Are pulley's really worth it?

I'd be curious to see the diameter measurements for both stock and AEM pulleys to see how much of a difference there really is. Most of the gain is probably in reducing the mass of the pulleys.

Originally posted by nonovurbizniz
Alternator... If you have any dimming of the lights at a stop at night it's gunna get worse... if you have a big stereo or other elec. aftermarket stuff it's not going to run them as effectively...

Caps will help this out.

My stock Accord has dimming when I press the brakes. Poor Hondas have never been known for good alternators.

Also underdriving electic motors (basically what an alternator is) can be VERY bad for them and quickly deteriorate the lifespan of it.

How so? The alternator operates off the crank, wich can turn anywhere between around 750 to 6250 rpm....that's a pretty big range. And we're talking of making it probably, say, 5-10% slower. However my car doesn't even always idle at 750, sometimes a little lower, like 5-10% lower......

The only thing you're doing is giving yourself less juice on the output, putting a higher strain on the battery.....causing the charging system to kick in more, but isn't the alternator always pumping juice when the car's running?

A/C... well again underdriving a compressor is going to effect both it's life and effectivenes...

Again, it spins at varying speeds.....the rate at which you change the speeds it runs is more of a problem than the actual speed, unless you're talking high speeds. How is running it a little slower bad for it? Other than its effectiveness, I mean.

Crank Pulleys...

Most are not properly balanced (causes bearing fatigue/failure at high rpms). they also have no dampening which is ok on some models (internally balanced/dampened blocks)... but definately not ideal...

The crank pulleys provide the biggest gain of anything (which the AEM kit doesn't replace), but usually require removal of the harmonic balancer.....I think saying definitely not ideal is an understatement, it's a good way to cause lots of problems for the poor gerbils under the hood. Unorthodox Racing makes one, but I wouldn't use it. The biggest benefit to theirs is also lighter weight, the crank pulley is heavy....

For the contradictory statements above, sorry I don't mean to argue with you I'm just curious why you say them....because I don't see why underdriving the alternator or A/C is bad for them.

b