Happy with under drives?

[paheff]

Are those of you that have underdrives happy with them? Aside from the increase in performance is there a noticeable difference? A/C ok at idle? even in hot weather? Steering effort change much at low speed? My MM stays home most days, but it is my wife's daily driver and I don't want to dampen her entusiasm for future mods. She enjoys what wev'e done so far and I want to try and avoid any downside for her. It's much easier to spend $$ on a car that isn't broke when the missus likes the result also. ;)

[RF Overlord]

paheff:

The only downside to underdrive pulleys is if you have a megawatt sound system that you like to play at full volume, at night, in the summer, with all the other lights and A/C on...then you'll have some dimming of your lights at idle...but if you ever get a chip or PCM re-flash, you can have the idle speed raised to compensate...otherwise it's a no-lose mod...

[TAF]

"Undies" are one of the best "bang-for-your-buck" mods you can do. No question about it. And Dennis has the BEST price on them!!!

[SergntMac]

Ditto the both of them there dudes ^ there, what you mention are not issues with underdrive pulleys.

[valleyman]

Other than getting off the line quicker, as measured by the seat-o-the-pants-ometer, and getting to the power band in the rpm range quicker, as measured by the clock/tach, I have noticed absolutely no difference in any of the areas you mentioned or in any other aspect of driveablity. Would go with underdrive pulleys again in a heartbeat.

[martyo]

Just do it! :up:

[paheff]

Just do it! :up:

Well then, it's a done deal! :banana: Since Dennis is my "neighbor" and he did right by me the first go-around, he'll be getting a call this week. Thanks for the input.

[Kelly]

So whats the "TRICK" to installing the undies, I will be doing all of the upgrades myself and any install tips are greatly appreciated. :up:

[RF Overlord]

So whats the "TRICK" to installing the undies,

Kelly:

There really is no trick to installing them. You'll need an impact wrench to remove the old crank pulley bolt (if you don't have air tools available, then a chain wrench or a strap wrench will do to hold the old pulley while you use a breaker bar to loosen the bolt), then you use the supplied special bolt to start the new pulley on, then complete the job with the original bolt using a torque wrench (it's all in the instructions).

The water pump pulley is essentially idiot-proof...and the alternator pulley is not used in our application.

And, yes, you re-use the stock serpentine belt.

[Kelly]

Thanks RF, I do have a shiny new air tool set up.

[dflynn5]

Sorry but this one is new to me.

[TAF]

Sorry but this one is new to me.
Look here...http://www.mustangweekly.com/2001/may/steedapull/pull1.asp

and click continue to go to the next page.

[RF Overlord]

Excellent link, Todd... :up:

[jfclancy]

Sorry but this one is new to me.

Thanks for asking this question as I had no idea, thought it was for SC only.
BIG THANK YOU to Todd Great link.

Joe Clancy :beer:

[RF Overlord]

I had no idea, thought it was for SC only.


Actually, Joe, with superchargers one usually speaks of overdrive pulleys...in other words, a smaller pulley on the blower itself, which drives it faster, making more boost. :burnout:

[junehhan]

What i'm afraid of, is how does the UDP affect engine cooling, since it's also slowing down the water pump? Also, what about if you are idling in rush hour traffic for a long time with the headlights one, and the a/c or heater blowing full blast? Will you run into any battery charging issues without raising the engine idle rpm?

[TAF]

What i'm afraid of, is how does the UDP affect engine cooling, since it's also slowing down the water pump? Also, what about if you are idling in rush hour traffic for a long time with the headlights one, and the a/c or heater blowing full blast? Will you run into any battery charging issues without raising the engine idle rpm?
I've not experienced any downsides with the "undies". My VOLT meter never goes below 12 at idle. It gets rather hot in Atlanta in the summer and I never had any issues with A/C or keeping the engine in a normal temperature range.

Let me repeat...there are NO downsides to this mod. :up:

[Agent M79]

I have a problem(?) where when I brake very hard and cut the wheel hard to get around a sharp corner, the RPMs dive to about 1000 and the steering requires quite a bit more effort than usual to turn.

Is this normal for all MMs? I don't have "undies" but I would be concerned that this problem could be made worse. Whatcha think?

[MI2QWK4U]

How much are parts for this one? Is the kit marauder specific? Are there any advantages/disadvantages on a supercharged eaton car?

[TAF]

How much are parts for this one? Is the kit marauder specific? Are there any advantages/disadvantages on a supercharged eaton car?
Dave,

Someone with more knowledge will need to speak about S/C'd cars (although...pullies usually remain stock for most S/C'd applications that I have seen)...

Steeda underdrive pullies are specific to the 4.6L ford V-8 engine and run under $200 for the set. Specific price can be obtained through Dennis.

Hope I was right on the first part and hope this is helpful.

*TAF needs POSITIVE "Reputation" points to make up for the air filter thread*

[ahess77]

Just a quick note about my experience with underdrive pulleys. I live in the cold state of Michigan where it was 2 degrees this morning (-14 with windchill). I have the Steeda underdrive pulleys installed and at idle with the butt warmers, stock headlights, rear defroster, and stock radio all turned on I am running off the battery, the vehicle voltmeter shows about 11.0 volts. I have verified with digital voltmeter that at idle my battery is discharging.

