cam chain tensioners

i have been told the cam chain tensioners will need to be replaced around 40 or 50 thousand miles. i have a 01 flht with 38400 miles, how will i know when it needs it done. how big of a job is it. will the cam support plate have to be removed?
the hd service man here told me the tensioners start going bad at 20 thousand miles and it will take about 2 hours to replace them, that doesn't sound right to me, how about you?

I have an 02 Ultra with 25k miles. I am very pleased with it but the tensioners have me worried. Some people seem to go as long as 70k with no problems, others fail at 25-30k. If I have to do a repair or be proactive and go in I hope to scrape enough cash together to go with S&S gear drive so as to eliminate tensioners. I hear the 510 G cams work great in these dressers.

It shouldn't be any more then a 30-45 minute job from a experienced wrench. Why not switch over to the self adjusting?

these are self adjusting, the shoes on them just wear out, on all of them and they will have to be replaced.

I just installed S&S 510 gear driven cams in my '01 Heritage at about 29K. First time project for me and it went well. Very satisfied with the result.

Hey FLHST2001. Glad to hear it went well for you. What EFI tuner did you use? How did you manage the part requiring the press. Did you buy the special tools or take it to someone for that? Did you replace the lifters? I'm trying to see how bad this is going to break the budget.

My 2001 Road King needed new cam tensioner shoes at 22k miles, at 49k miles they were worn to the metal, replaced chain at that point, bike has 66k miles now and will be inspecting tensioners sometime this summer

[wash23]

Seems that it is a mystery as to how long the cam chain tensioner will last. I have an '00 Superglide with 40k miles that I recently let a dealer inspect. They reported that it looked like new. They have had others need replacement at 25k. Best to check periodically. On the other hand, if you have money burning a hole in your wallet and want an excuse for a gear-drive set up, here's your sign.

Hi! I had problems with my 99 FXDL from day one. It ran hot and made cam case noise. The dealer said it sounded no more noisier that any other TC-88. Well, after about 4500 miles, I couldn't take it any more and opened it up.
I was shocked to find the cam link chain tensioner spring broken off. The shoe showed no wear so it had been broken since day one, or shortly after. The other tensioner was badly worn as well and needed replacement.
I was again shocked to find the rear intake tappet with a bent piston retainer circlip that was half sticking out of its' groove, allowing the piston more travel than it should. This, in a virgin engine.

I replaced all moving parts (and both tensioners) with new parts and reinstalled everything. It was much quieter, ran better and not as hot.

Anyway, after about 15000 miles I again pulled it all apart to install some other stuff and found that the pinion drive chain tensioner was half worn out but the cam chain tensioner had minimal wear.

So, check the tensioners if you suspect anything is out of normal. As far as I can tell, there is no other way of actually knowing what shape either tensioner shoe is in at any given milage without looking at them.

I had my cam chain shoes changed at 48000. My mechanic said I should have been in at about 32000. The front shoe was kinda OK,the rear was worn almost through,it also had a small chunk that if it had broke off would have let the chain slide off and cause all sort of trouble....