Harmonic Balancers?
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Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Andrews TX
Harmonic Balancers?
You can get an OEM harmonic balancer at fairly reasonable price or you can pay a bundle for an aftermarket. It doesn't seem to me that the balancer is going to effect performance at all. What do you think?
Last edited by Mr Mojo; Aug 14, 2005 at 05:38 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,517
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I don't think a balancer has alot of affect on performance. All dampers are made to smooth the vibrations that vibe and weaken a crank. Durability is the number one thing. Safety is another. sfi approved dampers will not come apart at high (or low) rpm and kill the car, and possibly others. Dampers also help by transferring less harnonics to the timing chain, which in turn affects cam timing, spark scatter at the distributor, etc. They cost a bunch, but most say they are worth it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,036
Likes: 13
From: Edmonton AB
Originally Posted by radhunter
You can get an OEM harmonic balancer at fairly reasonable price.
I buy at trade price from a local dealer. I was recently quoted about
$650 USD for pn #10128489 which is supposed to be the direct L98
replacement part. GM Parts Direct has the same item listed for $323.
(I see tonight that they also say the p/n is for the outer damper for
the '92-97 LT1, so someone is wrong and this may be an invalid comparison.)
In comparison, the #24502534 High RPM (9,000) Torsional Damper
is listed by Superior for $229 - a much different piece. More conventional
performance dampers can be had for well under $100. Why so much
for the OEM balancer (if the p/n is correct for the L98.
Originally Posted by radhunter
It doesn't seem to me that the balancer is going to effect performance
at all. What do you think?
at all. What do you think?
improve acceleration.
From Newton's Second Law of Motion, F=ma or
Acceleration = Force / Weight (where Weight = Mass x Gravity).
So, reduce Weight and the value of Acceleration increases for a
given Force.
So I thought reducing damper wgt was the way to go, at least I did
until I read that David Vizard has determined through dyno work that
HP increased in the 4,500-5,750 range when damper weight increased.
See my posts here for more info about Mr. Vizard's findings.
In any event: bottom line - damper selection DOES affect performance.
It is just not clear cut to me as to which way to go for the best return.
.
Last edited by Slalom4me; Aug 14, 2005 at 11:20 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 9,036
Likes: 13
From: Edmonton AB
Incidently, tjwong recommended that www.damperdudes.net
is a good place to have my damper rebuilt.
is a good place to have my damper rebuilt.
Originally Posted by tjwong
You can have yours rebuilt for about $75 plus shipping.
I have had these done before by a company called Damper Dudes in
Redding California. Excellent quality and better than new. They use a
elastomeric compound 10x stronger than what the General used. I use
them to fuse my LTx blower balancers together. If they last with a
cogged belt blower balancer you can bet that they will last in a stock
application.
http://damperdudes.net/
Oh, I forgot to mention. Turn around time is very fast as well.
I have had these done before by a company called Damper Dudes in
Redding California. Excellent quality and better than new. They use a
elastomeric compound 10x stronger than what the General used. I use
them to fuse my LTx blower balancers together. If they last with a
cogged belt blower balancer you can bet that they will last in a stock
application.
http://damperdudes.net/
Oh, I forgot to mention. Turn around time is very fast as well.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,350
Likes: 322
From: San Antonio Tx
