Thread: Noisy gear drive etc?

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I don't see how the harmonics of a gear drive pounding on the rest of the valve train and rotating assembly could possibly be outweighed by the "cool" sound. I tend to leave the race only stuff to the race only engines. The thrill of a "cool whine" goes away after about the first 100 miles of a long trip !!! JMO

Ta for all the feedback guys on this Can "o" Worms.
Sounds like they sound like they may just be bit annoying
to bother with for any everyday driver with a long trip to our paintball field every weekend.
Whats the best chain setup then?
Cheers
Shane.
PS. Can I just turn up the stereo?

Shane, I'v e used the Cloyes double rollers for years, no complaints ever....

Just a few points to cover the above, remember the old ford sidevalves ? they used geardrives for their cams. The cam gear was either fiber or aluminium, and the crank gear was steel, but I could never remember seeing a steel cam gear. Was it because the gears were 2 dissimilar materials, they cut down on harmonics ?

Now just farst forward, GMH General Motors Holden did make a gearset driven cam in thier 6 cylinders. Called an L6, their capacitys for the later models were 179, 186 and 202. Same thing again they used either fiber or aluminium cam gears running against a steel crank gear, ever very rarely saw a steel one, and they were only in all out aftermarket HQ holden race motors. athey say it was done this way to cut down on harmonics and they also ran quiter.

Stovebolt sixes used fiber gears, and IHC trucks use cast ones. The "band-aid" aftermarket ones for Chevies are straight-cut, not helical like factory ones, and thats why they whine. Or squeal! I've made some good money pulling them out and replacing them with a good double roller setup. Like Dave says, it gets old pretty quick on a long trip.

As the Pope said, huge difference between helical cut gears and straight cut gears. Must admit for me this is a case of "been there, done that". Had a Big Block Ford with gear drive cam, 8-71 blower, and a quick change rear end!!!! Looked awesome, probably the most miserable thing I ever drove down the road in. The combination of harmonics and noise down the highway left you deaf and tingly for days afterwards!!!!!! Other than that it was a great car. (??????????)

i got in to this with john O last year and it is on this web. if you dig it up gear drive are junk that is it. they sell the hell out of them for guys that want a bad sounding engine and i do not mean in a good way and you are and you will put more harmonics in the engine and harmonics are not good belt or chain NO GEARS if you want to look at it is on chevy big block cast v forged crankshaft 454

So, after reading all of the posts about gear drives, it comes down to this: if you like them, use them; if you don't, then don't. It's a bit like drinking--just because I drink beer doesn't mean that your preference for drinking whiskey is bad. To each his own. That's my bit of pseudo-philosophy for the day. Cheers!

get a little "cheese to go with the whine" and dont worry about it.

I ran a Jackson unit in my 350 Monte Carlo back in the late 70's. It was cool sounding and performed great. I was a teenager.

Now no friggin' way I want that constant whine. Maybe in another 10 years though I won't be able to hear it anyway

Get a Cloyes Speed Set. I have heard that if you first bake them at 200 F in motor oil mixed with some moly lube they will last 'forever'. I never tried that and don't know the details .............

Good Luck, Kitz

Originally posted by lt1s10
get a little "cheese to go with the whine" and dont worry about it.

OH MY, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT.L.O.L.

Originally posted by erik erikson
OH MY, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT.L.O.L.

what you gonna say when everything else has been said. there is no one answer to that ? either one will do the job.

Originally posted by lt1s10
get a little "cheese to go with the whine" and dont worry about it.

yes drink some more if you think a gear drive are ok look at all the hi engines they all have them?? NO they do not why? they can and have shorten the life of the parts in the engines. i will not build a engine with one in it for NO one . an some of you think if it work that it is o k well that is bs here is why there are many thing that work to do a job but over time we find better ways to do it like the belt drive this works very good so years of work you have gone back in time to the stone wheel?? i like to think. this may be the wrong form for me ?? i try to get people to think to ?and it seams what hear is yes it works. it has to be good ?NO it dose not.there are thing we know will work ? but a lot of you know to there is a better way. why look for trouble ? why put parts in a engine that you know will add to the harmonics of the engine?? when building a engine for hp or some thing that you have spent a lot of money in you want it to last .look at every
job that a part has to do and in the case of the gear drive it will make harmonics . oh but it will go for 100.000 and so will a stock chain set for 1/2 the price or less and no harmonics

gears did do some good in round track motors 20 yrs ago. from 4,000 rpm's to 8,000 rpm's every lap is hard on a chain. they broke big time. nothing like drag racing. belts might be the answer now, but they didn,t have them then.