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It should improve throttle response... I think they're worth getting as long as you replace a balancer for a balancer, pulley for pulley, etc
 
Yeah, I saw it a long time ago...

Well, in this case the URD is a solid pulley, not a balancer with an energy absorbing mass within like the stock HB according to one of the reviews and what it looks like in the pics.

Harmonic balancer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Performance enthusiasts have been known to remove harmonic balancers, usually when the balancer is attached to the crank pulley, deciding that they aren't necessary and their mass reduces the performance of the engine. However, this is unproven and potentially very risky because the danger of damage to the engine from the vibrations the damper is intended to prevent is too high.
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8 lbs of weight reduction is not worth the potential risk of eliminating the balancer or the $249 to me. I am much more interested in longevity and dependability than I am in tweaking performance, which is also why I wouldn't put an SC in. If you really want a higher power truck, you'd be better off getting one built that way, IMHO.

I got 120k off my factory belts. How long do you want them to last?
 
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TheDurk said:
Well, in this case the URD is a solid pulley, not a balancer with an energy absorbing mass within like the stock HB according to one of the reviews and what it looks like in the pics.

Harmonic balancer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



8 lbs of weight reduction is not worth the potential risk of eliminating the balancer or the $249 to me. I am much more interested in longevity and dependability than I am in tweaking performance, which is also why I wouldn't put an SC in. If you really want a higher power truck, you'd be better off getting one built that way, IMHO.

I got 120k off my factory belts. How long do you want them to last?
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I'm still going on mine I'm sure, they still have the Toyota OEM decal on them.
 
by Alex Newton Date Added: Sunday 31 August, 2008
Bought this part...looks great and I can feel improvement in acceleration. Isn't a dampener style pulley like the stock one, a little problem there. But that's all...


The above is a review from URD's website. Doesn't the dampener reside behind the pulley? Where is my Haynes manual......
 
Hummmm.... This looks nice but someone need to take the hit for the team and get on this and write up one hell of a review with different fuels etc...

Blue
 
Yup, same concept as a lighter flywheel.

Here's why its BAD for wheelers:

Less weight on your flywheel or crankshaft means less rotational mass. This means your engine power will not carry you as easily over the rocks and bumps. The engine will die easier. It will be more difficult to take off on hills.

Sure you get 20 more HP but you are going to have to rev the engine 2 a much to get the truck to move.

I've heard of people actually getting a heavier flywheel or crank pulley.
 
No vibration dampening/balancing no bueno.

I heard removing balancing weights from wheels and driveshafts reduces rotating mass which means better acceleration,it's cheaper than $250 :lmao:
 
montana_jeepn said:
by Alex Newton Date Added: Sunday 31 August, 2008
Bought this part...looks great and I can feel improvement in acceleration. Isn't a dampener style pulley like the stock one, a little problem there. But that's all...


The above is a review from URD's website. Doesn't the dampener reside behind the pulley? Where is my Haynes manual......
Click to expand...

A balancer is really a three-part sandwich: an inner core that goes on the crankshaft, the energy absorbing mass that kind of fills out the inside, and the outer shell where the belts contact. The three don't come apart except if the HD self-destructs. It doesn't go behind, it's one or the other. What goes behind is the timing sprocket, which drives the timing belt.
 
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TheDurk said:
A dampener is really a three-part sandwich: an inner core that goes on the crankshaft, the energy absorbing mass that kind of fills out the inside, and the outer shell where the belts contact. The three don't come apart except if the HD self-destructs. It doesn't go behind, it's one or the other. What goes behind is the timing sprocket, which drives the timing belt.
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Thank you for the explanation. This my first Toyota and I see I have a lot to learn, but am excited to do so. This was what I was thinking, like on a Chevy V8 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-161350/overview/make/chevrolet
 
I bought one as a replacement when I dropped my stock pulley and broke the lip during a timing belt job. I wouldn't consider this a major performance enhancer. A bit better acceleration below 45mph. Drops off to undetectable at freeway speeds. It is a very nice looking pulley. 20 hp? I think not.
 
