No more gear drives.......

[restoguy]

I guess that's the situation we're in. I was planning to put a gear drive in my '99 when I pull the engine to fix the oil pressure problem. But as many of you know, DSG and Kennedy don't sell them any more. I know a couple guys talked about getting them from Pete Jackson via Summit or Jegs, but those are also no longer listed. I tried to get a hold of Pete Jackson directly and the number 'has been disconnected'. I'm going to bet that PJ is the company that actually made them and DSG just re-boxed them. And I'll also guess that PJ is now out of business and that's why the drives suddenly dissapeared.
I'd be interested if anyone has a set that they aren't going to use. Or if anyone knows a good machine shop that could make a set for a reasonable price. I'm going to check with a well known shop in my area tomorrow and see what they say.
I know that Heath uses a chain in his LSR truck and most people feel that the gear drive isn't a necessity, but I've wanted one for a long time and I will do all I can to get one. For better or worse.
Anyone know for sure about the situation with PJ, or have anything else to ad? Maybe someone who lives in Burbank, CA can verify if they really are closed?

 

[Matt Bachand]

Well at least it makes the option an easier one to choose now

 

[restoguy]

smart a$$.......!

 

[schiker]

Have you contacted Jegs or Summit to see if another vendor has them but Jegs/Summit doesn't stock/list them due to low volume? Or see if they will give you updated info to contact the mfg'ers directly to obtain part numbers for them to order.

 

[btfarm]

In all the years I've been involved in building engines I've never seen anything other than a Pete Jackson gear drive supplied by some speed shop vendor. I'm not sure anybody else ever made them.

 

[schiker]

Jegs listed a few name brands: JEGS, Milodon, Proform, Moroso, Edlebrock, and others. Not sure of applications or if there is only a few manufactures and several re-badges???

I am just guessing any patent if there was ever one has expired and there are several copy cats now. Pete Jackson could probably be trademarked but the design can be made by whomever by now ???

Might be another source readily out there but since its probably a very low volume few stock or list them. ????


Manta lists 1-4 employees for Pete Jackson in Burbank? IF (?) that is accurate I wonder if they have made them for the last few years ???? Or if they were just branding them?????

http://www.manta.com/c/mmghzgw/pete-jackson-gear-drives

 

[btfarm]

You're probably right that the patent has run out. That would explain why all of them had PJs logo somewhere on them.

 

[restoguy]

I figure that Edelbrock makes their own. After all they do have the mfg. ability for it. I would guess that PJ was responsible for the higher priced, American made, name brand sets regardless of the brand on the box. And an un-named chinese mfgr made all of the cheaper ones. I contacted Coyles to ask if they would consider making them. Seems like a good fit. They make timing sets for the 6.5 AND they make gear drives for several engines.(plus they are based in the US) I figure it should be easy to crank out a few sets without much additional investment. But they didn't sound too hopeful. They said they might do a run if I bought at least 250 of them. I was thinking I might do something like 100, but I don't know if I can talk them into it. How many do you guys think I could sell? I'm not looking to make a fortune, just keeping parts avaliable to us loyal 6.5 guys.

 

[ak diesel driver]

would depend on the price

 

[Slim Shady]

Would they make 250 of them? pm me.

 

[restoguy]

I don't know what to think about price at this time, but I think it would have to be $400 or less. The DSG units sold for four bills and I thought that was a little much just based on the benefit-to-dollar ratio. I'd have owned one long before now if they were a little more affordable.

PM sent, Slim.

 

[bobbiemartin]

I bought a DSG gear drive and ran it for a while. I must say, I was less than impressed by it. First, the quality and installation procedures seemed rather crude. I didn't notice any performance improvement, but it did make more noise. After about 500 miles, I removed it and went back to a chain. Incidentally, Heath recommends a chain and that is what I put in my newly rebuilt engine.

While looking for some other stuff, I ran across this video. If you do not know who David Vizard is, google him. Now I will warn you, he is not talking about 6.5's in this video and this is part 7 of a series, so it might not make sense at first. However, stick with it and you will see it is relevant to our engines and gear drives - dampers too. Just FYI, Vibratech owns Fluidamper.

 

[ak diesel driver]

I've read acouple of his books. Very interesting reads

 

[Ratman]

I bought a DSG gear drive and ran it for a while. I must say, I was less than impressed by it. First, the quality and installation procedures seemed rather crude. I didn't notice any performance improvement, but it did make more noise. After about 500 miles, I removed it and went back to a chain. Incidentally, Heath recommends a chain and that is what I put in my newly rebuilt engine.

While looking for some other stuff, I ran across this video. If you do not know who David Vizard is, google him. Now I will warn you, he is not talking about 6.5's in this video and this is part 7 of a series, so it might not make sense at first. However, stick with it and you will see it is relevant to our engines and gear drives - dampers too. Just FYI, Vibratech owns Fluidamper.

Yep, I could listen to guys like David talk all day long. My experience with gear driven cams is pretty limited. I ran a Pete Jackson on my 383 stroker build that went into one of my previous trucks, and I did notice a more stable distributor (watching the 0-degree mark on the damper with the timing light at 1000-5000 RPM). That obviously doesn't really mean anything in terms of vibration transmission through the gearset, but it did get my attention.

The whole point of his video could be applied to my engine build, -because I run an aftermarket steel crank versus a factory nodular iron. As we all know, the resonant frequency of the two different metals is going to be different for sure. While my rotating assembly was balanced, -that certainly doesn't guarantee that my factory crank damper is going to be able to properly dampen torsional vibrations within the RPM range that I operate the engine at.

The good news is, I'm not really overly concerned with my setup (engine has seen 4800+ RPM on several occasions), and it is still alive and well with over 30k on the build. If a viscous damper was more reasonably priced, I think I'd opt to try one.

Anyway, -sorry to ramble on, I haven't been on here for a while (internet police at work and three kids with homework at night = no computer for me!).

Woman says dinner is done, -I'd better haul my butt to the table.......

 

[SuperTuscan]

Interesting video. He reinforced what I had always thought about dampers. However, I think his ideas about gear drives is intended for racing engines and not relatively slow turning diesels. I'm not sure how many vibrations at 3500rpm could be transmitted to the cam where we would start to see problems.

I have a new gear drive for the 6.5 sitting in a box somewhere. I had one on my first 6.5 Blazer and I could really tell a difference. Everything was a lot smoother, especially in the upper rpm range. When we timed it there was no slop whatsoever in the readings - it was dead on. I think that translates into more accurate injection timing, which translated into better throttle response and smoothness in my case.

There are a couple manufacturers using gear drives, too. For example, my VW V10 TDI is all gear driven, even the accessories like A/C and alternator. No belts whatsoever. Audi switched over to chain drives for their 2.0 but that may have been for maintenance and warranty reasons.