Thread: should i get rid of my balance shaft gear with a vs cam?

ive read a couple of people saying that they cause vibrations in the motor and i dont want to hurt anything in my rebuilt engine.

i guess a better question would be who actually has the balance shaft gear with a vs cam?

I'd remove it if your rebuilding the motor. You can just remove the drive gear or take it out completely. Taking it out requires the rear oil hole in the block to be plugged. The whole purpose of the balance shaft was to make the motor run smooth at low rpms. With a bigger cam it won't run smooth at idle anymore. I just rebuilt my motor with a similar cam and removed it

I left mine in when i did mine but I was in a hurry to get everything together.

Balance shafts are put in engines for the pussified majority of the public. Its there to reduce NVH and is nothing more than another potential breaking point.

Yeah, because balance shafts break alot....

If you are using a stock timing chain, leave your balance shaft active. It will help the motor run a lot smoother.

The only reason it should EVER be deleted is if you are using a double roller timing chain. If not, leave it there are active.

yeah ive got a stock timing chain.

I would upgrade to a single roller timing chain. A double is overkill for a mild cam. doubles are for big cams and 130 lb. Springs. Btw- im guessing your upgrading to 90 or 105 springs correct? Im running an xtreme energy cam which is very close to yours and 105 springs. My motor runs real smooth other than at idle. I did have the crank (rotating assembly) balanced however. Again my balance shaft is totally removed.

ya ive got 90# springs on the heads. the motor is 90% back together i cant put anything else on until its in the car

90# should be ok. What did you do with the balance shaft? I doubt you'd notice a difference either way to be honest. I just took mine out because the block was going to the machine shop. That was not the initial plan lol

You'll notice the difference. My racecar still have the balance shaft, and my daily driver does not. There is a huge difference in motor vibration at idle.

Originally Posted by tms8582

90# should be ok. What did you do with the balance shaft? I doubt you'd notice a difference either way to be honest. I just took mine out because the block was going to the machine shop. That was not the initial plan lol

left it in. i didnt find any of this out until today. and i assembled the motor like a week ago.

you can leave it in or remove the gear.. either way the "weight" of the shaft is in there... As for breaking, I've never heard of one going out or going bad... Never heard of someone with a bad balance shaft bearing so... To each their own.. I put a double roller in my car and left the shaft in place, but removed the gear for clearance... I've driven mine on the road and at the drag strip.. no problems at all!! As for vibration, with a cam you'll have vibrations regardless due to the lope of the cam. Comp Cam's grindes for ZZP have a more aggressive lobe seperation so you'll have a slight lope with the VS. BUT I just installed poly mounts from Intense and the motor barely moves now and it's a lot better!!! If I were you I'd flip your dog bone mounts. It's a common mod regardless. Just my $.02

Originally Posted by dbextreme

To each their own.. I put a double roller in my car and left the shaft in place, but removed the gear for clearance... I've driven mine on the road and at the drag strip.. no problems at all!! As for vibration, with a cam you'll have vibrations regardless due to the lope of the cam. Comp Cam's grindes for ZZP have a more aggressive lobe seperation so you'll have a slight lope with the VS. BUT I just installed poly mounts from Intense and the motor barely moves now and it's a lot better!!! If I were you I'd flip your dog bone mounts. It's a common mod regardless. Just my $.02

I agree I think most of the vibration people feel after installing a cam and disconnecting the balance shaft is the rough idle. I flipped the dog bones on my motor the day after getting the car lol If your installing a bigger cam it's going to idle rough period. If you want a smooth running engine go with rockers instead. Each motor on every car is going to behave slightly different because of tolerance and wear differences however.