Gear drive small block chevy

[Confedneck]

gear drives are ALL noisy..
anyways.. gear drives do have their benefits, as well as their faults..
yes they can transmit more (see slightly) harmonic vibrations through engine internals
they also allow for tighter and more precise timing..
either deal with the noise, or go to double row.. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[mountainexplorer]

I have one in a 396 BB... noisy as can be. I don't mind it cause it doesnt get driven every day. Definitely attracts attention, and like stated above... I've never actually seen a deer around me when I'm driving it on the roads.

I've had a few people say, "You're low on power steering fluid".

This gear drive in the motor is an Erson, and its lasted through many mud races run with nitrous turning 39.5" Boggers with 4.10s on a Crew Cab; plus many towing miles and some daily driver duty. No problems with it so far and all the valve train components havent had to be messed with since the motor was built several years ago.

Smokes horribly now on start up after the last race, but still runs fine once warmed up. It's had a hard life.

 

[chevyracing]

I'ved used gear drives for ever. I have a quiet Pete Jackson in my 72 that has almost 200 Thousand miles on it right now and no problems.
There are bound to be some failures, heck, even brand new airplanes crash.

John

 

[Yukon Jack]

Before buying a Pete Jackson Noisy gear drive for my 454 I did alot of research. I read lots of posts over at chevytalk which were pretty comical on how some of those people bag on people who run gear drives. In the end I decided that as my truck is not a daily driver and I don't mind it being loud, I would give it a try. If it is too loud, can always pull it. In the end I was not satisfied that the vibrations/harmonics issue was as bad as people make it sound - actually sounded like lots of people talking from the side lines with no actual experience. I haven't yet fired up my engine so I too can't speak from experience yet.

 

[Hustler]

I can say that they are great. I have had them in a bunch of different cars and trucks and never had a problem. From dirt track UMP late model stock cars, to show/race cars, daily drivers, to all out race cars. Right now I have one in my 90 Jimmy with over 90,000 miles put on it in 3 years, it has a 383 stroker in it. Most the miles are from towing. I also have one in my 79 Monte Carlo with a 468 in it. This car runs in the low 9's in the 1/4 and I have raced it now 3 years with no problems from the gear drive.

 

[dyeager535]

Some manufacturers used gear drives stock, and there are PLENTY of people running them for 100's of thousands of miles. If you think slop from a timing chain is any better, or that removing the nylon gear REDUCES transmitted vibration, well, what can I say.

As someone else pointed out, there are failures in everything made. Frequency of failure is what should be used to determine the quality of something.