• 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!

Crankshaft pulleys

SnowDrift

Ultra Conservative. ULTRA!
Messages
3,228
Reaction score
4,213
Location
Central Ohio map dot
There seem to be a number of options for crankshaft pulleys on the market. There are OEM, aftermarket, solid, arm style and maybe others. Has anyone done testing/comparison on any of them to determine which performs best through a range of conditions?

There is an argument about the OEM style absorbing shock loads the solid style will not. There may also be an argument that a balanced rotating assembly wouldn't have a need for this.
 
think if GM put there a dumper pulley there was a reason, it would have cost much less to put a fixed pulley when they progected this engine,...know is another part need to change before or later, and would like not to change part for money saving, a fixed pulley has very long life vs OEM
but would like also to protect crankshaft from not needed vibrations, and its depend to much from accessories and their conditions
A/C, alternator, ect.
just to give an example, there are not only stationary accessories, which lead to stress on the belt as the revs change, but also on/off situations,
think when A/C clutch on and off what happen on drive belt
 
ACDelco GM Original Equipment 12557345 Crankshaft Pulley, not made in USA, where??.. i don't know...
DAYCO PB1194N PowerBond Premium available now on Rockauto
made in Australia (my best choise)
Dorman crankshaft pulley, only if you buy with life warranty, someone, time ago had this warranty from seller....i don't know now.
 
the original pulley made in USA by Briggs & Stratton is always there in service after about 200k miles and 28 years later, have a PowerBond pulley stored when will happen
 
Not to pick on Alex, many had the same thoughts, so let’s address them in some detail.

As to billet pulley undoes effects of a fluidampr so you are better of keeping the huge piece of rubber pulley -
Ya might want to consider almost every engine in existence uses a solid pulley. Can someone please show me a mouse motor or rat motor with the rubber pulley? How about the cummins? Hemi? 289 from their mustang?
Are all those undoing the effects of the fluidampr? Or maybe could the rubber in the factory pulley be undoing the effects of the fluidampr?

What about the billions of cars and trucks made with solid pulleys over the years- the a/c compressor, p/s pump, etc all sending vibrations and rotational pulses into the belt. By the way, what’s going to absorb them first — the belt tensioner or a crankshaft? Think that through a minute. The pulse is created by the AC compressor tugging on the belt…if major will simply make the pulley move. Stop reading for a minute go outside, pop your hood to start the engine stare at that belt tensioner.

There is legitimate conversation of - does the lack of rubber affect balance- until you do what I did. Paid the machinist to do the balance work, then bolt on the pulley to the front and see if one vs the other affects the balance. guess what? It doesn’t. Infact, when he tried it at a couple different rpms, the rubber pulley did affect it. Guess what else- I brought a really old one I had that had not started cracking yet and had under 80,000 miles on it from a truck that sat and when he did leaking front seal, put in new balancer and and pulley. And brought a newish one that had about 20,000 miles on it that I bought from Henderson Chevrolet dealership. There was a difference in those two. Very slight- but a difference.

Chris want to see one in action on his engine- and since I have other stuff to send him for coating, I can throw mine in and just send stuff now rather than later. And seeing with/without runs on video would be cool.


But let’s not get the impression on this thread that there isn’t people out there running them now. Could be as simple as @Burning oil - can you post video of yours running on your truck and have your wife turn on/off A/C compressor, etc?

It could be the billet pulley is the end of mankind as we know it. I just don’t see it.
Massive compression has massive rotational pulsing. That will pulse the belt and cause it to work the belt tensioner more because the fine pulses that the rubber pulley normally absorbs gets smoothed out. No one is questioning that- it’s obvious. But the concept the rubber pulley is there to protect the crankshaft from the mega-forces of an a/c compressor is laughable at best. There would be millions and millions of broken crankshafts from all the solid metal pulleys.

One could argue that the rubber pulley is part of or an extension of the harmonic balancer to ease the unbalanced rotating mass on the crankshaft. Ahh, but can we go back in the Time Machine and remember one silly detail?
GM BUILT MANY 6.2 and 6.5 WITH SOLID BELT DRIVE PULLEYS!!!!
Just because the one or two you may currently own doesn’t have it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. None of the 6.2 /6.5 generators I saw ever had a rubber pulley. And there is a big customer that bought many- the US Military. What- you don’t see many hmmwv engines where you are- ok. Here is a picture for you. Please not the crankshaft breaking in the hmmwvs are not even a known issue because it happens so rare.
C106B0B9-A699-4667-8C0F-628A96BE2F4C.png
 
@alex1234
Those of us that worked in GM dealerships might have a different opinion as to the manufacturer being briggs and stratton - I remember specifically talking to the AC Delco rep when there was a training class about why GM did not mandate changing both rubber pulley and balancer at the same time. If B&S was making them- they were boxing them up and labeling them as AC Delco, or Delco contracted it out to B&S?

Please explain.

In the fleet, and on my own, I always recommend both get changed at the same time.
I have done and seen only pulley changed on high mileage balancers and only balancer changed but not pulley MANY TIMES. I have done it trying one one, then both and seen the difference— and done that comparison on more than one engine.
 
comparisons? No. Just experiences.
Compare the balancers by same companies- doorman failing at 30,000 miles.
Doorman pulleys failing by 40,000 miles.
We are talking complete failures noted by several people. I people go get a junkyard one for $5 instead if you cant afford a GOOD NEW ONE. Save the money and geta good new one next year.

Search here and the other well known 6.5 forums. The info is out there. This is why we just cut to the quick on things like this. You will spend 6 months to build this theead into the same details already covered multiple times before.

AC Delco. The only other viable answer is a solid pulley, and currently Leroy’s billet is the only 6 groove available. There are multiple for other belts available but changing everything else to match it is ridiculous as the idea that a solid pulley is the end of a crankshaft.
 
If going the power bond route they make a stock and a performance version of the HB. Might be worth checking to see if they have a better pulley too.
I wasn't aware of a performance version, is this from GM? or what is the difference between the two? I would assume the performance version would be better balanced for higher RPM's ?
 
Powerbond is an aftermarket company - aka DAYCO.

I have heard of 6 people besides myself that tried the dayco aka powerbond.
3 of them failed in under 100,000. Thats 4/6. Thats over 66% failure rate.

I had a stock 6.5 internal with the hx35 on it in my 97 3500, (when i would own a ds4) about 110,000 miles installed the dayco. Replaced the engine and it’s 3 piece crankshaft at about 190,000 miles. I had checked the balancer maybe 1 month before and all looked ok. I heard a rattle sound going down The freeway at 70 mph. Pulled over and didn’t notice what is was. Got home 20 minutes later and next morning examined closer to find the out ring free. Swapped it where it sat snd the rattle was less but there. Had wife start the truck while I watched the engine and realized what happened. Btw, NO CRACKS in the mains- not a single one. But the crank chewed through the main bearing in #3 and damaged the block under it. All the rods were straight, no piston damage. One could argue the crankshaft failed and ruined the balancer somehow I suppose. But i have seen this story too many times.
 
Back
Top