well i got my unit today from ati...

Very VERY VERY SUPER VERY nice.. i feel SO MUCH safer... i have double keyed my crank and this thing came double keyed already...

it CAN'T BE clearer than this

I no longer have the pic

I feel so much better that is not going to break my snout!!!!

 

Yes, it does appear to be quite robust!

Just a reminder, you really want to put some clear coat or something on this so it doesn't rust. 3 weeks got surface rust on mine.

 

I got you from last one.. and i will

 

Can you purchase the damper with the big block hub, or do you you have to buy it with the small block hub, and then buy the bb one?

 

You can buy it with the bb hub right from ATI.

--Sean

 

Well in my case... they sent me the bb hub AND sb hub... total with 2nd day shipping was 571

 

At what level should this be done to the car,

When should you get the key(one)
When should you go to 2 keys,
what do's it cost to cut the crank.

 

cost of crank i don't know as when i did it was with the build up so its included...

one key for ANY supercharger...
2 keys AND BB hub for T-trim or bigger i would say if you want to really play it safe... i don't think the T-trim is a NECESSITY.. but the YS is.

 

Well, I hate to install more doubt into the minds of fellow gearheads but the following has been my personal experience in this area.

I used to have a Fluidampr. It cracked along the keyway and in the process of failing, it chewed up my crank keyway. I had to replace the stock crank. I did so with a 4340 forging and replaced the balancer with the ATI Super Damper with BB hub. I then broke the snout off the new crank! The way I see this, the BB hub is so strong that it makes the snout itself the weak link. I even considered drastic measures:

http://www.rcdengineering.com/

The cost of this "solution" was rather high so I decided against it. I've since gone the twin turbo route because I'm tired of this, not to mention how much thinner my wallet is.....

 

Willie, did you bust it with serpentine belts or with cog belts?

 

Jim,

The initial failure with the Fluidampr was with a 12-rib serpentine. I used to see lots of belt dust so the belt was on extremely tight. On a third gen, ATI does not supply a tensioner -- we're on our own when it comes to tighening the belt. The second failure occurred after less than 1,000 miles on a relatively loose cog belt.

Willie

 

Wow, I must say I'm honestly surprised. I have heard that the cog systems were much easier on the crank because they do not require as much belt tension. There are lots of guys out there both on GM and Ford platforms using large blowers and running lots of boost, and I can't imagine that this problem has not been solved yet as I see many people doing this without a problem, or at least not a large enough problem to make them ditch the setup. What kind of crank were you using? Have investigated any other possible reasons why the second setup did not work?

 

On another note, has anyone investigated pinning the crank to prevent the hub from spinning and to spread the load out over a larger area? It's my understanding this is how the LS1 cars are.

 

I've always heard that cogs are worse for the crank on LT1 cars because of the position of the blower... You tend to put more pressure on the crank with the cog because it doesn't give any, it continues to turn and never slip..

--Sean

 

Wow, I must say I'm honestly surprised.

I cannot describe the disbelief I went through when this happened in April. I felt my engine was bulletproofed yet the snout sheared right off.


I have heard that the cog systems were much easier on the crank because they do not require as much belt tension.

Exactly. And because my engine was just rebuilt, I was running my belt rather loosely.... I had no intentions of goosing it until the engine was broken in.

....at least not a large enough problem to make them ditch the setup.

I agree. However, I have just a minute amount of doubt that it will happen again. That's because we examined the engine in very close detail when it was disassembled, searching for any reason why this happened. We found nothing. So a couple of months ago, while my "new" engine was being built (again), I was apprehensive about going back to the F1, or any blower. I'm not made of $$$ and one premature failure like this is all I can swallow. So instead of spending more bucks for another possible failure, I decided to spend the same bucks to convert to twin turbos.


What kind of crank were you using? Have investigated any other possible reasons why the second setup did not work?

I knew you would eventually ask. This is a very long story. In a nutshell, we believe the crank was defective. I am filing a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer but more on this after it becomes official. Once it's in the books, I will post information about this manufacturer on every car related website I know of.... Stay tuned for this. If you want to know who it is, please e-mail me as I will not devulge this information on the internet until it's official. I will say one thing: This lawsuit is gonna be huge!

Willie