citizen

So I've seen/read the posts and articles about the harmonic vibration problems that aftermarket pulley's present, but has anyone tried mimicking the stock style rubber insert on an aftermarket pulley? I was thinking that, if done with enough precision, an NST pulley (which is pretty much a solid center unlike ZPI version) could be lined with urethane or something similar that would hold it's shape/form, stick to the aluminum, and dampen vibrations. Any thoughts on this?

citizen

c'mon people. I understand this is a precision engineered peice, but I know we've got some engineers out there that would have an opinion worth hearing.

hPower

The problem with doing such a project would be the cost. Ask the guys at NST why they do not add the little rubber insert into their pulleys and they will tell you the same thing. In order for such a pulley to be built they would have to sell them to us for $250 to $300 each! NST has a hard enough time selling their badass pulleys for $100!!!

And yeah, there have been theories and online books written to suggest that solid aluminum pulleys could lead to potential problems after looooong term use, but how many cases of this have we actually seen in the real world? The chances of you having problems are almost next to none.

Dont worry too much, just run the NST stuff and go home happy. I have been using their pulleys for the past 60K to 70K with no problems what so ever.

Whocares05050

Wow, this discussion again?

Im pretty sure that our engines come internally balanced and that the pulley will not harm the engine in any shape or form. If everyones so damn worried about harming the engine, DONT MOD YOUR CAR! period. If your that concerned leave your car stock, and invest your money else were.



Sorry for ranting

citizen

No need to uselessly rant. I know the topic of power pulley's has been discussed countlessly. But rather, I'm inquiring further about mimicking the stock harmonic damper. Someone at work mentioned tool dip. Just mask off what you don't want covered. Wonder if that would stay on at 6k rpm?

kungpaosamuraiii

The problem is not whether or not you can get dampening on the pulley, it's how much and what kind of dampening.

With the right dampening you will eliminate almost all vibration while the wrong dampening will leave all of it there.

Believe it or not, the OEM pulley was overengineered to dampen harmful torsional vibrations. (btw, as said, the engine is internally balanced for harmonics; it's the torsional vibration we're worried about.) That's why I wouldn't replace the OEM pulley with an unengineered piece of solid aluminum, no matter how light it is.

Anyways, to get a properly dampened pulley, you'll need some fine equipment to measure when the vibrations become most harmful and how to dampen the pulley. It's all black magic to me so I'll leave it to experts and I won't take off what Toyota engineers feel is necessary on my engine.

If you're worried about decreasing your engine's lifespan, don't mod. If you're worried about a premature and catastrophic engine failure, don't get a solid pulley. If you're ready to deal with increased maintenance over the lifespan of your car, go ahead and mod. If you've enough money to easily replace an engine and/or the car doesn't see much usage (as in a show car or magazine project car) then get a solid lightweight pulley as these show a relatively large performance gain per dollar. If you want these types of gain but 100% safely, get a light weight flywheel.

mattvs

As of yet there are no companies that have developed one for the tC. However, once the demand for them is there, expect them to be released. Keep an eye on Fluidamper, TCI, and ATI for their development.

And to be perfectly honest, 2-300 dollars for completely safe and reliable power is damn worth it.

Kilo6_one

snore...........this this topic again?

mattvs

In my opinion this is a different topic than the others. There's no real argument on either side. This thread is devoted to the development of pullies with dampers on them instead of the ones without. We all know about those, however, info on potential pullies with dampers is hard to come by.

The three companies I mentioned will probably be the ones who develop aftermarket pullies that include a damper, however, that won't happen until the demand is high enough to justify research and development.

So...not for a while.

Kilo6_one

I can tell you NST probably will not do that, (what your saying) they are very confident as is regarding the quality of the product as it sits now. everything that is negative that can occur from pullies from what i have read is based on information from older cars.
I have seen the pullies you have mentioned, and they are pricy around 350.00-400.00 but they do have the rubber peice.

UR has been around longer then most, If anyone would do it i would expect them, also other companies like billet specialites makes pullies as well for hot rods, and everyone i know who does use billet specialies on thier classic hot rods have not had any issues. I think any negative effects on any car will come with time, and were talking 60k or higher.

Billman

I did contact UR at one time, they said if there was enough interest they would consider production. Not enough interest and not enough people will pay their price for pulley so just keep