Light weight pulleys from g35/300z

[351cleveland]

So after looking around for some aftermarket coil packs, i stumbled across some aftermarket goodies for the g35/300z. Now i know the difference between "our" vq35de and the g35's vq35de lies in their head design and intake plenums. The one thing im curious about are their pulleys. I counted the ribs on the aftermarket OBX pulleys on amazon.com, and noticed they have a 6-rib design. Now the only question would be diameter of the pulley, and if the 4-bolts in the middle attaching them are spaced the same as our crank pulley. Any thoughts comments?

[Finkle]

If they did fit, what differences would you notice?

[Chuck Tribolet]

Theoretically, better acceleration due to less rotating mass.

Probably not worth spending money on for a truck.


Chuck

[01silvapathy]

Would be pretty interested to hear if it works out or not! We need more performance options besides a basic intake and possible exhaust mods

[351cleveland]

Well i believe that for some people on this forum, a 7-10hp increase from a $170, is a pretty damm good mod to do for our trucks. It costs $85 for the crank pulley, and another $85 for the accessorie pulleys. It claims around those figures i think if i remember correctly off the top of my head. I'd have to re-check. Copple that with the electric fan conversion, and i think our restrictive motor design can be "opened up" a little bit. There are another brand that makes unorthodox racing pulleys stock diameter for the same application, but are twice as expensive so i'm not sure how much more increase in hp and torque you might see with those. Something to do with the underpulley balancing or something to still have your accesories run within spec for those of you running a large stereo system. But as any opinion is appreciated, even if not in agreance. I will continue with some more research, and maybe grab a spare one from a junked 02-05 350z or g35 to check the fitment. Or maybe just go out on a limb, and grab just the obx crank pulley and atempt to install it, and if it doesnt fit, then maybe sell it under the 350z/g35 or altima or maxima forum. Someones bound to grab it.

[Chris.m]

Or maybe just go out on a limb, and grab just the obx crank pulley and atempt to install it, and if it doesnt fit, then maybe sell it under the 350z/g35 or altima or maxima forum. Someones bound to grab it.

Yes, do this and report back

[CanuckQx4]

Your not gaining 7-10hp from a lightweight pulley, stop reading the flashing ads so seriously

The best reason NOT to get a lightweight pulley though is all of the horror stories. That pulley is connected right to your crankshaft and needs to be spot on balanced. Ive heard many stoires of cars eating bearings and having vibration problems after pulley installs, not to mention all the people that have them fall right off when they shear they key ways and such

Id say its a bad idea

Do some intake and throttle body mods if you want to gain some proven ponies

Source a company to make an aftermarket header for the vq in our chassis....

[Chuck Tribolet]

What Canuck said. The pulley isn't going increase HP one bit. It does reduce rotating mass, maybe by enough to
improve acceleration a tiny bit. Maybe.

[351cleveland]

Yes i am well aware of the horror stories from the g35 forum on here. Trust me, i was up till 3am thismornign reading about them. And yes, technically you are not gaining hp, but you ARE freeing up 2.7hp for every pound saved from rotating mass which is put down to the wheels. According to unorthodox racing pulleys, they are around 1pound in weight and stock crank pulleys for the g35's are around 6.27lbs. So you do the math! These numbers increase with f.i. Unorthodox racing are highly reccomended in the nissan/infiniti communtiy even over stillen (who also make lightened pulleys).

