balancer spacer?

ratrapp

New Member
Apr 24, 2004
510
0
0
buena vista,va
i need a new balancer for my 5.0 and figured that i would get a new sfi one.i looked at the professional products ones from latemodel resto.the same #balancer that i've seen on ebay from various places say you have to measure the height of the balancer and you may have to order a spacer.has anybody used these before or had any experience with them?i don't want to have to shim the pulleys,if it's too much trouble i may have to empty the wallet for a tci or ati balancer.late model says nothing about ordering shims or spacers.
 
yep. i might get the LRS unit and know it is right. when i was lookin at them, the price difference was marginal between LRS and online vendors (other vendors wanted 10-15 bucks for the spacer).
quite a few folks have liked their PP street damper.

Pioneer makes a nice non SFI unit for around the same dollars too.

good luck.
 
ratrapp said:
so they know which spacer we need for our cars?i might order one from them ,i just didn't want to have to take the balancer off to measure it,then put it back on,it's my daily driver,thanks guys.
i hear ya. when i was calling around, most places did not know which spacer i would need and wanted me to measure. LRS has the shim included - good by me (they were backordered so i went elsewhere though).

i believe the Pioneer unit has a spacer included too - but im not real sure.

good luck.
 
March sells the spacers, I have one on the Fluidamper unit on the Capri, and I cannot remember what thickness it is right now. You probably could call March and ask, thats what I did a couple years ago.

I looked at dampers a couple days ago, and one site, Propower or something similar, had a good description of the balancers and what they fit, it is just what you are looking for. I will post it if I find it again today.
 
thanks guys,i'll try and see if lrs has them in stock now.i don't really want a pioneer balancer,i had one blow apart on my 68 nova about 5 years ago.it only had a 1k miles on it.thank god it didn't get the aluminum radiator or electric fan setup.ever since then i've tried to get brand name stuff,even if it costs a little extra and i have to save,it's worth it in the long run.
 
Ratrapp, sorry to hear about the Pioneer experience. i have always thought of them as one of the better balancers out there.
 
it was probably a fluke.i'm not downing their products,i just don't want to try another one.it's kind of like my proform fan.i've had it for 1 1/2 years and it's operated flawlessly but i hear other people have had bad luck with them.your going to get a bum part every now and then reguardless of the manufacturer.
 
ratrapp said:
it was probably a fluke.i'm not downing their products,i just don't want to try another one.it's kind of like my proform fan.i've had it for 1 1/2 years and it's operated flawlessly but i hear other people have had bad luck with them.your going to get a bum part every now and then reguardless of the manufacturer.
well said and i can understand your sentiments all the way. :)
the PP unit is reportedly nice (i have asked 5-10 people who run them what they think and got nothing but positive feedback).
 
i'm trying to get online now with latemodel to see if they have it in stock,i've used there typhoon intake for a year now and i like it despite the bashing it recieves for being an edelbrock ripoff.i can't justify the 200-300$ price difference in them.i think any sfi balancer would have to be better than a stock one.
 
ratrapp said:
i think any sfi balancer would have to be better than a stock one.
i thought the same till i was researched them a lot. for the most part, probably true. there is a dog or two out there.
 
i ordered it online.i didn't say it was in stock or not,hopefully it is.yeah i've seen sfi balancers on ebay new for $80 and a few even cheaper.hard to believe that they cost less than on oem replacement one.i'm sure there quality is probably not that great.my brother just spent over $300 for an ati balancer for his 400sbc 80 malibu.i was hoping i wouldn't have to spend quite that much.