Ross Balancers For Rb26 - Who Has Bought One Recently?

[Shoota_77]

I've also heard negative stuff about the Ross which is a shame being an Aussie part. They do seem very concious of fixing the previous issues though.

A big reason a lot of crank snouts get rooted is balancer bolt tightness. They need to be stupid tight (400ish Nm of torque), waaaaaaay tighter than a rattle gun will go. It must be done by locking the flywheel and an extended breaker bar.

[No Crust Racing]

Alot of old info and alot of opinions, but seemingly no fresh info from recent use.

[KiwiRS4T]

You may have to conclude that people around here have stopped buying them and that you may have to be the one to find out if the problems have been fixed!

[No Crust Racing]

As per my earlier post, I'm sticking with with standard for now.

[methz]

I got a mate who uses one of the recent ones, makes well over 600hp thru a glide and has run 9.8s at 143mph, daily driven car also. think its been on car for around 2years or so

[Hadouken]

Daily driving a drag car? Show me haha

[methz]

its not a drag car, its a normal r32 with aircon and stock interior. he drives it to work most days. just a built rb25 with a glide. not hard 2 run 9s with right combo.

[2rismo]

So you have experience with it, or you're just talking up all the shit people gave you for free?

No, I'm talking out my arse. Clearly. That's what I do. I make point of posting stuff like this for laughs.

You tool.

[JH32]

No, I'm talking out my arse. Clearly. That's what I do. I make point of posting stuff like this for laughs.

You tool.

You sound like a big internet tough guy.

Call me skeptical but talking up these balancers while advertising in your build thread that your car (that doesn't yet run) was on the Ross Performance stand at WTAC makes me think you're full of shit.

[No Crust Racing]

It does seem like there might be some bias there.

[2rismo]

You sound like a big internet tough guy.

Call me skeptical but talking up these balancers while advertising in your build thread that your car (that doesn't yet run) was on the Ross Performance stand at WTAC makes me think you're full of shit.

Not the only car I've ever built. Not the only car I've been involved with use these parts. But what do I know. The quickest R32 GT-R on the planet uses one. But what the f*ck do RIPS know. Maatouk Racing VL runs one. But what the f*ck do they know? Quickest WRX in the world uses one. But what the f*ck do TRP know?

You think you know a thing, but then you realise you don't. No internet tough guy or bias required.

[No Crust Racing]

So, as per the original post, has anyone bought and is actively using a new Ross Balancer in RECENT times.

[DCIEVE]

My Ross damper was purchased in the pre Omega technical days. We recently pulled the engine to fit a bigger sump and open up some clearances only to find the balancer has chewed up the nose of the crank. Car has only done two dyno sessions and one light shakedown. Bearings looked good fortunately but we have some work to do to clean up the front of the crank.

The guys at Omega have the balancer for inspection at the moment. Have to say so far they've taken it seriously and aren't doing any of the finger pointing you normally expect in this sort of situation. Sounds like there have been a number of significant design improvements since Omega took over as well.

Whether I'm game to put it back onto the engine will depend on what happens next.

An update on this one. The guys at Omega have been very proactive and despite not finding anything out of the ordinary with the old damper have sent me a current version replacement. All going well the engine builder will have it back together soon so I can give it a run.

It's a nice bit of gear.

[Dahtone Racing]

I'm sure omega have fixed heaps of problems with the balancers since they took over, they seem like good people and willing to help.
But we only use ATI. No questions.

[JGTC]

I've just ordered a new Ross balancer (the basic metal jacket one) for my 300kw RB26 @ 110,000kms stock 8400rpm redline, doing it as a bit of preventative maintenance together with engine/trans mounts.

Speaking to them, since they were bought out by omega 2013-14, there were several design changes to alleviate the tendancy of the old ones to spit power steering belts, as well as repeatability for more consistent manufacturing batches.  They have since introduced their own in-house CNC machining.  Their balances are also serviceable for around $300 (replacement of the rubber cartridge).

