Is it possible to remove the harmonic balancer without removing the power steering rack and instead lowing the front cradle 5"? I am upgrading the engine oil pump and I am also changing the oil pan gasket. Seeing that I have to lower the cradle to remove the oil pan, I would prefer to not remove the steering rack and just disconnect steering column and any steering hoses that are not long enough. The line at the center top of the rack which is in the way of the balancer will of course need to be disconnected. I have a ProCharger on a 408 stroker LS with upgraded sleeves, low compression, 10 lbs of boost, pump gas only.

 

Absolutely. This is my preferred method.
? No it doesn't. The hard line is attached to the steering rack, which is coming down with the cradle.

 

Not trying to hijack the thread, but is the balancer bolt removed by turning it CCW?

 

Yes. It is a normal right-hand thread.

 

Thanks for a fast reply torquetube. For some reason all Google and YouTube searches could not find this method. I could only find that you have to remove the steering rack. I see that you provide a lot of advice on here. Thanks for helping our community so much.

To lower the cradle this much I need to disconnect the upper control arms and I assume the shocks to relieve the leaf spring. Is it best to detach the ABS module from the cradle and the front brake lines to it or lower the ABS with the front cradle and disconnect the any brake lines that are fixed to the car that do not have enough give? If possible can you suggest which brake lines to disconnect? I think I have the rest figured out.

 

It's only 2 bolts holding the ABS to bracket to the cradle so I'd just unbolt that real quick first and see if that does it. The steering rack really isn't bad to get out once you've done it--you can push it to the passenger side and get it out of the way pretty easy. Dropping cradle works too though obviously, let us know how it goes. I might try it that way next time if I ever have to do it again.

 

As I recall I disconnected the lower ball joints and the outer ball joints on the steering. I removed the radiator fan, loosened the power steering cooler, and removed the anti-roll bar bushing caps from the cradle to swing the bar down and out of the way. I don't think I did anything with the brake lines.

 

I've done it both ways several times and lowering the cradle is WAY easier overall. The power steering rack can be extremely difficult to remove from the clips holding it in and on two occasions I simply could not get it out. You also have to remove the PS lines from the box which makes a nasty mess no matter how careful you are and don't get me started on how challenging it is to hook those lines back up.

As you had already mentioned you do need to remove the 11mm bolt holding the steering shaft to the rack but disconnecting the ABS bracket or any of the brake lines is unnecessary as everything comes down together with the cradle. Remember to not move your steering wheel after the cradle has been dropped as it contains a clockspring which will tear if you turn the wheel too many times (yet another "ask me how I know").

When disconnecting the upper control arms I always jack them up high enough to take any tension off the arms when disconnecting the bolts, and especially when reconnecting them. I found out the hard way several years ago that not doing this can easily result in crossthreading the bolts. There will be as many as 4 shims behind each of the control arm bolts so make sure to catch them when they fall and note how many shims are on each as the amount can vary from bolt to bolt.

Not sure about just lowering the cradle as I always just drop it completely. Regardless of the approach you take you will need to support the motor somehow. I always just connect my engine hoist to the front of the heads, but placing wood and a floor jack under the rear oil pan works too.

If you are able to get away with lowering but not completely dropping the cradle then you might be okay with just using a floor jack, but if you do drop it completely a transmission jack makes it easier. Depending on how thick your sway bars are you may also need to remove them too in order to access the 21mm nuts on the front of the cradle. I don't have sway bars anymore but from what I do remember the base model ones don't require removal but the Z51 and Z06 ones do.

 

Thank you subfloor@centurystans. Outstanding information. Yes must keep track of the wheel alignment spacers. I will use a jack on the bell housing to support the engine (as I might also change the oil pan gasket) and I have a transmission jack which will be more stable for the front cradle (K member). I think the engine can be raised about 2" which then leaves lowering the cradle maybe 4". Your experience with those large power steering lines on gear box verifies to me what I see as very difficult to access.

I am upgrading to a high flow / high pressure Melling pump. Oil pressure has been gradually declining and the oil is draining back when parked causing a 30 second delay for any oil pressure when starting a cold. The clutch is currently removed so I was able to verify that the oil barbell is fine and I am upgrading to a billet barbell with 1 o-ring. I always cut open my oil filters and they have never had any metals. Bearing wear would not result in oil drain back. The oil pump would cause both issues. It’s been a fun car for 4 years with zero maintenance needs until now. This is the first car that I bought instead of building myself so I have no idea what oil pump was used 14 year back when the 408 stroker was built, but it for sure was not a high pressure or high flow pump. That shop is no longer in business. As a winter project I removed a head to verify the piston compression is 9.1 as it runs 10 PSI on pump gas with no methanol injection. I replaced the lifters while in there (one sometimes made a slight ticking when the oil was hot cruising at highway speeds and that is gone with the new lifters). I know who originally tuned the car and he said that it split a cylinder the first year so it was rebuilt with a new block using upgraded sleeves.

