What are the disadvantages to a lightened underdrive crank pulley? Are there any problems they create? Any manufacturers to stay away from?

THANKS

 

broken belts and engine vibrations if it's not installed correctly

also less voltage depending on which one you get but this is only important if you have a big audio system

 

Stay away from RVM, Cosmo, or any other cheap brand as they:
Done have a brass sleeve which leads to oil leaks.
May have a mis cut timing ring which leads to engine running rough.

 

which brand/one do you suggest Jsutter?

 

I was looking at the Unorthodox Racing.
http://www.hopupracing.com/unrapoulstli2.html

 

UR is the only way to go if you really want one, but I would spend money else where. A crank pulley is pretty much useless and gives minimal gains.

 

Unorthodox,Yeah thats the one I have on my yellow max I felt a lil dif. in my pick up. but if u want to feel a big dif. get the whole kit. thats going to be next on my to do list.

 

off subject, but did you buy Sadlers car?

 

yeah...I've had it for 8mos

 

What is the whole kit?

 

I believe its all your pullies.

 

yeah i believe its all teh pullies + if ur manual, get a light weight flywheel to go with it... then ull know what i am talking about.

 

yeah get a motostorm or unorthodox brand only. I've had mine for a while and haven't noticed anything bad.

 

Whats do need if you have an auto?

 

I'd go with the UR pulley. I have the motostorm and I'm not too happy with it. Don't get my wrong, I have no BIG problems....it just doesn't seem to be the best quality. I've had to fight belt noise with it, and it was chewing one of my belts for a while. It had the slightest wobble to it, and I had to take it off and put it back on with an impact. Also, I'm not sure I trust the precision of the timing ring on it...

I noticed quite a bit with it, but I'm a 5spd so I can't speak for autos. It's not super amazing, and won't yield gains like a y-pipe, but you'll feel it. Plus, if you're running out of mods, this is just one more thing you can do.

 

since you're unhappy with it i'll buy it from you so that u can buy a UR pulley...

im serious...

 

I have a UR stock-sized pulley and noticed (read: felt) some gains, but nothing worth bragging about (the stock size is not much heavier than the UDP, and plus I didn't want to sacrifice my voltage as I have a audio system). It's very minimal and only those who know their car very well will feel it. I'm still curious to see what the actual numbers are with HP and torque gains, if any. But are the gains I felt worth it? For most people, I'd say NO. But I'm extravagant with my maxima and 1) like the car revving a bit faster (gets the car faster to that 3K mark where you really start to feel the gains from the y-pipe) and 2) like the coolness factor of having that nice shiny machined peice of art bolted to my crank. I do agree with everyone when they say that money can be better spent on other items, however.

Oh yeah...and the quality of the UR pulley is excellent, as is their customer service. I haven't had any vibration issues, and no issues with belts wearing/shredding prematurely. Of course with the stock-sized pulley I'm using OEM belts, so that may be better quality than the Gates belts the UDP guys use and thus the reason why I have't had any belt issues. I think I have around 6K miles on my pulley.

 

Not to go offtopic but had a question, my car made horrible screeching sounds, so I figured it was the belts, changed both the belts, the sound still persists. So I finally figured it was the power streering belt, I sprayed water on it while on and the sound goes away, so thats definately it, now its brand new, still does that.

So further analysis showed a wobbling pulley, its got me concerned, and also if its the reason the screeching belt sound is being heard. If its cheap to change it, I would love to do so. Please advise. I am asking because you said something about sound and screeching with a wobbling pulley.

 

Trust me, it sounds appealing...but I don't have the extra cash right now for the UR. I'll keep it in mind tho.

A new pulley for the PS pump runs about $45 from Nissan. I would definitely suggest replacing it. The only thing is....it's a B***H to work with, even ON a rack. I don't know how much a dealership would charge for labor, but either way, paying for it or DIY, the labor will suck. And make sure you tighten the new one. I didn't...it loosened the nut and fell off...not cool.