• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

Ac delco vs Napa harmonic balancer?

B

bdemutis

Active Member
Messages
320
Reaction score
36
OK well I got my truck back she looks beautiful for only having the front painted anyway. I want to start getting her up to par with maintenance. I don't have allot of coin to play with and I know going cheap can lead to heart ache. But I'm wondering how does the napa balancer compare to the delco. I was just going to put oem lines and balancer on until I get money to get the upgraded ones but I seen that the napa is cheaper than rock auto. I was just wondering what every one else thinks about the Napa one I haven't even inspected my balancer I was just going to replace it to be safe rather than sorry.
 
Dorman does not have a good reputation with this part. Consider FT's advice. Worth every penny, but not inexpensive.
 
I don't have any personal experience with pro bond but I do know they make a high end balancer as well as a cheaper line. Its available thru O'Reilly's
 
It a known part that will snap the crankshaft. This is NOT the part to go cheap on period. the Dorman unit doesn't last as long as the GM dealer part. The GM dealer part doesn't last very well either so inspect it every oil change.
 
Well like I said I don't have $400 to spend on the fluid damper right know since I'm getting new tires tomorrow and have to get a front end alignment. I was just going to go with a AC Delco or a aftermarket one to get it replaced for know until I have money to waste.
 
IMO get the Delco on for now or get the upscale pro bond if available like AK stated. Then upgrade when funds are available. If WW says something is gonna break going cheap, it needs to be a temporary part. He is the Underwriters Laboratory for 6.5 diesels. Check the avatar. WW, thats a complement, most of what you break or like, gets upgraded on my truck. Thanks
 
hookedup50 said:
IMO get the Delco on for now or get the upscale pro bond if available like AK stated. Then upgrade when funds are available. If WW says something is gonna break going cheap, it needs to be a temporary part. He is the Underwriters Laboratory for 6.5 diesels. Check the avatar. WW, thats a complement, most of what you break or like, gets upgraded on my truck. Thanks
Click to expand...
The powerbond one is the same price as the napa and dorman and the one powerbond is $417.99 so maybe its the same as a dorman one? http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/s...ickup+4WD&vi=1052659&year=1995&make=Chevrolet
I think I'll just go with ac delco.
 
Just crawled under my truck and tried to wiggle the balancer it had no play just looked rusty. I looked through my receipts I got with the truck head studs and head gasket were done in 2011 along with the oil cooler lines truck was serviced a lot and well taken care of from what I seen in receipts. The head gasket studs and oil lines were from NAPA. So were all 8 injectors but they were from a diesel shop.
 
what you need to look for is failing rubber on the HB check both sides if it looks good I'd leave it and keep an eye on it. my original on my 96 has almost 300k on it
 
As someone who sells Dorman (well, Balkamp; I work for Napa...) I can honestly say that I would opt for a Dorman if in a must have situation. I was kind of in the same situation so I got the Dorman for the Suburban. For now it is a good part. Dorman is good only in that they are usually the first to market what everyone else hasn't caught up with or simply will not market. I would keep one eye on it though.

Edit I wouldn't be surprised if all 3 were the same balancer. Dorman contracts out almost all their stuff, a lot being reboxed product. After selling Delco for over 10 years and having other product lines to compare to, I haven't been real impressed with Delco either.
 
Last edited:
6.5TD Burb said:
As someone who sells Dorman (well, Balkamp; I work for Napa...) I can honestly say that I would opt for a Dorman if in a must have situation. I was kind of in the same situation so I got the Dorman for the Suburban. For now it is a good part. Dorman is good only in that they are usually the first to market what everyone else hasn't caught up with or simply will not market. I would keep one eye on it though.

Edit I wouldn't be surprised if all 3 were the same balancer. Dorman contracts out almost all their stuff, a lot being reboxed product. After selling Delco for over 10 years and having other product lines to compare to, I haven't been real impressed with Delco either.
Click to expand...
I sell dorman to I usually try and steer clear of dorman and driveworks. I did put dorman diesel injector O rings in my 7.3 but then sold it.
 
Fluid Damper is unnecessary, but, on this engine it can be the fine line between running and a busted crankshaft. So it's better justified on this engine than almost anything else out there. FWIW GM went cheap on the crankshaft for this engine. Just inspect it for rubber falling out or bulging as per above every oil change. Yes, AC Delco is falling down on part quality and I refuse to run the "new" AC Delco E Core nylon innards oil filter that looks like a Fram copy felt/cardboard endcaps and all. (Seriously I am afraid of the AC Delco E Core filters cheap design.)

Dorman is the choice of last resort as generally their rubber isn't up to long term exposure to AZ temperatures. Batteries/tires/rubber tires etc. are all common failure parts due to heat. Several posts of early failures with the Dorman part.
 
WarWagon said:
Fluid Damper is unnecessary, but, on this engine it can be the fine line between running and a busted crankshaft. So it's better justified on this engine than almost anything else out there. FWIW GM went cheap on the crankshaft for this engine. Just inspect it for rubber falling out or bulging as per above every oil change. Yes, AC Delco is falling down on part quality and I refuse to run the "new" AC Delco E Core nylon innards oil filter that looks like a Fram copy felt/cardboard endcaps and all. (Seriously I am afraid of the AC Delco E Core filters cheap design.)

Dorman is the choice of last resort as generally their rubber isn't up to long term exposure to AZ temperatures. Batteries/tires/rubber tires etc. are all common failure parts due to heat. Several posts of early failures with the Dorman part.
Click to expand...
Well it looks like I will be going with the Ac Delco for now if I need to replace it if not I will save up for the fluid damper. Does any one have a picture of a bad one on the engine so I can get a good reference of where to look and what to look for because when I laid under there yesterday I felt like it was hard to see that the sub frame was kind of in the way.

Edit: I just went outside I looked at it with a flash light It looks rusty but I cant see anything I cant even see in-between the pulley and balancer the sub frame is in the way.
 
Last edited:
97ef1fd11641b9f39f685f8eeec06b6e.jpg

b7a9b23d715009cc73d586eb12e25be7.jpg

Pictures of my pully and harmonic balancer.
 
need a real closeup. probably be better to go look at a new one even a SBC balancer would look similar as far as the rubber is concerned
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top