timing gear
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Junior User
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 63
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timing gear
I just got my '87 4.9L back from the shop. The guy didn't do hardly anything other than the head work and also bought parts. He bought a cam shaft for it that has a fiber timing gear. I'm not exactly sure what the gear is made of but it's not metal. Has anyone out there had any experience with something like this before?
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 7,188
Likes: 384
From: Near Los Angeles
IIRC ford went to the fiber cam gear in 84. If you are adding any mods to your engine like an aftermarket cam, stronger than oem v.springs, higher compression, then you should use an all metal set of t.gears. It you are staying oem, then all is good.
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,987
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From: Boise, Idaho
I believe only the cam gear was phenolic (plastic) and the crank was always metal. It's a big noise reduction. You really only need the full metal/metal gears if you plan on beefing up the engine.
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 458
Likes: 1
My '66 Econoline 240 went well over 100,000 miles before shredding the teeth on the phenolic cam gear. The usual advice is to replace it with a metal gear. I would do that for sure, if I had a cam with more lift than stock, or higher ratio lifters, or just worked the engine harder. None of that applied to my old 240, and a friend had a new fiber gear, so I used it.
