Jw wheel flywheel weight problem!!

Was wondering if this happened to anyone else. Had a block crack this race season.well looking over some parts I noticed the external weight on my flywheel has about 1 inch piece broken off.its a Sfi wheel,about 4 years old. Havent called for warranty yet,dont think they will.

 

Well that's a bummer! Maybe they should at least have a talk with the guy who laid down those snazzy bird-turd welds.

Larry

 

I'm pretty sure my JW Wheel is powder coated black or at least nicely painted black from the factory.

 

I see they are black now but 5 years ago gold?

 

Older ones were not even painted, my first one was just bare metal. The good new is I had to have the weight installed on a wheel that it had been removed from......don't ask I bought it used and it was taken off.........they only charged me like 40 bucks to put it on

 

One of my JW's is over 5 years old (June 2009), ...... Black and has the JW part number stamped right into it, 92008X.

Larry

 

From the color, and the poor welding.. that is an early Cat budget SFI plate. JW plates have been black since I bought my first one in the early 90's, and have "JW" stamped right on them.

The good news in SFI 455 flexplates is that someone finally paid attention to the blueprints Mike at TA has been sending them, the current generation of budget SFI flexplates is a dead ringer to a stocker, has the offset and all. It's just thicker... Correct weight and location.. Very little weight correction required to match a stocker.. last one we did (last night) needed just 6 grams removed. That's just a couple drill points. Have used 3 of these now, first two too no correction at all..

I am in heaven now on flexplates...Used to have to add 40+ grams to any of the SFI units, did not matter if it was a $99 budget unit, or a $250 JW Racing "The Wheel".

Best SFI plate ever, including the high buck JW's, which don't have the offset, and the weights are a nightmare in size and placement.

Call TA and get one coming.. you need a new one. Don't overlook this discoveries impact on the cause of what is going on there with that motor, in my opinion, you just found out what caused it to fail. For sure a major contributor.. That thing was no where near balanced, with that much weight missing from the flexplate, and harmonics are what killed that block.

 

Yes Jim, you are correct. Thats what caused the crack i believe too.also I stand corrected.cleaned it up and I see that part number but has PRW above it.I'm going to order a new one which made me think it was a JW,and when I get this new rotating assembly balanced I'll have them match it for a spare if they can.

 

Dan, I had the same thing happen and almost killed me.
At Columbus The weight came loose and cut the external oil line going into the back of the lifter galley at the 1000' @ 140 mph causing the car to loose control and almost hitting the wall.
The T/A block I have now is internal balance so no more weights to worry about.

 

Jim, the plate i was using was a JW and the weld did break.

 

I actually have a pic.

 

Nice to.know jim. I will be heeding a plate for our new build...... I will call Mike and Tim up

 

yes rob I remember seeing that video.wow. I didn't even think to look at the weight.i accidently knocked it over in the shop the other day and when I went to pick it up I noticed the weight missing a piece.new motor will be internal balanced I think.

 

Dan, are you having Terry's do the new motor as well as the internal balance work?

Larry

 

Of your using a at cast crank going internal can add some expense.........I'm sure other that do this work all day will chime in, but Mike from amp told me he would never recommend doing a cast crank internal

 

Yes,but I have to talk to him about internal balance.

 

So I'm getting my parts list ready for my new build.checking flexplate prices etc.Ta's website has a picture of what looks just like mine! And it refers it to JW!! going to look through my receipt box and see.have to wait until they open after the holidays.it has the same spotty welds on IT too! Lol

 

Dan,
TA sells both the budget and the JW Racing Transmissions "the wheel" flexplates. The current generation of budget SFI flexplates are very close in balance to the factory weights, and they have the offset just like the factory plate. Nearly identical to a factory plate, I would guess that in a pinch you could actually replace a factory plate without disturbing the balance too much.

Every external rotating assembly we do here at TSP, we first balance with a "master" stock flexplate. Then the SFI plate is installed, and match balanced to the master. This used to be really important with any SFI flexplate, since they were always quite a ways off... was not uncommon to add 20-30G of weight to one, to get it to match the master.

The latest generation of budget SFI plates has proven to take no, or very little correction back to that master. I can't speak for the JW trans one, since I only use those for internal balance engines.

I believe we have Mike at TA to thank for finally getting us the correct budget SFI plates, I know he told me that he had been sending the manufacturer the blueprints for the plate for a while now, looks like someone finally paid attention.

The budget SFI plate is now my "go to" plate for external balanced engines.

In regard to internal balancing a factory crank, I agree with Mike Phillips, and I believe Mike at TA does too.. It takes so much heavy metal installation to internal balance most assemblies, that it's an invasive procedure.. just more drilling and welding than you want to do. If we had center counterweights on the factory crank, it would be a different story. All the aftermarket Forged and billet cranks have those, and we internal balance all those engines.

If you have a guy who is really hip, it can be done, but the cost and the invasive nature of the process leads us to the conclusion that is is probably not cost effective or desirable for most applications.

And if your guy is not hip to cast iron welding, then it's possible for one of those heavy metal slugs to leave the party early.. I think it was Rick Martinez that actually had a chunk of it go right thru his oil pan at one time.

Call TA and ask Tim or Mike if they are now selling the new correct budget SFI plate, tell them I sent you... It's gold in color.. and has the offset, as well as the correct size weight, in the correct location.

JW

 

We internally balance all our stout street/strip and racing assemblies, the heavy metal adds about $200 to the balancing procedure depending on the weight of the pistons and rods being used.. There are varying opinions on the worth of internal balance, but I am one to support it. Is it needed on street/strip, maybe not, but if one steps up with bigger cam and compression,wouldn't it be nice to have it already internally balanced?Just my 2 cents and what do I know?
gary