Which U/D pullies? Are they worth it?

MoonlightGT · Feb 20, 2007

i was thinking of picking up some underdrive pullies.....which do u recommend and why? Also did u fell any gains with them? How hard was they install?

Pennywise2 · Feb 20, 2007

Underdrive pulleys are a waste of money.
I didn't feel any gain from them.
Spend your coin somewhere else.

19mustang95 · Feb 20, 2007

i think they are, btu im gonna take mine off soon once i find some stock ones and some time...preparing for a supercharger

imp:

freefallin98 · Feb 20, 2007

really, cuz I thought they helped quite a bit on my bros 99 gt. we installed them in a few hours besides the fact that we had to locate an impact wrench lol. I wanna get some for my car though. It revs a lot faster IMO bc of the reduced drag on the belts.

AaRoN · Feb 21, 2007

BBK, Steeda and March make good pullies. I have BBK on my car and noticed a pretty decent gain. Especially towards the top of the tach. If you plan on just staying "all motor" then it's a good investment.

95-stang · Feb 21, 2007

I bought March, must admit, good quality, not sure about any power gains but they look great.

gt96stang · Feb 21, 2007

Eh, it's my personal preference to stay away from the piggyback style.. seen/heard too many bad things and that's how I ended up with steeda's... Plus they are SFI spec..

94twinscrew · Feb 21, 2007

If you're going to run them,get the nitrade steel ones,because the aluminum eventually wear and will fail.........my steeda water pump pulley imploaded after two years of driving,and left me stranded in a parking lot :comando: Gains are like 10hp at best,but if you're staying NA,it's an option at least. If you're radiator is old,you will notice cooling issues in the summer.......and they're not "system" friendly at idle.

96sohc · Feb 21, 2007

If you must have them, Steeda and nothing else.
If I were to do it again, I would have spent the money somewhere else.

Fets · Feb 21, 2007

94twinscrew said:
If you're going to run them,get the nitrade steel ones,because the aluminum eventually wear and will fail.........my steeda water pump pulley imploaded after two years of driving,and left me stranded in a parking lot :comando: Gains are like 10hp at best,but if you're staying NA,it's an option at least. If you're radiator is old,you will notice cooling issues in the summer.......and they're not "system" friendly at idle.

+1

jpajkos · Feb 21, 2007

I picked up 8 rwhp from my steeda's. I spent a womping 130 bucks on ebay for a power gain of 8. I would say worth it? YES

Wes8398 · Feb 21, 2007

I was shopping for a used set a while back, and decided against them mainly because of all the troubles I read about with charging issues and also cooling issues after installing them. The solution to charging issues was just to skip the alternator's underdrive pully since it didn't contribute to gains much anyway. The cooling issues I never really got any straight information on. Don't know how it's caused or what can prevent it. I do have a few questions though, since this seems to be the appropriate place to ask. What exactly is the "piggy-back" style? Are the claims of having cooling/charging issues warranted, or due to other factors? Solutions?

gt96stang · Feb 21, 2007

"Piggyback" style is where the stock crank pulley is bolted on with the new underdrive pulley and put back onto the car..
Whereas non-piggyback, such as steeda, replaces the crank pulley with an entirely new pulley.

smasher41 · Feb 21, 2007

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MCH%2D1175&N=700+4294908331+4294908282+4294924677+4294840044+115&autoview=sku

is this set any good for a 1998 GT , also is it a piggy back one or not?

thanks!

Pennywise2 · Feb 21, 2007

I had Steeda underdrive pulleys and after the install my mustang
would run hotter no matter the season or weather.I didn't notest any gains so,
I simply wouldn't waste my coin on them and spend my coins elsewhere.

jpajkos · Feb 21, 2007

Spend your coins on what? An STI?

94twinscrew · Feb 22, 2007

Wes8398 said:
I was shopping for a used set a while back, and decided against them mainly because of all the troubles I read about with charging issues and also cooling issues after installing them. The solution to charging issues was just to skip the alternator's underdrive pully since it didn't contribute to gains much anyway. The cooling issues I never really got any straight information on. Don't know how it's caused or what can prevent it. I do have a few questions though, since this seems to be the appropriate place to ask. What exactly is the "piggy-back" style? Are the claims of having cooling/charging issues warranted, or due to other factors? Solutions?

Both claims of poor charging and cooling are very warranted,mainly the cooling,but guys with systems,and a lot of aftermarket accessories,hate them most. Skipping the alt pulley helps the charging issue,but it is still kinda present.....because the smaller crank pulley still turns everything slower,so at idle the voltage regulator has to work a little harder than it normally would. (but it's still better than with the UD alt pulley)

There's no good solution for the cooling issue,because no matter how you dice it,the waterpump will always be spinning 40% slower than it normally should......slower means less coolant going through your engine,which means more heat. If your car is already modded,it's even more noticable.

Ford did it right on the 93 cobra..... they use a traditional sized UD crank pulley,15% UD Alt pulley,and a(smaller than stock) Overdriven waterpump pulley, to bring the waterpump back up to it's normal operating speed. It was a perfect balance....too bad no other company saw the benefit of it. :dunno: