Anyone know of which brand is "best" for underdrive pulleys? I mean, something that works and will last forever.

Is there any specific thing to look for when purchasing these items?

And, will underdrive pulleys affect the A/C or will you drain your battery if you have a nice sound system?

 

Define nice sound system. Are we talking something with a ton of amps, huge woofers, etc...

If you are using a LOT of power on your car from a sound system, its probably not wise to get an underdrive pulley system unless you are powering them independant of the main battery.

I reccomend any UDP system that does not use Piggyback style pullies. Piggyback = headaches down the road. Steeda doesnt use piggyback style pullies, instead they give you a brand new harmonic balancer.

As far as the AC goes, I wouldnt worry too much about this. Your AC pulley stays the same. The only thing you might notice during the summer is that your battery meter dips a little bit when you have the AC running, which is normal because you are using more power by using the AC. You dont end up changing the AC pulley on your car, you are only changing the Alternator, Water Pump, and Crankshaft (Harmonic balancer) pullies.

 

chris--

My sound system is currently the shaker 500 and a kicker 10 inch sub which uses a 100-watt amp.

so....u/d a good idea or no? (espeically in the summer when i want A/C and sound system)

thanks

 

oh, and if i don't necessarily want Steeda, but also dont want the piggyback system you mention...how will i know which product to choose?

 

Steeda Underdrive pulleys all the way!

I had them on my 03 GT and yeah, my heater and A/C didn't blow as hard with them on, but they are worth it. I didn't have an aftermarket stereo system, but I know if you do have a large system UD pullies aren't recommended. If you do have a large stereo system you might be able to use the stock alternator pulley and be ok. I think the HP gain comes from the smaller crank pulley.

Also stay away from "piggyback style" pulley like BBK. I'm sure someone on the forum can do a better job than I explaining why, but they can give you some problems.

 

There all kinda of the same really. as long as you get one thats sfi approved your pretty much good to drag race anywhere. and i would recomend one thats not a piggy back style but rather replaces the entire set.

I highly recomend steeda as i have had two sets and there both great no problems and worked just liek it says.

As for problems your a/c will be slightly less effecient and your charging system as well. I live in florida and neither of my cars had a problem charging or keeping me as cool as i needed.

 

Unless it says it comes with a REPLACEMENT crankshaft pulley, its got a piggyback pulley. Normally youll know just by the price difference. Non-Piggybacks will be more expensive than piggybacks. Normally its around a $60 difference.

The issue comes down to the way you install the pulley. You reuse your stock crankshaft pulley when you use a piggyback style pulley. This adds weight and it also decreases efficency a bit. If you wanted to add a power added (supercharger, turbo, etc) you would have to get a new stock pulley as you cant use a piggybacked pulley for that application. Then again, in you plan on adding ANY supercharger or turbo you shouldnt be using UDP's in the first place. Install is eaiser for non piggyback pullies because that install is just a bolt on bolt off process, rather than with piggyback pullies where you have to boil your old pulley to expand it and then place the new pully into the old one and let it sit, and then install it.

I have UDP's on my 96 Cobra and I have not noticed any major drop in effiency of the AC or the Heater. I picked up Bottomend horsepower as well, something that SN-95 Cobras need. You can also pickup some MPG's from UDP's as well, but we are talking around 1-2 MPG here.

 

I have been looking at BBK ud's for my 94 5.0, so your saying BBK is a bad idea? What pullies should I look at?

 

Yes, BBK pulleys are piggyback style.....I think Shambles explained what they are earlier, but yes they are bad! Look at Steeda or March pulleys, but be careful because March makes two different version....one piggy back and one not.

 

It seems hard to find a set of pullies for a 94 or 95, they are all 96 and up or 93 and lower. Other then the bbk's and march which say nothing about replacing the whole crank pulley...hmmm. damn

 

Ive herd of all these horror stories about the piggyback style U/D pullies? I bought my 99GT new from the show room floor, with in 6 months i had FRPP U/D pullies piggyback style installed, I still own this car and NEVER had any problems with them So what is it that goes wrong with these? Besides from being a bit of PIA to install! BTW my A/C works great I just charged it this past August for the first time in 6yrs!