To balance or not to balance

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Xaero3953

Senior Member
Rest In Peace
OMG. I just searched this forum for a solution to my question. I typed in "lightweight flywheel" and 68498765461321.3 threads popped up, and they all say the same thing. "IS IT WORTH IT...?" OMG. I have done a lot of research and whatnot, and have decided to employ a lightweght flywheel in my EK. My question is balancing it.

Does it come pre balanced, or can the local pep boys, for instance, balance it for me? Some come with a "rough balance" but I can't seem to find any that come completely pre-balanced.

Thanks :laugh:
 
if you buy it from act or anyone its already balanced.....

how ever if your like me and lightened your factory flywheel...then you need to have the machine shop lighten it and they'll balance it...
 
:werd:

It SHOULD be balanced... but check it just to make sure. You should balance all of your engine's rotating assembly components too- but that only applies if you have the engine apart and you're building it back up.
 
i know of a certain civic that will have less torque now. but ya, have it checked. if it is not balanced, your engine is not going to run smoothly, not to mention the clutch will not work as well. oh, by the way, pep boys cant turn your flywheel. I used to work there. they will either send it to a shop for you or call someone to come turn it on location. I would advise that everyone stay the hell away from that place.
 
Dont waste your money on getting it ballanced. UNLESS your building a race car/ drag car. I wont even matter if you get it balanced unless your having your whole rotating assembly balanced at the same time.

Im pretty sure if you think about it... It will make sense.
 
Blanco @ Dec 17 2005 said:
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Um, no.

The flywheel spins at incredible RPMs and it's job is to store power. An out of balance flywheel will eventually spin itself right into the cabin of the car, even on a daily driver.
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when my flywheel was machined, he put it on some sort of machine that spins it real fast and he shot it with a light of some sort that read if it was all center or not. it was weird, but i havent had a prob yet.
next time around im just buying an aftermarket flywheel.
 
Blanco @ Dec 17 2005 said:
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Um, no.

The flywheel spins at incredible RPMs and it's job is to store power. An out of balance flywheel will eventually spin itself right into the cabin of the car, even on a daily driver.
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UM, YES.... It does make sense.... If your doing a build up and the engine is apart then balance everything as a whole. Flywheel, balancer, crank, pistons, rods..... And if your just installing a flywheel or doing a clutch and installing a flywheel then just thow it in there. Im serious, if its a new flywheel and never been installed and made from a QUALITY manufacture like ACT, FIDANZA, OR CENTERFORE then i suggest installing it. WHY? because they are balanced before you even see it. And as for you saying you had to get your aftermarket flywheel balanced even tho you had seen where weight was drilled out before hand.... Think about it, your local machine shop or driveline shop VS a MANUFACTURE that MAKES and BUILDS parts for MILLINOS of buyers.

Who's equipment and or tools would you trust to be more accurate?

The ones who have MILLIONS invested into R&D and equipment or the ones who just have decent equipment.?.?.?




BTW: I've installed A LOT of OEM and aftermarket flywheels....
I have another question for ya, being you know exactly what a NOT 100% balanced flywheel will do. Answer this: So why is it the HONDA dealership will pull your factory clutch and "re-surface/turn" your factory flywheel that weighs right in @ 20 LBS and then install it back to your block after they just took anywhere from .005-.20 thousandths off? And i can promise you that a mass of 20LBS turning 8000 RPM's will be more noticeable than 8 LBS turning 8000 RPM's.

Ill just say in the last 5 yrs of business ive done around 65 Honda swaps. About 2 years ago i started building honda/acura's and getting into drag/street.
 
Blanco @ Dec 18 2005 said:
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Hey, if you want to risk having your foot cut off so you can cut some corners...go right on ahead. I'll spend the $40 extra and take safety over an amputation. I leave very little to chance. I'm somewhat surprised that you advocate just throwing a motor together, with all of you're supposed experience.

No, my aftermarket flywheel did not have balance points drilled out when I received and it was suppposed to be pre-balanced. It was not balanced. Which is why I said it needed to be balanced.

Honda's flywheels, much like their crankshafts, are balanced before they leave the factory. Putting that flywheel on a lathe to resurface will take the same amount of material off of the entire face, hence still balanced. Now, if you take off enough material to make it a 12lbs. flywheel instead of a 20lbs. flywheel, you're probably going to want to have it rebalanced due to drastically changing the rotational mass.

"Im pretty sure if you think about it... It will make sense."
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First off: I would like to know where i had told him to "just thow the motor together" i HAD stated that if the flywheel was from a QUALITY manufacture then everything should be just fine if it was brand new.

Obviously you got a cheap flywheel from some company who doesnt care that you have a nice product with a easy install.

