Moparts

Professional Products Dampers. Any good?

Posted By: Michael Ecks

Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 07:56 PM

Or who else makes a damper like this.

Similar to stock appearance in front.
LA360 external balance
Counterweights that bolt to rear of damper.
Not chromed.
SFI not needed.

Closest I can find is the Professional Products brand Powerforce Series steel unit, and the ProRace Performance Products brand Pro Street nodular iron.

The Pro-Race is the less expensive of the two, which may or may not be a good thing.

Attached picture 7936131-damper.jpg
Posted By: JC Childress

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 08:18 PM

We have had better results from the Pro Race brand.
Posted By: ProSport

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 08:35 PM

Here's some options from when I was shopping for a damper.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...&PHPSESSID=
Posted By: 1Fast340

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 08:50 PM

i have seen that brand come apart on a 383chevy. came apart and one of the pieces broke the outletfitting clean of the fuelpump also left a pretty substantial dent in the framerail. i wouldnt install that brand on a 318 destined to only run at idle.
Posted By: StealthWedge67

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 09:13 PM

I run a powerforce damper on my 451. Been there for a few years, thousands of street miles, and many trips to 6500. No issues to speak of. I had the motor apart last winter, and the damper looked good as new.

Personally, I believe that most issues people have with many products that arent "top dollar", are actually installation / build errors that get blamed on the part. If its a high dollar part that lets go, its "Wow - Bummer. Good luck figuring out what happened". If its a less than high dollar part, its "thats what you get for buying cheap parts".
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 09:32 PM

The Pro Race and Pro Street are good units
Professional Products not so much--they have soft rubber. I have used a ton of the Pro units on many brands with excellent results.
Pioneer stock replacement is OEM or better quality--very stock looks-- but not cheap
Posted By: 383man

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 09:58 PM

I use the Pro Street balancer on 2 different engines including the eng in my 63 right now. I have not had any problems with them and I do race my car sometimes. Ron
Posted By: mshred

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 10:39 PM

I've ran the pro street balancer on 2 engines, up to 7000rpm and lots of street miles...No issues to speak of
Posted By: Performance Only

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/25/13 11:56 PM

Quote:

I use the Pro Street balancer on 2 different engines including the eng in my 63 right now. I have not had any problems with them and I do race my car sometimes. Ron



The pioneer brand is made by pro-bond and is a good damper. We used to sell the professional products dampers, but after many failures we discontinued that line. We carry the pro-bond/ pioneer dampers in their place.
Posted By: barracuda man

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 12:02 AM

I've been looking at the Jegs dampers.they look real close to that.
Let me tell ya'll about my harmonic balancer experience.keep in mind i have 2 340 motors.I bout one 340 that had the ati damper with the BBC bolt pattern.And a pioneer damper with the 6 bolt SBM pattern on the other motor. I want a msd crank trigger.Part# 8620 kit has the bbc pattern wheel.part# 8633 kit has the sbm wheel.Don't need two different wheel's. What should i do?
Posted By: AAR-B4

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 12:24 AM

Quote:

Quote:

I use the Pro Street balancer on 2 different engines including the eng in my 63 right now. I have not had any problems with them and I do race my car sometimes. Ron



The pioneer brand is made by pro-bond and is a good damper. We used to sell the professional products dampers, but after many failures we discontinued that line. We carry the pro-bond/ pioneer dampers in their place.



Okay, I'm the curious kind.
How does a balancer with an sfi rating (I believe that's 13,000 rpm)experience "many failures"?
Inquiring minds want to know.
BTW, I have been using a PP balancer for about 5 years on several engines with no issue.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 12:57 AM

/To get the SFI rating on Professional Products damper they simply rivet a thin ring on the front to keep the outer band from leaving town when it fails--does not keep it from failing. They use a very soft , poor quality rubber. They come apart--
SFI does not mean fail proof or bullet proof just that it lasted a minute on a machine somewhere at ONE time way far away in another galaxy, then...they pay for a roll of SFI stickers that come on a roll like movie tickets and TaDa!
Posted By: Dartin

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 01:34 AM

I've learned the hard way.I bought an SFI rated balancer from Summit and had issues with the outer ring slipping. I did not realize it had slipped and reused it on my new build. We found out on dyno after we couldn't get the timing set. I wasted 1/2 a day on the dyno, my builders time, and potentially caused other damage had it not been caught. I guess my point is we all spend good money on machine work, balancing, internals, valvetrain, and even bling. Why not spend the extra $100-150 for a proven part? It cost me more than that in headaches. Call me crazy.....

Randy
Posted By: Thumperdart

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 03:34 AM

Quote:

I've learned the hard way.I bought an SFI rated balancer from Summit and had issues with the outer ring slipping. I did not realize it had slipped and reused it on my new build. We found out on dyno after we couldn't get the timing set. I wasted 1/2 a day on the dyno, my builders time, and potentially caused other damage had it not been caught. I guess my point is we all spend good money on machine work, balancing, internals, valvetrain, and even bling. Why not spend the extra $100-150 for a proven part? It cost me more than that in headaches. Call me crazy.....

Randy



Amen brother............
Posted By: Michael Ecks

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 05:05 AM

Thanks for the feedback, looks like the Pro Race brand is the way to go for me.
Posted By: 451Cuda

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 10:02 AM

ATI Super Damper, don't go cheap on something this important
Posted By: SSDart

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 11:03 AM

Professional Products..........just another fine product from our chinese friends.....
Posted By: AAR-B4

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 11:52 AM

372 readers, 16 posts and still no specific description of a first hand experience of Performance Products failure.

