TheSamba.com :: View topic - What is the consensus on the Berg equalizer pulleys?

Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:06 am

Does every engine benefit from the added weight? Explain why I would or would not want one.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:22 am

I'll answer your questions in reverse order - Because they are strong, well made and look great, and add some flywheel effect to the front of the crank. Just how much help this proviides is an area of hot debate, but they certainly won't hurt.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:27 am

If your engine is stock...don't use it. If the engine needed it, VW would have put one one it.
In nearly 40 years I still haven't seen the need to run one on a performance engine. I think they are just another way to wrestle more money from your pocket.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:39 am

They are great for F'in up the end of your crankshaft.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:58 am

rrcade wrote: Does every engine benefit from the added weight? Explain why I would or would not want one.

What Mr Berg had to say about their heavy pulleys:
http://www.geneberg.com/cat.php?cPath=7_219_2833

Sun Oct 07, 2012 7:30 am

I run them on every engine I own. People can bash Berg all they want but they work, they fit, and they don't leak oil. I've never had to use a sand seal on any of my racing engines to stop a pesky oil leak. You don't need them on a stock engine, but any performance engine that sees over 5000 RPM's will benifit from using it. Lots of winning drag racers use them. It's one of those few items that where the people that understand use them and the people that don't understand bash them.

John Carcey use a heavy Jaguar pulley on his milage engines.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:38 am

lostinbaja wrote: If your engine is stock...don't use it. If the engine needed it, VW would have put one one it.
I think that reasoning is flawed. By that reasoning, oil filtration isn't needed either.

What VW put into these engines was determined as much by economics as engineering.

Max

Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:59 pm

Here is my thought, why do some people lighten the flywheel then add weight to the pulley? Bergs parts are quality as far as fit and finish, however Gene was a salesman first(he had a family to feed) and sold a lot of parts that were simply not needed. I honestly think a heavy pulley will break the crank much faster in a drag race situation than a light pulley. Just think, you are staging at 6500 rpm and drop the clutch, the pulley keeps going when the crank is trying to stop, twisting the living shit out of it! Then Gene writes an article of how you have to use one of his crankshafts. And sells cranks also.
I know this is pissing in some bergites oatmeal, but if you can't see what will happen then I have a bridge to sell you

Sun Oct 07, 2012 1:14 pm

Your thought or just something Dean Lowery said?

This is an old argument. Every so often somebody dredges it all up. The usual points are made by the usual people. Nobody is ever convinced.

Max

Sun Oct 07, 2012 1:25 pm

I'm leaning more towards Not needed from what others have said, the logic behind not using one makes sense to me.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:09 pm

The nice thing about a berg pulley is you can weld a 36-1 trigger wheel to the back of it for crank fired ignition. :wink:

Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:11 pm

Max Welton wrote: Your thought or just something Dean Lowery said?

This is an old argument. Every so often somebody dredges it all up. The usual points are made by the usual people. Nobody is ever convinced.

Max

I think for myself

Sun Oct 07, 2012 3:40 pm

Those who talk about it twisting the end off their crankshaft are obviously forgetting there is a much larger and heavier flywheel at the other end of the crank...

Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:05 pm

There were plenty of race winning engines even before the heavy pulley.

You want to lessen the vibrations to minute amounts then have the rotating assemblies dynamically balanced. If the engine was vibrating coz of unbalance, adding another heavy piece on it will probably aggravate the problem even more. Berg talked about these vibrations at elevated engine speeds. He should have preached more on dynamic balancing.

What is eating the mains is more the vibrations from unbalance and less the not-enough-weight-at-the-crank nose.

V8s and V6s have huge counterweights and dampeners. And a lot of them are rubber-mounted. Rubber does a better job absorbing vibrations than large hunk of steel.

If you look at late cars even the exhaust mufflers have rubber dampeners.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:37 pm

My engine has been spinning high rpms for a decade now. Rev limiter set to 9300rpm for a good portion of that.

I've never run a heavy pulley, just a good aluminum one. My crank is still doing just fine, as is my case. I only balance my pistons. Crank and Rods are balanced as Scat made them (i.e. my combo has never been dynamically balanced). Bet that makes some people cringe! lol

If I listened to Berg, i'd be wondering how my engine has survived more than a season, let alone since 1999. :D

Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:17 pm

Yeah, but at the same time you won't have to look very far to find someone who has had a failure in a cheap aluminium pulley...

Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:45 pm

Eaallred wrote: My engine has been spinning high rpms for a decade now. Rev limiter set to 9300rpm for a good portion of that.

I've never run a heavy pulley, just a good aluminum one. My crank is still doing just fine, as is my case. I only balance my pistons. Crank and Rods are balanced as Scat made them (i.e. my combo has never been dynamically balanced). Bet that makes some people cringe! lol

If I listened to Berg, i'd be wondering how my engine has survived more than a season, let alone since 1999. :D
Eric... impressive.

I've run a Berg Achiever (2.5lb) pulley since the mid 80s. Had it on a 1904cc engine that had a catastrophic valve failure @ 97,000 miles. The crank was a Berg CW and other than some minor damage from the valve failure is still std/std and will live again.

The reason I got the Berg is due to the high quality of the part.

I can't comment if a 7lb. pulley is ever needed, but I don't have a need for one.

25 years on a daily driver and never garaged. I live 1/2 mile from the ocean for the past 20 years. The degree ring is the original.

That's what I call quality.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:53 pm

That's dead sexy!

I don't think I'd go for the equalizer myself, but the achiever is nice...

I know they are still on their website, but does anyone know if they still have them?

Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:54 pm

Quokka42 wrote: That's dead sexy!
Not as sexy as the new on on my 2180.

And no, the old one is not for sale.

Sun Oct 07, 2012 8:49 pm

It cracks me up how many people "know more than Gene Berg". That, or suspect him because he had a business. Do they realize that the non-berg part they bought from another business was bought from a business?

Has it escaped notice that people who go along with the Gene Berg program have good results?

I'm guessing, and it is a guess as I'm not a gifted VW mechanic, that there are other disciplines that work but I'm pretty sure that if you follow Gene Berg's program, you will have a good engine.

Chuey