VP vs GM balancer

[saf]

Hello everyone,
I've been struggling with my new Jebsco crank-mounted sea water pump wobbling (see my old thread "Crank-driver raw water pump upgrade" if curious). Recently, I've replaced the steering pump pulley that was also wobbly. That allowed me to trace better the source of wobble on the pump. I am convinced now that the wobble comes from the balancer. Has anyone seen this happening? Could it be normal? So, I am thinking about replacing the balancer. I looked up the VP part number, it is 3855734. VP wants $600 for it - crazy. It looks like I can get a generic GM small block balancer that looks very close for a fraction of the cost. What's the difference? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Scott Danforth]

it is a generic SBC balancer. VP buys the long block with the balancer from GM. GM buys the balancer from Frontier

the difference is the VP balancer is re-packaged in a VP box

personally I would get an SFI rated balancer

 

[saf]

it is a generic SBC balancer. VP buys the long block with the balancer from GM. GM buys the balancer from Frontier

the difference is the VP balancer is re-packaged in a VP box

personally I would get an SFI rated balancer

Thanks much for your advice. I took a quick look at SFI rated balancers - there are tons of them. How do I find the one that would fit? My engine is 97 5.7 V8. The balancer needs to have holes to accept my Jabsco crank-mounted pump.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Measure your diameter

Buy damper that matches diameter

Most have the holes

 

[WalleyeSniper]

Thanks much for your advice. I took a quick look at SFI rated balancers - there are tons of them. How do I find the one that would fit? My engine is 97 5.7 V8. The balancer needs to have holes to accept my Jabsco crank-mounted pump.

The holes on the front of those balancers are pretty standard across the board. Usually 3 holes are used and the impeller or other pumps home onto those and work off that.

There's zero difference between GM and VP balancers per that era.

To know you're getting the right one, just measure the diameter of it and make sure the one you order has the same diameter. There's only 2 or three diameters they used, and they're all rather noticeably different diameters when visually looking at them.