Here's some first hand experience: I have made spacers for friends small block ATI balancers because they rub the timing cover?
Posted By: 471Magnum

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 01:20 PM

I'm using the prostreet damper on my small block stroker. No problems after two years of street use.

I think they're just fine on a street car, and definitely a good alternative to re-using an old stock damper.

If I were racing, or had a four speed, I'd probably go with something better.
Posted By: BradH

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 05:19 PM

Quote:

372 readers, 16 posts and still no specific description of a first hand experience of Performance Products failure.


"RAMM" (Jess Robinson) was running either a Professional Products or 440Source brand (possibly the same part, but he'd need to confirm that) damper on one of his BB EMC entries a few years ago when it failed during the competition. Ask him what happened.

Also, how about a performance machine shop that couldn't get a rotating assembly to balance properly w/ the PP damper installed, so they swapped it out for another brand and resolved the issue? They won't deal with PP dampers anymore.

IMO, for a budget damper, you can only go so "budget" before you're buying a sub-standard part, SFI-certified or not. The Powerbond / Pioneer SFI damper would get my vote under those circumstances.

I know that Jeg's offers that brand under their house label, but you need to look up pictures of the products from both sources to confirm which of the Jeg's-labeled SFI dampers are from Powerbond / Pioneer vs. another supplier.
Posted By: SSDart

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 05:31 PM

Quote:

372 readers, 16 posts and still no specific description of a first hand experience of Performance Products failure.

Here's some first hand experience: I have made spacers for friends small block ATI balancers because they rub the timing cover?

I knew a guy who had one of the prostreet dampers..... outer ring moved on him........ how do you set the timing like that?

Like most offshore stuff..... the quality is hit and miss....

I have been running a fluid damper for over twenty years..... so when it comes to damper discussions... I have grown a thick skin.....
Posted By: 1Fast340

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 05:54 PM

Quote:

372 readers, 16 posts and still no specific description of a first hand experience of Performance Products failure.

Here's some first hand experience: I have made spacers for friends small block ATI balancers because they rub the timing cover?



there you go it was a professional products,the outer ring blew appart:

Quote:

i have seen that brand come apart on a 383chevy. came apart and one of the pieces broke the outletfitting clean of the fuelpump also left a pretty substantial dent in the framerail. i wouldnt install that brand on a 318 destined to only run at idle.



and no there is no way in hell that was because of an installer doing something backwards. and it let go at less than 6000rpm,infact it never saw over 6000rpm,owner of the engine is very happy that his car did not burn to the ground thanks to that piece of absolute garbage.
Posted By: Wedgeman

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 09:11 PM

3 fellow racers here....every dampers had the outer ring loose and unbalanced...stay away from those

Dan
Posted By: GTX MATT

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 10:26 PM

I just put a Pro Sport one on mine because they had decent reviews on here. Pulleys aligned well and it went on no problem. That said, I had heard they were made in Austrailia, but they are not. They are made in China. Looks like a decent piece though.
Posted By: mshred

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 10:36 PM

Quote:

I've ran the pro street balancer on 2 engines, up to 7000rpm and lots of street miles...No issues to speak of



Sorry, I am running the pro sport balancer...It is SFI approved and has been working well the past 2 years. I have had it on and off more than a handful of times and inspect it everytime before I put it back on, and so far so good (hope I don't jinx myself lol)
Posted By: 383man

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/26/13 10:49 PM

The Pro Street balancer I bought from Mancini is made in Austrailia and it says SFI 18000. It has not slipped as I just checked it about a month or so ago. Its been on my 63 for over 2 years with no problems at all. One reason I bought it is because I was told balancer's made in Austrailia were good quality and as I said I have had no problem at all with it. Now I only race maybe 2 times a year normally. I wanted a balancer that fit right with the stock pulleys which is one reason I did not use the ATI as you have to shim things to line the pulleys up and it has big block Chevy bolt pattern. They say ATI is the best but that dont mean all other's are junk. Some yes like anything but not all other brands are junk. Ron
Posted By: CompWedgeEngines

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 11/27/13 12:07 AM

Quote:

Quote:

372 readers, 16 posts and still no specific description of a first hand experience of Performance Products failure.


"RAMM" (Jess Robinson) was running either a Professional Products or 440Source brand (possibly the same part, but he'd need to confirm that) damper on one of his BB EMC entries a few years ago when it failed during the competition. Ask him what happened.

Also, how about a performance machine shop that couldn't get a rotating assembly to balance properly w/ the PP damper installed, so they swapped it out for another brand and resolved the issue? They won't deal with PP dampers anymore.



I have personally seen 3 PP dampers fail, one actually blew right apart on the dyno ( BBC). That being said, these were all older units. They did have a propblem with the elastomer seal failing at that point. I have only used customer supplied ones since then, as I wont use them. The only time I will even allow that is if its a street engine.

I have also experienced, and have posted before, several failures with the Summit brand balancers. Customer bought one, and the outer ring slipped, he timed it accordingly, then shortly after tore the main webs out of his block. I was not impressed.

What happens when these posts come up, is no one wants to " admit" often times, they had a problem, as they know the " told ya so" crowd will be right along ( rightfully so). You'd be surprised at the failures of parts I know about from different shops and members on here, that never make the headline news....
Posted By: Scotts71chall

Re: Professional Products Dampers. Any good? - 12/01/13 10:01 PM

How about PRW balancers, Any good?
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