I'd avoid it, for the reasons noted above. The crankshaft damper is designed to reduce harmonics on the crankshaft. Race engines aren't designed to last 250,000 or 300,000 miles but to get every last bit of power (and they expect to rebuild them often). On supercharged engines that dampening effect is pretty important since it takes a lot of power to spin the blower (and creates a lot of harmonic vibrations). There have been a lot of Ford modular motors (4.6L Cobras mainly) bite the dust from using underweighted dampers, especially with blowers.

I don't think you're going to gain 20 HP on a N/A 3.4L. That's an 11% increase by reducing rotating mass by less than 8 lbs. Ford put an aluminum flywheel on the 03/04 Cobras and claimed it shaved 2/10 second from the 1/4 mile times, which equates to about 20 HP. But, that's on an engine that's making over 400 HP, which is a gain of just under 5%, and the weight savings is 12 lbs (granted, probably a smaller percentage of total rotating mass). It also has a lot of other things going for it to make that kind of power (to take advantage of the rotating mass savings - such as a powerband higher in the RPM range where that mass savings will matter), and a manual transmission (with an aluminum driveshaft). I'm guessing on a typical N/A 3.4L you might see 3 or 4 HP, certainly not enough to spend $250 and risk the potential problems from reducing the damper weight. And if you have an automatic, you probably won't notice much at all, since spinning the torque converter will probably make any weight reduction on the damper insignificant. Better places to spend your money.
 
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Dirtyfingers said:
What do you mean by that? (I may or may not be someone who thinks too hard)
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Meaning if the engine uses an actual harmonic balancer (fluid filled) then you NEVER replace it with an aftermarket pulley... it MUST be a harmonic balancer as well... however, most modern engines are internally balanced and the crank pulley is just that... a pulley used to drive accessories.

Kurtis said:
Yup, same concept as a lighter flywheel.

Here's why its BAD for wheelers:

Less weight on your flywheel or crankshaft means less rotational mass. This means your engine power will not carry you as easily over the rocks and bumps. The engine will die easier. It will be more difficult to take off on hills.

Sure you get 20 more HP but you are going to have to rev the engine 2 a much to get the truck to move.

I've heard of people actually getting a heavier flywheel or crank pulley.
Click to expand...

I completely agree!
 
Kurtis said:
Yup, same concept as a lighter flywheel.

Here's why its BAD for wheelers:

Less weight on your flywheel or crankshaft means less rotational mass. This means your engine power will not carry you as easily over the rocks and bumps. The engine will die easier. It will be more difficult to take off on hills.

Sure you get 20 more HP but you are going to have to rev the engine 2 a much to get the truck to move.

I've heard of people actually getting a heavier flywheel or crank pulley.
Click to expand...

So what about for city/highway/expedition driving? My 4runner is my go everywhere vehicle. Im not building it for any particular niche, i.e. wheeling. It needs to do everything adaquately. You think this would be a benefit to people like me?
 
Skidmarcx said:
Meaning if the engine uses an actual harmonic balancer (fluid filled) then you NEVER replace it with an aftermarket pulley... it MUST be a harmonic balancer as well... however, most modern engines are internally balanced and the crank pulley is just that... a pulley used to drive accessories.
Click to expand...

'Harmonic balancer' is a somewhat ambiguous term ('A harmonic balancer (also called crank pulley damper, crankshaft damper, torsional damper, or vibration damper) is a device connected to the crankshaft of an engine to reduce torsional vibration and serves as a pulley for drive belts.', Wikipedia).

True, older engines used a 'balancer' (a damper with offset weighting, and the flywheel) to correct for internal imbalance (small block Fords in particular), and most are internally balanced today. However, most still use a 'crankshaft damper' (probably the more correct term, the one that Ford uses). Toyota calls ours a 'pulley' but it does have the rubber band separating the center section from the pulley section, making it a 'crankshaft damper', so I would not replace it with a solid or lightweight pulley.
 
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