I read about the guy i think his sig is"subi01" who basically got screwed from the infiniti dealer and had to pay $13,000 for a new motor for his 07' g35. The dealer still couldnt prove that the chatastrophic failure was due to his lightened pulley. It is indeed possible that it was the cause, although he had numerous problems with his cam sensors(x5) replaced under warranty. He only had like 35-45k on his original motor. Alsot he had an vq35hr motor which is differrent in design. The hr stands for high-revving. The pulley also allows for higher revs and in fact without a proper tune, could have spun the bearings from over revving alone. So to be honest, I am very hesitant to do this mod now. I am still researching it however, along with a possible electric fan conversion. Again i have seen mostly negative, or "not worth it" reviews on those as well. I also believe these people are doing hack jobs, and not taking their time and proper r&d to properly carry out these mods effectively and safely. As far as the lightened pulleys, the 07+ infiniti fx35's have the HR motor which comes stock with pretty lightweight performance pulleys. Thinking about checking out those as well. I do understand about the harmonic balancers, but according to unorthodox racing, they make theirs completely balanced to spec, and are completely safe, especially as the stock sized lightened pulleys, instead of the smaller"underdriven" pulleys which i breifly touched on earlier as being risky for running larger stereo systems, and possibly affecting cooling and re-charging systems due to running them at slower rpms than stock. Anyways i can see both sides, and will have to weigh the risk to benefit ratio carefully.

[351cleveland]

Well after doing some extensive research this week, I'm pretty sure replacing our stock crank pulley with anything that does not have a dampener of some sorts built into it is a really BAD idea. I mean sure you can free up some ponies and have your engine get up to revs faster, but at what cost. Potentially chatastrophic failure due to spun main bearings and rods. Personally i might still end up getting the aftermarket stock sized lightened accessory pulleys which might net a 1hp gain and some added bling in the engine compartment. Right now i am serious looking into getting the s1 or s2 cams from JWT along with their spring and shim kit. Good for 15-16hp, along with either a JWT pop-charger or k&n FIPK. Guys please help me deciding between these two intakes. I have a drop-in k&n filter right now, but think i can get more hp out of one of these. Also i am looking into replacing my stock(worn-out) coils with some new hitachis from partsgeek.com once they restock them, or go for the aftermarket Okada Project Plasma coils if i get too impatient. Last but not least would be finding an adequate electric fan conversion. Researching the dual fan set-up for the 350z from Mishimoto radiators. Let me know your guys opinions.

[ARKQX33V6]

351 Your HP output will be at the none working speeds of your vehicle, the normal run up say to 3000 RPM will be too low for the added HP. The higher HP are going to manifest itself in the upper ranges.

Keep your HP where it is and go for torque. In as much as you are driving a box on wheels the added punch you are looking for will be in the high part of the curve and these 4x4 are at most 3 x1 with stability all over the place with an under slung chassis that just keeps up at normal speeds.

The standard Q or pathfinder is a nice vehicle, but to push it ...the brakes are not quite there, the transmission needs cooling when over worked, the suspension just handles the car as a bare bones rider.

If you can find the room, shave the heads, open the exhaust and the intake, you should get more punch for your time and money...or just get another big cubic inch vehicle .

The people who own these type of vehicle seem happy with the standard set up, that may be the reason for not too much available as aftermarket .

It could be that the majority of owners are happy with the vehicle the way it is, but I hear you and I say go for it. Good luck!

[351cleveland]

Right, i totally agree with the low-end torque being more beneficial for our application. I believe that the cams do improve low-end torque and mid-range performance. I believe that if i did go with the k&n fipk, than i could add a 90deg elbow and fit the filter inside the bumper, feeding it cooler denser air giving it both added hp and torque.

Also thinking about having my magnaflow dual 2.25 in/out partially re-done, making the post muffler piping dia narrower, somewhere in the 1.4-1.5dia each, as i felt i lost a bit of low-end torque after my exhaust being done. Although at night with cooler temps, when i get on it and push it over 4500rpms, it really performs well and is suprisingly quick. But as you mentioned, i am looking for it to feel more powerfull.

I still think there are some kind of evil gremlins plaguing my engine, as it lags and feels like it sputters at times but at other times it runs smoother and quieter. ???? anyway i do plan on replacing all of the coil packs in the near future, along with doing a transmission fluid drain/fill while replacing the screen and gasket.

