Are BBK pulleys bad?

svogt · Apr 29, 2005

Q1.
I have a set of BBK pulleys I have yet to install. I haven't heard much good about these. I read lots of people say they mess up their engines and crank.
What is the deal with these? Is this a 100% problem. Most seem to go with steeda, whats the difference between the two?

Q2.
I have long tubes I want to install but I am waiting for someone to sell a used H-pipe. I was thinking about getting off-road pipes instead but I am 1# worried about noise, 2# about emissions (I read they push out lots of exhaust ). I want to buy cat backs later and I am worried about the noise leve these would have.

any advice?

OUR01GT · Apr 29, 2005

BBK pullies if installed correctly should give you no trouble.

Darkhorse845 · Apr 29, 2005

On a 4.6L the Steeda Underdrive pulleys are a better choice!

Nuar · Apr 29, 2005

do you really want to risk your engine to save a few bucks? if you want pulleys, get the steeda's and at least then you dont have to worry about anything

COramprat · Apr 29, 2005

I'm not a big fan of U/D pullies because they are only good for a few HP and maybe a tenth at the track. If you are racing hardcore and need that tenth then they are ok.

My experience is that they tend to wear out the alternator and battery. I went through two of each in the two years I had my pullies on. The pullies are now in my junk box in the utility room. But I do 35K miles a year so if you don't drive as much as i do they may last longer.

As far as the long tubes...anytime you open up the exhuast to gets louder. With LT's you would have to have either a catted midpipe or the O/R pipe made for longtube headers. The catted would be quieter than an O/R pipe. Basically you would have three choices...a catted H, an O/R H or an X pipe to go with the LT's.

V8mustangpride · Apr 30, 2005

I have the bbk pullies and had them on as my first mod and really like them, i have not had a problem in over 2 years with them.

StangPro · Apr 30, 2005

The problems they cause in most cases isn't noticable. What it'll do is reduce the life of the engine so it needs to be rebuilt at 80k miles instead of 120 or 150k.

In some cases (usually high revving or higher power cars) it'll cause sudden failure.

Either way, why risk it? To save a few bucks?
There are to many cases of people losing engines to play around.

Red mustang Gt 46 · Apr 30, 2005

I'm just curious...how would a set of underdrives wear out an engine, alternator, battery, etc...?

Underdrives do just what they are designed to do...underdrive the RPM at which the component operates. Slowing your water pump (reduces foaming of anti-freeze @ high RPMs which reduces overheating) slowing your alternator (reduces burned brushes and bearings @ high RPMs)

I've been using underdrives since 1988 and have not had one problem...been using my Steedas on my 1998 since 1998. I went through 3 Mustangs all with underdrives with many years of street and track with no problems at all.

Now back to the question...

I have personally use the BBK's (piggy back style) on my 5.0's but prefer the Steeda with the damper as the pulley for my 4.6

steedastang99 · Apr 30, 2005

PHP:

The problems they cause in most cases isn't noticable. What it'll do is reduce the life of the engine so it needs to be rebuilt at 80k miles instead of 120 or 150k.

I am by no means the authoriy on 4.6's but I find it hard to belive that pullies
will in any way damage your motor. I have had 2 mustangs and both had piggy back style, my current stang has over 70k and my old 96 had over 120k
with out a problem.

?????Please let us know how pullies will cause your motor to blow @ 80k?????

shakin'00GT · Apr 30, 2005

^^^^ Agreed. I use the SLP pulleys, mainly because I ordered them with my exhaust. I like the idea of replacing the dampener rather than have something riding on it. Just seems more logical to me. I hear good things about the Steedas also. If you're going through alternators, I would start looking for other causes. Like stereo amps, shorts, etc. Spinning a component slower is easier on bearings, brushes and other internals, NOT harder.

Nuar · Apr 30, 2005

steedastang99 said:
PHP:

The problems they cause in most cases isn't noticable. What it'll do is reduce the life of the engine so it needs to be rebuilt at 80k miles instead of 120 or 150k.

I am by no means the authoriy on 4.6's but I find it hard to belive that pullies
will in any way damage your motor. I have had 2 mustangs and both had piggy back style, my current stang has over 70k and my old 96 had over 120k
with out a problem.

?????Please let us know how pullies will cause your motor to blow @ 80k?????

Consider yourself lucky. I had piggyback pulleys on my car, and now i have a new motor. The piggyback caused more crank vibrations, and i think i spun a bearing..... Good luck to you though

StangPro · Apr 30, 2005

Red mustang Gt 46 said:
I'm just curious...how would a set of underdrives wear out an engine, alternator, battery, etc...?

