bank.
We do not tolerate that type of activity here, and would simply not be ordering from them anymore, just for starters.
Scott

GMR-I hear yeah...by the way, you are going above and beyond taking care of your customer.  Who would have thought the cranks coming from these guys wouldn't hold up? No one did at the time.  Now we're learning that they don't.
Do I hot-rod my ride? Sometimes, but enough for these parts to be coming apart? NO!!!
This time it's gotta be right, so I guess I have to start with a Hoban/Darkhorse crank and forget the rest. It's just more money right? Ouch...

I was trying to scan the letter I got back from Jim's, but having issues with that.  In a nutshell a rather nice letter stating that there is nothing wrong.

I bought this crank direct from axtell along with the 124 cylinder kit.  Chaz and Ron are great to deal with. i sent the cylinders and pistons back to them. We had already checked them and found that they had collapsed. Axtell could find nothing wrong with the cylinders ( we found that as well) Engine had 1800 miles on it,  Jim's replied back with this .

" Jim's has agreed to accept the crank back for inspection even though it was not purchased direct from Jim's.
Inspection of crank at Jim's showed all areas of crank , end play, run out fell within JIMS specs. ( they did not take the crank apart)
Jim's is returning crank to GMR as we are unable to determine any manufactures defects to be present."

Hoban's found that we had a bad rod bearing and that the fit was on the loose side.  I bought new pistons, rings, gasket and paid to have that crank repaired along with all of the labor.

That was in march of this year when we did that work.  Since then we send all of them to Hobans. An engine that we did in Jan is the crank that is on its way to Hobans now.  Like I said learning lesson. Jumping up and down, telling them you will not buy the product means what to them?? Nothing at all.


The BS about not buying it direct?? they where out of stock , axtell had a NIB , axtell does not warranty JIMS cranks so what else are we to do, but send it back to them. 

End of the day it sucks, nothing I can do about it.

Hillside & GMR:  With all the builds you guys do, do you have a preference between these two builds?

I posted up a 117 dyno sheet of one that we built, and dynoed in house. That gives you an idea of the huge tq you can have on a mild set up.

Over all you have a workable crank use it, 124 will build more power but a stout 117 is a great running engine.  The 124 has a much shorter piston skirt , along with a higher piston speed,  in the end it would come down to what you are looking for as hp/tq numbers.  There are pros / cons for everything as you already know.

Quote from: GMR-PERFORMANCE on November 20, 2008, 09:31:42 AM
You are not the first person to have issues with the SE cranks ( Jim's) we got burnt as well. At this point I am paying to have a customers crank ( Jim's)  re done at Hobans.

ummm........Steve, glad to see you are making good on a bad part and taking care of a customer........

Hey Steve you forgot to add that you told the customer it would be ok to run the crank that way...
he didnt want to void the warranty..
it seems that some one else is always payin for your learning lessons.