I have read time and again about how roller camshafts require a bronze gear for the oil pump drive. Can anyone help me to understand why? Did the factory cams require this? I don't remember anything different in the 3 or 4 roller small blocks that I have pulled apart.
The reason for the softer oil pump drive gear had to do with dissimilar metals, and that its easier to change a worn oil pump drive than the cam. Why didn't the aftermarket make them out of the same metal as with flat tappet cams? If the bronze gear wears, what about the debris? Can we trust the oil filter to screen all of it from the oil?
I ask this because I have considered switching to a roller cam to insure that I won't have to swap camshafts again unless I want to. Cam failures are a real pisser.