Texas Performance Motorcycles

Part 3 of 3. The final video of this weeks Tech Tip Tuesday where we are going over the basics of pushrod adjustment. Letting the lifter bleed down is very important before rotating the motor over to prevent valve-to-piston contact. It also is a good indicator, but not a guarantee, that you are at least inside the hydraulic range of the lifter. Once you have confirmed lifter bleed down, you are ready to install your pushrod cover and move on. We know this was a longer series of videos but hope it is helpful to understand the basics of pushrod adjustment in your Harley motor.

Part 2 of 3. This weeks Tech Tip Tuesday is long but important. It is the basics of pushrod adjustment and what you need to know to do it correctly and safely. Knowing what lifters you have installed is a key factor. Different lifters need a different amount of pre-load. While the industry standard is around .200” total travel, not all lifters use this. A short travel lifter may only have .115” of total travel, maybe less. And obviously solid lifters do not have any hydraulic travel. These are just a couple examples of different lifters that all require a different amount of pre-load. Once you know the lifter and the thread pitch you can do some basic math to figure out how many rotations you need to achieve proper pre-load. Once you know how many rotations you need, you are ready to find your zero lash and add that number of rotations to properly pre-load the lifter.