THey won't, they only stress the engine

I've been using underdrives since 1988 and have not had one problem...been using my Steedas on my 1998 since 1998. I went through 3 Mustangs all with underdrives with many years of street and track with no problems at all.

Now back to the question...

I have personally use the BBK's (piggy back style) on my 5.0's but prefer the Steeda with the damper as the pulley for my 4.6

On 5.0's they were externallly balanced and a lot more forgiving. The 4.6's are very finicky.
The damper material is tuned for a specific damper weight. When piggybacks are used, the weight external to the block is changed but the damper material isn't changed.
To make things worse, most NON-piggy back dampers aren't tuned properly. Some companies go for cheap, and some even go as far as saying they are "SFI approved" which has nothing to do with removing harmonics.

What it comes down to is that it's your engine. Do the research and you'll find quite a few people who can attest to losing engines due to UD crank pulleys.
As a race engine builder, I can say they scare the hell out of me.

Steeda's seem safe, I haven't heard of any problems with the SLP (which may just be repackaged Steeda's, who knows), and the best overall choice seems to be running a UD water pump pulley with the Cobra R steering pulley leaving the stock damper in place.

COramprat · Apr 30, 2005

OK...a little school on electricity.

Underdrive pullies free up horsepower by turning the components of your car slower. The alternator charges the battery and in turn the battery runs your electrical accessories. By running the alt slower it works harder to keep the battery charged. It wears on the voltage regulator (the component of the alt that goes out most) and causes alt failure. As the voltage regulator begins to operate less efficiently over time the battery isn't getting charged as it should and it begins to work harder at it's job. So yes it does effect your electrical system.

As for the pullies wearing out an engine I don't see that happening unless they are installed improperly. Piggybacks are more likely to cause problems because of the extra step af attaching the stock crank to the UD pulley. That in turn could cause crank wobble and spin a bearing like was mentioned.

Each car and experience is different. As I said I drive alot of miles in a year so my pullies would wear on my system quicker than someone who only drives 10k a year. IF I were to go with UD pullies again I'd get the Steeda's or ARP's that have their own harmonic balancer and replace the stock crank.

shakin'00GT · Apr 30, 2005

I disagree that charging less makes an alt. "work harder". The battery may recieve less charge, hence the battery may not last as long. But, there is no internal gizmo cracking the whip on the alternator to make it put out more.

Red mustang Gt 46 · Apr 30, 2005

Stangpro...I totally agree. I've had a couple stock 5.0 balancers shred on me but nothing that has caused great stress on my engine. As far as 4.6 U/D's, I've only seen a couple cases where the O/D of the damper mount has caused premature wear on the front seal causing loss of oil. I just think for street use, reliability isn't a problem. Race engine is a different story...

BTW, I wasn't flaming in anyway, just wanted to hear some experiences.

COramprat · May 1, 2005

shakin'00GT said:
I disagree that charging less makes an alt. "work harder". The battery may recieve less charge, hence the battery may not last as long. But, there is no internal gizmo cracking the whip on the alternator to make it put out more.

The voltage regulator is providing a constant charge to the battery provided by the rotation of the stator inside brushes in the alternator. If the alternator is turning slower the voltage regulator has to try and maintain a consistant voltage to keep the battery charged at an optimum level. Maybe I'm not totally correct in wording but it is not charging the battery as it should.

Gearbanger 101 · May 2, 2005

Darkhorse845 said:
On a 4.6L the Steeda Underdrive pulleys are a better choice!

Really.....why is that?

StangPro · May 2, 2005

Gearbanger 101 said:
Really.....why is that?

Steeda has worked with SHM to tune the damper material in their pulleys to actually remove the harmonics that cause the problems.

Gearbanger 101 · May 2, 2005

StangPro said:
Steeda has worked with SHM to tune the damper material in their pulleys to actually remove the harmonics that cause the problems.

Actually, I know exactly why some prefer the Steeda pullies. I just wanted to hear what Spamhorse845 had to say about it. He loves to regurgitate things he sees other write, or adds he reads in Mustang magazines without any point to back them. I just wanted to see it he had any original though of his own on the subject as I suspect he never does…..but I guess I was correct?

Venom_Nitrous · May 2, 2005

UDP were the first mod on my car back in April 2000. No engine trouble or anything. I have Steeda UDP. I am on my original engine, alt., water pump, but I did get an optima yellow for the quick charging.

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