My tuner also mentioned he prefers the placement of the crank trigger (potential future upgrade together with ECU) on the Ross.

I know alot of people has since moved on with ATI, they mentioned around 50% of their sales are overseas with NZ being a big customer base for them, interested if anyone can add any insider knowledge here regarding these?

[hybridtheory]

On 4/2/2019 at 1:08 PM, JGTC said:

I've just ordered a new Ross balancer (the basic metal jacket one) for my 300kw RB26 @ 110,000kms stock 8400rpm redline, doing it as a bit of preventative maintenance together with engine/trans mounts.

Speaking to them, since they were bought out by omega 2013-14, there were several design changes to alleviate the tendancy of the old ones to spit power steering belts, as well as repeatability for more consistent manufacturing batches.  They have since introduced their own in-house CNC machining.  Their balances are also serviceable for around $300 (replacement of the rubber cartridge).

My tuner also mentioned he prefers the placement of the crank trigger (potential future upgrade together with ECU) on the Ross.

I know alot of people has since moved on with ATI, they mentioned around 50% of their sales are overseas with NZ being a big customer base for them, interested if anyone can add any insider knowledge here regarding these?

I know of one guy that had a Ross dampner on his 30, which failed.. not sure exactly what, but IIRC the snout broke. I've also heard of others too locally. Since then, they moved to ATI, and haven't had such issues. Not saying that the ross dampner is to blame, as it could also be other issues, as the RB30 crank is prone to breaking if unprepped, or being nasty with the clutch.

[JGTC]

Yeah interesting, hopefully all the new gear (balancer and engine/trans mounts) doesn't wake up the nissan and cause and unwarranted reaction.  The idea was to try and keep the bottom end happy for as long as possible.

Reading the ATI thread, they have also had a number of reported issues of belts been spat.

Alot of workshops are using ATI ie. Dahtone, Powertune and PMC, but to my knowledge, CRD and my tuner (MRC - they've used both without issues) use the Ross units. 

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by JGTC

[BK]

Yep Con at CRD told me to get a Ross balancer since I was changing to a trigger kit, so full trigger kit with 12 tooth balancer was obtained. CRD did my Nitto 2.8 short motor. Haven't leaned on it yet so let's see how it goes.

Before that I also was running the old Ross tuffbond balancer from new in 2011 and never had a problem with that either, no belts thrown. Before that I did destroy a factory balancer which cracked my crank in 4 places. Maybe people have been using 33/34 ones on 32s or visa versa regarding the belt issue as offset is different.

[Predator1]

The issue of belts being thrown out is most likely going to be the power steering bracket/assembly out of line, esp when going 26/30. I'm in the process of getting this done, and I was advised of this potential issue when i bought my ATI dampner. This isn't an issue with the ATI, but moreso with the brackets etc. I've seen power steering belt(or maybe the AC belt) thrown out on a dyno during an initial run in.

[JGTC]

On 1/31/2016 at 5:11 PM, DCIEVE said:

My Ross damper was purchased in the pre Omega technical days. We recently pulled the engine to fit a bigger sump and open up some clearances only to find the balancer has chewed up the nose of the crank. Car has only done two dyno sessions and one light shakedown. Bearings looked good fortunately but we have some work to do to clean up the front of the crank.

The guys at Omega have the balancer for inspection at the moment. Have to say so far they've taken it seriously and aren't doing any of the finger pointing you normally expect in this sort of situation. Sounds like there have been a number of significant design improvements since Omega took over as well.

Whether I'm game to put it back onto the engine will depend on what happens next.

From reading other's experiences, i think both ATI and Ross units have been the culprit of throwing belts.  Where i have read more regarding the Ross is like the above case where there has been some evident damage to the nose of the crank.  Not sure if that is something that still exists with the long-nose crank RB26s, hoping it has been resolved with the newer units.