This is usually OK since even at 0F the battery will run the car for 20 minutes or so with all these accessories on. But if you plan to have a remote starter and let the car warm up for 10 minutes then you must drive more than 2 miles to the grocery to charge the battery. Otherwise, when you come out of the grocery the battery doesn't have enough charge left to start your precious Marauder. As well, siginficant repeated discharging of the lead-acid battery will shorten it's life, but in my opionion replacing the battery once a year is better than freezing your cahoonas off in the morning.

Hope I didn't talk you out of it, but just wanted to let you know this could be a problem for a wife who does understand the importance of the underdrive pulleys and won't keep her foot on the pedal to keep it reved to 1000 RPM to charge the battery at stop lights.

[RF Overlord]

This is not meant as a flame, or as any disrespect to ahess77, but idling your car in very cold temps for 10 minutes is not good for it...the engine will come up to temp much more quickly if it is actually doing some work. Same for the transmission. I realise that it's nice to get into a car that's already toasty warm, but unless it's -25° out, you're only going to be cold for the few minutes it takes the car to start putting out heat...(builds character ;) )

Also, for ADELG670, if you DO use a remote starter, you probably won't have any way to turn the seat warmer, the headlights, the rear defroster, and the stereo on remotely, so the underdrive pulleys shouldn't cause any issue during a cold morning warm-up. The only time you're likely to have enough accessories running for the low voltage to be an issue is in, say, bumper-to-bumper traffic where you can feather the throttle a little, or idling at a stop light, which is generally only a minute or two, not enough to be a problem. Although it's a good idea to avoid idling any car for long periods of time (cold or warm), especially with a number of accessories running, unless you do that regularly or to excess, the underdrive pulley/low voltage shouldn't be an issue.

[RF Overlord]

so long as I don't have to change the battery every year due to not enough voltage during warm up time, idling in traffic, or at a stop light...

Dude, the amount of time most cars spend idling vs. running at speed is tiny...being VERY generous, I would think maybe 8-10% tops...as I said before, unless you run HUGE electrical loads on your battery all the time, you should have no problem. I believe we have a 130 amp alternator, which is the same one they put in the Police Interceptor, and you know how many electrical accessories cop cars have... :eek:

[junehhan]

Thanks for the other perspective on this, because I think i've been talked out of getting the UDP's. The reason for this, is that I spend a lot of time in rush hour traffic down by the University and i'm not sure this is something i'd want to experience. While it may be fine now, as you start packing more and more miles on the alternator, it's eventually going to become more of a problem.

[RF Overlord]

june:

I don't want to belabour the point, nor am I trying to talk anyone into a mod they don't wish to do, I just want to be sure people have the facts from those of us that have had the pulleys for a while...Todd? Marty?...you wanna weigh in here?...maybe if you are considering a chip/reflash/Microtuner, that may be a better time for you to install the pulleys, as you can raise the idle speed by 100-200 RPM, which will alleviate any low-voltage concerns.

[martyo]

june:

I don't want to belabour the point, nor am I trying to talk anyone into a mod they don't wish to do, I just want to be sure people have the facts from those of us that have had the pulleys for a while...Todd? Marty?...you wanna weigh in here?...maybe if you are considering a chip/reflash/Microtuner, that may be a better time for you to install the pulleys, as you can raise the idle speed by 100-200 RPM, which will alleviate any low-voltage concerns.
I have had the UDP's since the 400 mile mark. I am a firm believer in them. They work and are well worth the purchase price/install cost.

When I first put them in, I was a bit concerened about the at idle voltage drop so I had Dennis increase my idle speed to compensate. I was less happy with that. Why? I feel that our cars have marginal brakes and when I would come to a quick stop, I felt the higher idle was making the car pull hard against the already marginal braking power of the factory brakes. I dropped the idle speed back down and am still very happy with the UDPs.

Now, for those of you who read every post on the board, you will recall that my battery did crap out. BUT my battery has been bad since the day I owned the car and has never held a charge for a long period of time (I may go a week or two or more without using the car and the battery would go flat after 4 or 5 days). So, I just installed a new 825 CCA FoMoCo battery (keeps that stock look and has a 100 month prorated warranty) and all is well again.

The bottom line here here is that, in my not so humble opinion the UDPs are well worth the price of admission and will not have an adverse affect on your electrical system.

So, like the Nike ad says "JUST DO IT!"

[TAF]

"Undies" are one of the best "bang-for-your-buck" mods you can do. No question about it. And Dennis has the BEST price on them!!!
I'll say it again...

"Undies" are one of the best "bang-for-your-buck" mods you can do. No question about it. And Dennis has the BEST price on them!!!

[FordNut]

I'm another proponent of the underdrives. I've got about 20k on mine with no problems. No chip reflash, no idle increase, no battery problems, no overheating problems (even driving to Ennis), no negative effects. JUST TEN CHEAP AND EASY HORSEPOWER !!!

[martyo]

The Plaintiff rests!

[TAF]

The Plaintiff rests! Here ya go Marty...
http://www.alltheweb.com/r?ck_sm=6d65be65&rpos=1&oid=-&rpge=1&ref=200340086&r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.braunco.com %2Fimages%2Fgavel.jpg

[martyo]

Poor Todd, he needs a hobby....