Thinking about getting under drive pulleys. My car says it was built August 2002 from the tag on the driver's door jamb. Does this mean I need the late style pulley? Want to save some money. But not hearing good things about a piggyback style. Can someone explain what that is? Is this upgrade worth it? The car is my daily driver so I cant have anything not working correctly. thoughts and suggestions?
underdrive pulleys, worth it?
- Thread starter Rob Y
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03_TrueBlue_GT
Active Member
No U/P are not worth the money, they just make the throttle feel lighter and you get 1mpg better I have been told but thats about it. I would only get them if they were the last bolt on that hasn't been installed. Just save the $200 for something else imo.
Depends what you want them for. Pulleys alone aren't going to set the world on fire. And if you've got a big stereo, you're going to regret them. Don't care much for the piggy backs myself. Go with the Steeda style pulleys in anything. I got a set of Summit Pulleys for my 3V and they're great....and at $160, were priced right.
If you wanted to pick up mileage, then the pulleys in conjunction with say a tune and electric water pump might be worth while...but then you've got to figure in the cost of all those goodies too?
If you wanted to pick up mileage, then the pulleys in conjunction with say a tune and electric water pump might be worth while...but then you've got to figure in the cost of all those goodies too?
LastCallRacing
Premium Sponsor
Yes, you have the late style pullies, and as mentioned the Steeda's are the way to go with the underdrive pullies.
sneaky98gt
10 Year Member
Worth it performance-wise? Eh, probably not. They're worth around .1 and 1 mph in the 1/4 mile. I wouldn't spend more than $125 for a Steeda set. Look around classifieds and Ebay for a used set.
One way that they would be worth it is if your crankshaft pulley is wearing out. And YES, they do wear out....the rubber damper between the two parts of the pulley can dry-rot which will then cause the two parts to separate and self-destruct. I had this happen to me a couple years back....didn't hurt anything, but did scare the crap out of me.
So if you're got a lot of miles on the car, or that crankshaft pulley looks bad, and you were gonna replace it anyway (it's around $75), then I'd say it's worth it to splurge on the underdrive set. And they do look better than the stock pulleys as well.
One way that they would be worth it is if your crankshaft pulley is wearing out. And YES, they do wear out....the rubber damper between the two parts of the pulley can dry-rot which will then cause the two parts to separate and self-destruct. I had this happen to me a couple years back....didn't hurt anything, but did scare the crap out of me.
So if you're got a lot of miles on the car, or that crankshaft pulley looks bad, and you were gonna replace it anyway (it's around $75), then I'd say it's worth it to splurge on the underdrive set. And they do look better than the stock pulleys as well.
Clayton302
Member
I had the Steeda pulleys with timing adjuster on my 98 GT and the good part about pulleys is they provide power through out the curve. Peak gain may not be huge, I'm guessing here 5-10 hp and 10 pound feet of torque but that's mostly all the way through the RPM band. Give them a shot worth the $100. I bought mine used for $35 on eBay and then painted them. Like sneaky98gt said they do look good too.
Some guys will complain about their initial cost and claim the power return (3-5hp) isn't high enough. These same guys will go and drop the same amount of money (or more) on a CAI, MAF meter, or throttle body, etc on a near stock car and get the same results....but will be absolutely fine with it? 
sneaky98gt
10 Year Member
Some guys will complain about their initial cost and claim the power return (3-5hp) isn't high enough. These same guys will go and drop the same amount of money (or more) on a CAI, MAF meter, or throttle body, etc on a near stock car and get the same results....but will be absolutely fine with it?
+1.
My point of view is that UDPs must be worth something if Ford put them on the '01 Bullitts (and maybe the 03/04 Mach 1s? not sure....).
