01, 5.2, truck has 130k miles and water pump is shot. i'm replacing the water pump, thermostat, all hoses. Timing chain and sprockets are only another $55. would you replace them too ? i have a puller for the harmonic balancer, so it looks like just a little more work.

anyone know of a good reason not to do it ?
what would you do ?

 

If I was tearing into it that far - for sure I would go ahead and do the chain. You'd feel mighty stupid if you did allthe other and a month from now the chain slipped and you had to take all that stuff back off again....

 

+1 ... go for it.

 

i'd do the chain too.

 

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and saying yes.

 

i agree might as well go ahead and do it. even if only for the peace of mind knowing that is a new chain. when my water pump went i didnt change the chain but i did have to replace the timing cover gasket.

 

deff a great idea it seems that they get slack around 160k, acording to the techs at my dealership

 

For the extra like 6 ot 8 bolts to take off, do it. Make sure get/rent a harmonic balancer puller. Thats about all you'll need.

 

Impact gun will make the job alot easier as well.

 

I'll go one farther... yes you HAVE to swap the chain... stock ones are junk and stretch over a short period of time 40k~50k miles and it's toast. piece of mind that the cam timing will not change is worth the extra effort to swap it.