accessory pullies? (Megan vs. Isis vs. Circuit Sports)

[BlackZenkiS14]

So, of the knockoff companies...are any of them any better or worse than the others?

I have an S13 SR20, and want some blue accessory pullies. But dont want to spend 'Greddy' money on them, but dont want complete bullshit either.

Any reason to get one of the sets over the other?

[brndck]

Only if u had extra $ to waste. The I can't see any reason to pay more for "brand" ones. I have circuit sport pulleys and they perform fine for the last 3 years.

[kaking]

ive been wondering the same thing

[RichieSR20]

I had the Circuit Sport ones on my old SR and they were great for the price! I never had any problems with them.

[BlackZenkiS14]

Ok, sounds good. I'll probably just go with the Circuit Sports ones.

[bb4_96]

most of the knockoff companies are resonable enough to return/replace if you get a messed up set. just make sure you can afford a failure(toasted belts, etc).

[BlackZenkiS14]

Well I dont want a failure at all, thats the point. So I want to get the nicest of hte knockoffs

[l2edken]

i have basic aluminum sr pulleys if ya interested, i loved em, seemed sturdy enough but really, its just a pulley

[zenki_240sx]

To tell you the truth, I rather spend the money on the name brand ones than risk something happening to my engine. But starting this thread is a good idea because you can get feedbacks from everyone on what they have.

[BlackZenkiS14]

Well right, I have name brand everything else. But there is a 300 difference in price between the Greddy pullies and knockoff's, and accessory pullies arent THAT big of a deal. Not like an Oil pan or something.

[bb4_96]

your accessory pullies drive you ps pump, alt, and water pump. A spent belt isn't going to blow your motor but you will be stranded. I bought a knockoff pulley set(maybe obx?) for my S4. Ate belts if tightened and squeeled constantly if too loose.

[ixfxi]

whatever pulley you idiots buy and install, i suggest checking the runoff. it wouldnt surprise me if the knockoff stuff wasnt straight

[ManoNegra]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

whatever pulley you idiots buy and install, i suggest checking the runoff. it wouldnt surprise me if the knockoff stuff wasnt straight

problem is most kids don't know what that is
or if they did, wouldn't know how to do it...

[BlackZenkiS14]

Well, educate me here folks. I have never bought knockoff parts before, thats why I made this thread. I have always run legit shit, and never had to read or learn about it, I just knew it was quality shit. This is my first endeavor into this, so I was seeing if any has had bad experiences with it or not. If so, I'll just leave them stock.

[ManoNegra]

What Mike is implying is that the parts
may not be 'round' and wobble when in use
causing vibration and bearing shorten life

when mounted, use an indicator on a stand
and check how much deflection there is
as you turn the pulley

something like this:


and the term is really run-out

[BlackZenkiS14]

That makes sense.

How much rotational weight will I really save with these over the stock ones?

[!Zar!]

Originally Posted by bb4_96

your accessory pullies drive you ps pump, alt, and water pump. A spent belt isn't going to blow your motor but you will be stranded. I bought a knockoff pulley set(maybe obx?) for my S4. Ate belts if tightened and squeeled constantly if too loose.

If it destroys your water pump, your engine will over heat. If you are running the stock gauges, by the time you notice your engine is over heating chances are your motor is shot.

Stock gauges work fine.

[ManoNegra]

Originally Posted by BlackZenkiS14

That makes sense.

How much rotational weight will I really save with these over the stock ones?

Inertia decreases a bit but this isn't the main reason for buying aftermarket pulleys

manufacturers make cars to operate under normal driving conditions
most cars spend their lives well below redline ~2.5 - 5k
oem pulleys are designed to operate in this range

now, it is well documented that SR water pumps cavitate at high RPMs
i.e water pump stop flowing -> serious problems
the problem is address by an aftermarket pulley that is larger in diameter
in order to lower the working ratio on the pump.
i.e. slow it down

same thing goes for alternators and power steering pumps
they don't work any better at high RPM
you only risk bearing damage
larger pulleys slow them down

so in summary:
aftermarket pulleys on your daily driver/hardparker = you're a ricer
aftermarket pulleys on your track car = you're doing it right

[BlackZenkiS14]

Ok, yea, this is a dedicated toy car. Gets driven on the street, but usually pretty abusively lol.

Do the Circuit Sports ones actually have diameter changes though to make up for what your talking about?

[!Zar!]

s14sr waterpump fixed the cavitation issues.

[misterdumby]

regardless name brand or not there is always a chance of failure

[BlackZenkiS14]

Originally Posted by !Zar!

s14sr waterpump fixed the cavitation issues.

Oh really? I actually have an S14 waterpump from my old motor, should I put that on the new S13 motor?

[CamryOnBronze]

Stance makes a larger water pump pulley for the S13 SR if I am not mistaken... same with Yashiro Factory.

[IHasLongTorso]

I have had both circuit sports and greddy pullies and my altenator pulley from circuit sports just spun freely one day. Everything was legit but the pulley just self destructed. I switched to greddy and never had a problem after that. Sold the car. 5 years later the current owner still says everything is perfect. Its worth the cheese for the nice stuff. I basically always ask. If there is failure will my motor be at risk? If so spend that cheese don't stack it. I guess some of us get lucky and some don't. But for sure check the run-out.

[ixfxi]

you guys can spend a lifetime checking this and checking that when it comes to cheap shit


last month, you fucking retards were celebrating when you heard HKS was closing its doors here in the US, while us old-schoolers were sad and disappointed.

the problem here is that we have a plethora of shit-for-brain 240 owners that dont appreciate good companies, support shitty quick-to-knockoff companies... and cant fabricate something on their own if their life depended on it.

bottom line, the majority of the 240 owners here will not benefit from buying a pulley set, regardless if its OEM or aftermarket. its just not a worth-while mod, its pretty pointless for any street car. furthermore, the majority of car owners in general would benefit more from driving lessons than they would from a fully built motor or 10,000 dollars in parts. people dont even understand the changes they make when they install parts... good or bad, its all considered an upgrade.

i wonder who here will even understand what im saying. probably juan and dave, thats it.

[!Zar!]

All they care about is building their Super Street grocery list.

[IHasLongTorso]

Ixfxi and zar. I couldn't agree with you guys more. I truely wish there were no knockoff companies because then the "scene" as they say wouldn't be so flooded with these young kids who have no clue. But there are knockoff companies so this is what we have to put up with. I remember researching 10 years ago to find other cars' oem pulleys that were larger but had the same amount of ribs and using them as underdrive pulleys. Or just buying expensive brand name stuff. There no cleverness left with the knockoff companies butthere is a huge market for them so they are here. Also really when you think about it is it really needed to spend tripple the price on something like a catchcan or a coolant overflow tank? No. If you do its really just an elitest mindset some people have that makes them feel better. I know plenty of people who spend a lot of money and can't drive for a damn then on the other side I know several people who run knockoff everything and drive like bosses. Its all made in the same places anyway for the most part. Its just private label.

[brndck]

if the quality is there, i could give NONE fucks about what the name of the product is.
yes its shitty that hks has closed its doors stateside, but the truth is, we have some companies stateside that are working to improve their products and their quality.
(i'm not saying that all u.s. brands are shit or that all are golden, but just because its not hks, greddy, yashio, etc, doesn't mean its not worth buying)

i'm sure if you bought an hks product in their first year it left something to be desired.

[illvialuver]

you dont even need pulleys, just get an ls. . . . . . . .

I totally agree with you burndick

[pincheturbo]

you could just have the stock pulleys powder coated if you care about the blang blang