3.4L aluminum crankshaft pulley
- Thread starter ThorInc
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That's what I am trying to ascertain......any benefits? Did some searches but like everything, first hand experience speaks volumes.....usually.
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
No, Why? Crankshaft pulley is also the harmonic balancer designed to work with the motor. Am I missing something here?? Don't fix it if it ain't broke...
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
When I replaced my fuel Injectors with the set of equalized injectors from LCE I saw they had an aluminum pulley along with a lot of high performance parts for the 5VZ. I thought about it. You've probably seen this already but here's their sales pitch.
LCE Performance Pulley
I think if I was to build an engine from the ground up designed specifically for racing I would add the aluminum pulley. For my purposes I can't justify changing out the one I have. I don't have any plans on changing it.
Just my .02 But like you, I did do some research on it.
JayRolla
New member
The upgraded pully IMO would be a lot safer on a lower HP motor like ours. The issue is the loss of some rotational mass is not enough to see any gains in our motors.
In high HP applications these pulleys have been known to shear off at the crank and can cause some major issues. When making lots of power you want to replace parts that are fail points. Not create fail points. The stock crankshaft in most applications can take any amounts of power thrown at it.
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
I was more interested in the HP gains rather than the safety aspect of it. Good points on the safety though. I think as long as we're running PS and an AC compressor off it I think the advertised HP gains (~2.7per lb), even with an SC and a flex fan would be negligible. This is why I would only use it on a racing application. Assuming you would only be running an alternator.
JayRolla
New member
My point was when the crank shaft pulley fails it can break and cause the motor more damage and shut off at high speeds. The HP gains are not worth the headache or damage it can cause.
SIKHILUXSURF
New member
so most in here are spewing unresearched and tested facts it seems. i personally have the urd Crankshaft Pulley. and have had it on with and without the blower. i drive this vehicle 40-60 miles a day 5-6 days a week.
without the blower:
throttle response is a bit more peppy
powerband is a bit more smooth by the way the idle and rpms climb during acceleration.
with blower
my idle is still smooth
my Boost gauge shows i can hit 10PSI on a cold dense morning if i punch it.
my mods as of current
trd sc
dough thorley headers
Custom exhaust
afe intake
7th injector
urd crank pulley
without the blower:
throttle response is a bit more peppy
powerband is a bit more smooth by the way the idle and rpms climb during acceleration.
with blower
my idle is still smooth
my Boost gauge shows i can hit 10PSI on a cold dense morning if i punch it.
my mods as of current
trd sc
dough thorley headers
Custom exhaust
afe intake
7th injector
urd crank pulley
Rock_Rat
Senior Member
This is pretty interesting. Nothing factual from my posts. Just my own thoughts on it from back when I was doing research on HP gains on these motors. You obviously can speak from first hand. I'm surprised you can actually notice a difference with the AC and PS hooked up. Good info. Time to do more research on it again.
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
I guess I'm guilty of this. I sometimes get so caught up in the virtues of the way this truck performs and the build quality that I feel the engine can't be approved upon, at least without taking away from it's reliability. Also, some of the equipment that I work on have aluminum alloy pulleys that wear down prematurely in certain environments. Almost never have that problem with the steel pulleys.
That being said, that URD pulley is cool. Says that every pound reduced in rotational mass of the crankshaft assembly, you gain 2.7 acceleration horsepower. There's an 8 lb difference. 22 HP gain is pretty significant. I'd like to hear from some more people about the pulley.
Yep, feedback from anyone using the URD or LCE cs pulley would be why I started this thread. I have not decided to pull the trigger(so to speak) but a few horse here and there do add up. Also, I would think that the size of the pulley being stock, that the effect on the alternator should be negligible?
[MENTION=107674]JRZEE2000TR4LTD[/MENTION], what environments cause premature wear on the aluminum pulleys?
[MENTION=107674]JRZEE2000TR4LTD[/MENTION], what environments cause premature wear on the aluminum pulleys?
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JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
In a dirty, dusty, "abrasive" environment.
I had a piece of equipment I work on in a paver cutting shop. The equipment had an alloy pulley on it and I would put a belt and pulley on it every other year. We finally put a steel pulley on it. That was six years ago and I've only replaced the belts once since replacing the pulley. Motor pulls about 3/4 of an amp more but is still well within it's service factor. Before we discovered the pulley issue, it would break a belt a month. Now this was a v-section belt and it "ground" away the metal causing the belt to stretch abnormally. I don't necessarily think this applies to the set up on our trucks but steel is harder than aluminum. I, personally, would choose reliability over performance. If I can have both, I'm all in. 20+HP would be nice to have for something bolt on.
jeremyc74
Banned
I don't see any way slightly reducing the mass on the front of the crank could change the powerband, or make it smoother. Do you have some theory as to why this happens?
I'm an engineer, and by nature I need things to add up. Considering the amount of mass coupled to the crank, (torque converter/clutch, water pump, valve train, and accessories, I don't see any possible way a couple of pounds is going to make a difference on a low revving engine like this. I think you're getting the placebo effect.
jeremyc74
Banned
I'd love to see them produce a dyno showing a 22Hp gain from a stock diameter pulley. I'd also like to see them explain the difference between crank HP and "acceleration HP". Sounds a whole lot like marketing BS to me.
SIKHILUXSURF
New member
i have had this for over a year on the truck with 25K miles on it. still works fine.keep in mind the 5VZ-FE is internally balanced so changing the crank pulley will not take away from reliablity. you are just loosing rotational mass. there is a reason why companies like AIT Fluid dampers doesnt make a dampened pulley for us since we dont gain anything from their style pulleys.
i have seen no affect on the alternator with this pulley. regardless of the fact i run a high output unit.
SIKHILUXSURF
New member
not to sould like an ass but yes it will. a heavier wheel and a lighter wheel spin differently. Example: if not why would people swap heavier alloy wheels for lighter forged wheels for racing? rotational mass makes a difference. whether is is a few pounds or a hundred pounds weight makes a difference. my rpms are indeed a bit snappier.
use the same effort to spin a 22 lb wheel vs. a 8 lb wheel and see which one would spin longer? which one would strain more components to spin and which one would have an easier time to spin?
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