Just saw this in the latest Jegs catalong, page 28.

Looks pretty good, meets SFI 18.1 specs and its cheaper than the Fluidampr or ATI units. The damper itself is ~$200 but you have to use their hub with it and is ~$90.

Comes in two different versions, std and a 10% underdrive. Plus the hubs come in both the 93-95 and 96-97 styles. The ad does not mention if the hub is keyed or not, hopefully it is...

Any comments? Just thought I would bring it up in case someone was looking for an upgraded unit.

 

Not interested unless it's blower-friendly

JR

 

I would think it would have to be keyed for it to function as it's designed to.

 

The factory LT1 hubs have no key way.

JR

 

From the Jegs magazine:

That should answer that question. The pulleys are a 1-piece damper/pulley/hub design, and are 6-ribbed.

51605 = standard pulley: $199.99
51606 = 10% underdrive pulley: $209.99
51607 = Short Crank Hub: $79.99
51608 = Long Crank Hub: $89.99

I'd like to hear more info about them, along w/ why they offer both a short and long hub. Wonder why you can't use a stock-type hub. Still, the combo is $80 cheaper than say a Fluidampr.

Since this is a new item, their stores probably don't have them in stock quite yet. Next time I'm getting something at Jegs in a month or two (they are local to me), I'll check these out and see what they are like.

 

I suspect the short/long hub would be based on whether you have a reluctor ring for the crank sensor (=short hub, 1996-7) or not (=long hub, 1993-5).

Then again, I could be completely wrong.

Dave

 

I used the fluidamper on a 383 I built for a friend. It's very nice except I remember the price being over 300 bucks which turned me off.
You can't use a regular balencer on it b/c of the distributor on the front. Which is one of the reasons I had to go with the fluidamper.
And to answer someones question, It was keyed.

 

What do you mean by a "regular damper"? Won't a stock LT1 damper work?

 

LPEDave: You're correct about the short vs long style hubs.

JR

 

Not exactly, I can see the key itself isn't included but I'm questioning if the hub itself is slotted/machined to accomidate one (unlike the stock piece).

Keep us posted if you get a chance to see one in person!

 

Update

A buddy of mine had to go to Jegs to exchange some stuff. We knew a couple of the guys there, so after bsing some, I asked if they had the pulley and hub in stock. They did, so I took a look at the standard balancer and the long crank hub (since those would be the items I need).

The hub: Nice unit. Yup, it has the notch in it for a key. Looked OEM quality. The difference between this and the stock hub was a flat face, and instead of having it split out 3 ways (for each bolt attachment point) like stock, it was a big, flat round circle. Guess this is probably a better design, since it gives a flatter surface for the balancer to press against; there were more bolt holes too, so the balancer might be held on by more than 3 bolts; I didn't really look at that (opps).

The balancer: Another nice looking piece. The degree marks were clearly etched into the metal. Looked pretty similar to the stock balancer, except it didn't have the little rubber outter ring like the stocker, but was just once solid piece. From what I could tell, it looked pretty nice, but I've never really looked at a Fluidamper or ATI unit, so it is kinda hard to say visually which is better.

What I can say is this doesn't look like cheap junk, but rather parts I wouldn't be afraid of putting on my car.

 

Thanks for the update Joe! Must be nice to actually see the parts in person before buying them.

 

Yes, yes it is. If Jegs carries a product I need vs. an online vendor, I always get it from them, even if it costs a bit more, simply because I can get it in person and return anything I can't use/don't need. It works out really well....I've spent a freaking fortune with them.

 

Any updates on this piece?

 

Can you use this hub with the stock dampner? Thanks, Eric