"And for my supposed experience"...... LOL, LMAO, I bow cause im sure you have been working on vehicles with hands on for 8 yrs and own two successfull businesses with 5 bays, two lathes, 4-wheel alignment machine, tire & wheel mount and balancing machines, tubing bender, 8 employees and like i said i have been around a little while for my age. And if you wonder why i may ask questions on this board is because i know i dont know everything and i learn every single day. But that is how i got to where i am today in my successful career. If you want to argue about a flywheel and it being balanced then i suppose you can think of more to say but i will say; im done. I was trying to give some input. I guess i dont have enough posts on here to be worthy.... :worthy:

Brian knows who i am in a round about way..... And he knows im not one to type some b/s answer and waste my time. I have very little post for two reasons.

1. I dont care to reply to posts that have the correct answers etc... I have seen a few Very Intelligent people on here and give them credit, compared to many of the other forums out there.
2. I am VERY busy and have little time to attend to any forum, but keep in mind i like to when i have time.


Back to the flywheel flying off coming thu the firewall...... If you were look over my previous post it states that if it came from ACT, FIDANZA, AND OR CENTERFORCE i would just install it. IF IT CAME FROM ANYONE else then have it checked. So chill out, and take a deep breath before you try to rip me one.
 
im with blanco on this one. any non-oem flywheel should be balanced...
 
I got a an 8 lber, had it rebalanced and would have anyu flywheel I bought rebalanced. I would trust that independent machinist over a company who sells millions of them for a few reasons. One being, that the flywheels are not all being watched, they are being made and balanced by a computer/machine, packaged and shipped. The computer/machines can make mistakes just as well as a human.

I'd rather put my trust in a person over a machine.

Everyone has their opinions and I can honestly say I've just "thrown" in "lightened flywheel" and I've had one balanced.

I crashed the non balanced one and blew the balanced one up (not flywheel related).
 
Alright, end of story. To each is own. I have NEVER checked Fidanza or ACT flywheels before i have installed them. Those are the two flywheels brands i sell a lot of and install a lot of. Never had a issue and i prefer to trust them being most of them are SFI rated and approved. and their equipment is recalibrated more often than a small machine shops equipment. If you think about it, how often do you hear of local machine shops doing something wrong or unpropper. I hear it a lot and not saying it will happen to you or your friend. Heck one of my best friends owns a machine shop and im not saying i wouldn't trust him but anyways.... Its not worth b1tching about. A forum is to help one another not to flame.


Like i said, to each is own.


Good Luck to all! :thumbsup:

BTW: StandardFlywheels.com Seems to be a good place. Honestly i never heard of them before.


How do they compare on price and availability for the Honda/Acura/Mitsubishi/Subaru?


Anyone know?
 
all of us at MPF that have lightened fly's have them balanced.

i, for one, will have my lightened fly balanced. im going with a fidanza for the 4g37, in my 4g63 build.
 
K, thanks for all that. I bought a centerforce dual friction clutch and pp. now what weight would be preferrable? The motor is pretty much stock right now, but will soon be boosted. I know the lighter, the quicker the throttle response, but lower the torque, right?
 
For mid to high HP cars boosted you want to keep the stock flywheel. WHY? Because you need that moving weight to keep the RPM'S up while shifting gears. If you go with a light flywheel it will be hard to drive in town and it will rev faster but also drop RPM"S too fast too.
 
Mid HP Boosted B-series cars make low/mid 300 hp daily driver. 375+ would be considered High hp for honda/acura daily driver. I would only consider these numbers for fully interior steet cars.


I will show my dyno sheet when i get it on the dyno.
 
I used an 8lber on about 250-260 hp.

I only stalled it once, but I would suggest a ~12#. My revs dropped rather quickly but also revved up a lot quicker. It wasjn't TOO bad in traffic.

I understand why he says to keep a stocker, but if I'm already in there. I'd throw a lighter one in.

I was going to put a lighter one in the Audi. Until I found out, most lightened flywheels in the A4 1.8T's or 2.8's make a noticeable clutch chatter. Not worth it IMO for a DD. :shrug2: In my civics, I never had a problem.
 
My .02 cents....

This thread sux. :p

Now that that's out of the way, you guys are ALL right. Do good manufacturers ballance their flywheels before you see them? You betcha. Has there ever been a problem with one of them being out of ballance? Sure, but its like 1 in a million. Flywheels go through a very stringent inspection and certification process and are much more closely monitored than most of you would think. These aren't just your average bang-it-together and ship it production machines, but rather multi-million dollar machines that have exacting tollerances and are checked daily to be in spec.

Do you need to ballance your flywheel before you drop it in? No. Should you? yeah, probally. It's a good idea to have your entire rotating assembally ballanced, it will save your parts in the long run and it really doesn't cost that much. Plus it eases the mind at 8000 rpms+.

And BTW you guys with 8 lb flywheels are fucking nuts, i would NEVER go lower than 10 lb unless it was on a track only road racing car. But to each his own I guess.....
 
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