Any difference in timing sprockets between sets that use double NON-roller chains, and sets that use true roller chains?

b/rb application if it matters

If no answer no big deal, I will just order some parts and look...just wondered if anyone knew offhand

thx

A roller chain looks like two sets of bicycle chains side-by-side. A non-roller set has nylon or steel teeth. The sprockets are VERY different.

I was afraid someone would answer with that

Yes, good explanation.

That is of course correct and I'm well aware of that, however there is more than one type of "double roller" (which is a strictly a marketing term) chain.

There is one type that usually has seams on the tiny cylinder shaped areas that physically sit between the teeth, which do not roll at all even though they are marketed as "roller". Should be called "double row" instead, because nothing actually rolls.

Then there is the other type that has usually seamless tiny cylinder shaped areas that sit between the teeth, that actually DO roll. Those are correctly marketed as "roller", usually "true" on top of that but not always.

The question is, are the sprockets the same between the two types of double row chains?

Might be too basic to bother with, but maybe not.

I am not sure, as to the Mopar. I would think there is a difference, as on Chebbys, I know there is. I have always used the "true" roller double chains...but a few weeks ago,,had a 'low budget' dirt racer bring me a coffee can of crank/cam gears and a 'new' chain..?? NOTHING matched...I supplied a new "true roller" chain AND gears, degreed the cam for him and guess what,,everything is fine now. He couldn't believe it,,when he used all the other stuff and "lined up the dots" he had valve/piston clearance problems,,bent all the exhaust valves...??? Wonder just how far it was off..

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The question is, are the sprockets the same between the two types of double row chains?

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They will physically look the same. As to whether one chain will fit the other is anyone's guess.

Cloyes brand BB, 426 Hemi Plus double roller set versus a True roller set, not mixable

I just ordered some. They're similar, same number of teeth, teeth are shaped the same, etc.

The big difference is the width of the teeth. The roller style has wider/thicker teeth, wide enough to where they will not fit on the non-roller chain.

On the other hand, the thinner tooth non-roller gears could "potentially" be used on the roller chain but probably not a good idea.

are there not also differences in roller diameter?

If there's any interest I can put a caliper on the links and post pics. Just let me know.

Eyeballing it, I believe there may be a slight difference in the links, nothing tremendous though, because the teeth in the non-roller are actually longer than they need to be.

What I wanted to do was lay the sprockets flat on top of each other, and sight them, so I did it that way. Can't see any huge difference in the teeth from that viewpoint. But viewing the parts from the side...the roller sprocket teeth are twice as wide (or more) than non-roller.

The roller sprocket, won't even come close to fitting in the double non-roller chain.

But, the non-roller sprocket does fit into the roller chain very nicely.

I tend to get hung up on little details like that, once in awhile something like that will pay off....but in this case? Probably a waste of time True roller is better and there's not really app. that would not benefit from that, rather than non-roller.

Going one step further: Could always degree a camshaft with the non-roller sprockets, and both types of chains.... but I probably won't go there.

I just wish the whole aftermarket industry would resolve the "double roller" vs "true roller" vs "true double roller" marketing thing because it is very misleading.
A guy just starting out does not understand what he's getting.

Another thing? "Billet steel gears!".
More marketing.....
Even an OEM stock single chain timing set has a steel crank gear.
As for the cam gear? I have a
Direct Connection timing set from 1987 with an iron cam gear that I ran for 14 seasons....the car was was driven daily for a few years too not just a hot rod, the chain is quite stretched out.....but guess how much wear is on the iron cam gear? Practically nothing.

Needless to say I'm developing a few opinions based off of this stuff, on the type of engine I tend to mess with

Another factor is that there really aren't many vendors for these parts. So a bunch of the timing sets on the market are actually just reboxed parts. Some vendors get aggressive with their "marketing", but when you open the box you see the same exact parts that others sell with less hype.

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Another factor is that there really aren't many vendors for these parts. So a bunch of the timing sets on the market are actually just reboxed parts. Some vendors get aggressive with their "marketing", but when you open the box you see the same exact parts that others sell with less hype.

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same as with a lot of other parts

Yeah, checking out the Cloyes "street" vs
the Comp "super high tech" was entertaining.

It's odd, though, that the mail order places will sell a comp service chain for that set, but not a cloyes service chain to be found even though it's the same darned thing.

I'm thinking timing chains are alot like flat lifters.

The old Direct Connection cam gear had a pentastar, a casting date, and an old 7 digit number cast into it...so it did have that going for it, and it kind of stands out in the crowd....

the cloyes replacement chain numbers are 9-134, 9-146 and C618 depending on which type you have. summit stocks all three (in standard length) which incidentally fit the standard cam location bb chevy and i believe one or more may fit the bb ford.

Thx James, I looked for awhile and just found comp

yur welcome

yea believe me i know, sometimes you gotta be like freakin indiana jones to find out about these parts, and you usually find out after you've paid twice what you could have. those numbers came from a cloyes pdf catalog i have. if you want i could email it to you. i was trying to decipher some of the timing sets and prices and found there's a big difference between the chain prices.