Thanks for your responses and support. I do like the initial power, but feel that with this vq35de platform, there is a TON of room for improvement(i.e fx35, g35 350z's) performance with the benefit of our de-stroked engines with the added low-end torque. Some things that come to mind; doing a 5-speed pathfinder transmission swap while keeping the power-valves if possible, custom fabbed supercharger and other custom fabbed power adders like exhaust manifolds and plenum/throttle body spacers. I mean they already have all of these available for other vehicles with our similar platform, but not us for some reason. Even the r51's have some of these available, but as many people have stated that the r51's where a step in the wrong direction, and nissan really got it right with the r50 platform. But the support for aftermarket perfomance adders are just not there. I don't get that! So admist my frustration at times, comes motivation to seek out added performance, while maintaning our awesome drivetrain reliability. Thats why i opted out of trying the lightened pulleys. I almost certain they would fit. I could have contacted unorthodox racing to comfirm, but just didnt feel it was worth risking my motor over. Maybe when its paid for and has over 200k miles i might do it, but for now i plan on keeping it reliable for another 7-8 years.

Sooooo, with that being said, i am still in the research fase of sourcing shops that will build me some headers along with high-flow cats that will bolt up no my current exhaust set-up. This is where i feel the most hp/torque can be made. Thoughts, suggestions are welcomed as always.

[SBK03SE]

Wowsa, I'm a panzy for keeping under 2500rpms... Do you still maintain 15mpg with all that?

[sicwitit]

If anything, I'd replace all the stock pulleys with lighter "more colorful" ones with the exception of the crank pulley. Unless ATS decides to come out with one, I wouldn't risk it. Matter of fact, I'll actually be home in 2 months, and I'm bringing with me a set of power pulleys made for the VQ35 equipped car here in Japan to see if they fit. I'm not even dreaming of touching the Crank pulley though.

If your interested, I'll post my results, but when I get to it is another issue. I've already got 3 project cars to build when I get there, and I don't have a home to move into, wire up my welder, organize tools, etc, etc.

JT

[01silvapathy]

Well after doing some extensive research this week, I'm pretty sure replacing our stock crank pulley with anything that does not have a dampener of some sorts built into it is a really BAD idea. I mean sure you can free up some ponies and have your engine get up to revs faster, but at what cost. Potentially chatastrophic failure due to spun main bearings and rods. Personally i might still end up getting the aftermarket stock sized lightened accessory pulleys which might net a 1hp gain and some added bling in the engine compartment. Right now i am serious looking into getting the s1 or s2 cams from JWT along with their spring and shim kit. Good for 15-16hp, along with either a JWT pop-charger or k&n FIPK. Guys please help me deciding between these two intakes. I have a drop-in k&n filter right now, but think i can get more hp out of one of these. Also i am looking into replacing my stock(worn-out) coils with some new hitachis from partsgeek.com once they restock them, or go for the aftermarket Okada Project Plasma coils if i get too impatient. Last but not least would be finding an adequate electric fan conversion. Researching the dual fan set-up for the 350z from Mishimoto radiators. Let me know your guys opinions.

I have a jwt pop charger and I love it, ran a custom tube from the front black grille up to the filter and I saw some noticeable gains. Throttle response is alot better and the sound it makes is awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HdI7Z6OKj4

[Ron Burgundy]

I've heard the e-fan conversion isn't worth it.

From what i've read there's really no noticable HP gain; just a whole lot of extra room under the hood.

[PathPro2002]

Right, i totally agree with the low-end torque being more beneficial for our application. I believe that the cams do improve low-end torque and mid-range performance.


Thats why i opted out of trying the lightened pulleys. I almost certain they would fit. I could have contacted unorthodox racing to comfirm, but just didnt feel it was worth risking my motor over.

Any update on the cams?

Also, I had contacted unorthodox racing before and luckily I still have the email. I asked:

Contact Inquiry :Hello, I have seen the 350z pulley set: Pulley Set (Underdrive) Part ID: 041001502 and it says that it fits: 3.5L DOHC 24V RWD I have a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder which is VQ35DE RWD and I was wondering if this part will fit my SUV. Thank you

And here is what they said:

"Unfortunately we can't say for sure it would work. Gates shows the same type of belts. As long as you don't install it or mark them up in any way you can always return it "