I also added an oil separator for the crank case vapours. I think that all engines that are boosted should have a crank case oil separator. Removing the head last January revealed how much oil builds up in the combustion chamber so I took off the second head to clean both heads and all pistons. Increases HP an increases piston ring life.

 

It was very easy to drop the front suspension cradle (K Member) 5" instead of removing the steering rack and fittings. I was able to easily remove the harmonic balancer to upgrade the oil pump to the Milling high flow high pressure. now I have immediate oil presure at start up, 45 psi at hot idle, 65 psi at cruising speeds, and 80 psi at 4500 rpm. I used the COPO pressure spring as I am making over 800 hp. I do not know why no one on YouTube shows this way of doing it. Removing the rack and accessing those fittings is very difficult. Also, seeing that the car is 16 years old and I had the cradle down already, I changed the oil pan gasket and inspected the inside of the pan. Everything was good. It did not have a leak, but I would hate to develop one with a few years because of an old gasket.



It takes less than 1 hourr to lower the cradle to remove the balancer.

- Remove the bolt on the steering shaft to the rack and pull the shaft clear.

- With a jack under the front brake disc, remove the bolts for the upper control arms and keep track of the alignment washers.

- Then remove the shock bolts to the lower control arm and lower the arm.

- Remove the bolts for the front sway bar and lower it out of the way.

- Remove the nuts for the engine mounts that are under the cradle.

- Support the engine with a jack under the pan with a wide piece of wood, or use and engine crane from above.

- Back off the cradle nuts 1” and see if it drops. If not give it a shake. If still not, see if there is anything else holding it in place. You should not have to unbolt the ABS unit, any brake lines, or any lines to the steering rack.

- Place another jack centered under the cradle.

- Fully remove the cradle bolts and lower the cradle about 5” or enough for the balancer to clear the steering rack. You can raise the engine about an 1” for additional clearance.

- If you have to leave the project over night before reinstalling the balancer, jack the cradle back up and put the 4 nuts on it to hold it.

- Reinstall in reverse steps.

 

Very good to know, I need to change the oil pan gasket so I'm glad to hear it isn't bad to drop the cradle. Looks like I'll be doing that one one of these days.

 

So, how would you support the cradle/engine if you are using a two post lift? I'm not too crazy about wallowing around on the concrete floor anymore at my age, which is why I bought a lift. Not to mention I finally was able to build a shop to put it in when we built our house a few years ago. I'm not bragging, but feel extremely blessed to have these and enjoy using them.
Also, what are the torque specs for all of the nuts and bolts you remove? May as well do it right the first time.
Do you have to load the suspension when torquing the bolts? I found out the hard way by watching the wrong videos on youtube that on an '06 Charger you have to preload the suspension when replacing the control arms. One replacement lasted about 3-4 months before the rubber broke again when I didn't torque under load.
Thanks,
Dukester

 

ProChargedVett - Thanks for that write-up. I'm about (still waiting on some parts) to change the balancer, front shocks (to Bilsteins) and switch out the stock sway bar for the Z51 bar on my 2007. Sounds like lowering the cradle is the way to go, especially with the other upgrades I'm doing.

 

You would need one of those extendable supports that I see at dealerships.

As long as it's fairly sturdy it should able to support the motor but I'd recommend testing it first by putting it under the engine where it bolts to the torque tube, lower the cradle a bit (but don't drop it completely away from the frame) and then start wiggling the engine. The idea would be to see how easily it could come off the support and fall and if it does it would only fall a little onto the cradle.

Alternatively you could buy one of these. Missing from the pic however is the cross beam.



The only time you have to load the suspension is for the upper control arm bolts, otherwise they can go in crooked and end up being cross threaded.

 

I've used one of these (well, a stronger version) back in my BMW days. Not sure it would work here for certain as I've never done it, but is also something you can look into.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-l...bar-96524.html

edit: I can't get the link to work for whatever reason. If you Google "engine support bar" you'll find it.

 

I'm in the process of replacing my harmonic balancer Summit C2501 while doing an A&A Supercharger Install and am looking at doing this method to R&R the balancer.

Looking to see if anyone has done a step by step youtube video? Otherwise @ProChargedVett thanks for the step by step instructions.

 

This is The Way!

Another Great Tool is the Summit Balancer Lock plate

Eliminated the BS of starter removal on Automatics Or Manuals to lock motor for Balancer Torque

Also Pin Yor Balancer! Takes maybe 10 Mins Absolutely Must when Supercharged

 

Question about this write up. - if I have the jack on the oil pan how would I remove it to put a new gasket on? Further, would it be easier to replace the oil pump with the pan dropped?

Lastly, if I don’t need to drop the pan to change the oil pump, is it easy to drop the pan later if it leaks later after this job, or would I need go through the trouble of dropping the cradle again to remove the pan?

 

You support at the oil pan to change the balancer. And support the balancer to do the oil pan. You also remove the rear sub-frame nuts instead of the front. The sub-frame has to be dropped at least partially for either job.

Here's a post on the oil pan gasket with a step by step in post 4:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...oval-help.html