ken swart Ken It depends on material the cam shafts are make from. There are also some other things that have to be looked at,
end play on the camshaft, many guys don't check this and shim it if it's too big on the spec, the gear is shaved and perwears out.
Oiling of the area, making sure this location gets a supply of
oil and not rely on just splash. 2 metal parts rubbing together under load, wear out.
IMO solid roller cams ate not ment to be street drivin. Yes there are alot on the street,but these camshafts profiles are for racing. Idling is the killer of solid roller camshafts. Comp and some of the other companies have gone to pressurized roller pin or bearings oiling to help extend the life of this setup.
The distributor gear is also like the pin at the bottom, the gear is a wear out ideam and is cheaper to replace than a whole camshaft kit. This would include the roller lifters too. I don't believe in using a new camshaft with old rollers that have wear markers now in the roller wheel.
A bronze gear will give you 6-50K miles if the things above are in spec and a well lubed location. You could run a steel on steel setup but the other issue is shaving of the gear, steel shaving are alot stronger than bronze and will do alot more damage inside a motor than bronze. Bronze is soft and might go through a motor and
oil pump and not sieze the
oil pump drive. Steel will lock up the oil pump and do possible alot of damage internally. Call comp and match the correct gear with the camshaft is the best way to go. Rick L.