Pioneer Balancers from down under

[Lynn]

Have any of our Australian or New Zealand brethern heard of a brand of harmonic balancers called Pioneer? They are steel and remind me of the Romacs. The also site an Australian code for the steel they use. Here is their marketing blurb:

"Pioneer Race balancers are manufactured from solid billet steel bar stock to AUS 1045 specification. Steel is stronger and more wear resistant than aluminum alloy used in some products. Wear resistance is critical in the oil seal and crank nose areas. While alloy is a lighter base material, careful design of the damper can minimize the weight variance when using the stronger steel base material.

All Pioneer balancers are assembled using state of the art pressure bonding methods; the same secure damper assembly methods used by prestige and performance carmakers such as Mercedes Benz, BMW and Porsche. "

The parts look nice enough, but these guys might have the same reputation as CAT (not Catepillar)parts here. Hope you guys can give me the straight scoop on these guys.

Here is a pic of one of their balancers (presumably one of their neutrally balanced parts):



Thanks,
Lynn

[Lynn]

Well, I figured out that Pioneer is actually in Meridian, MS:
5184 Pioneer Road, Meridian, MS 39301
601-483-5211 FAX: 601-483-4762
But they apparently have their balancers made in Australia. I couldn't verify this on their website, but I have requested some information. So, I don't have a clue who they get them from; maybe it is Romac???

Thanks,
Lynn

[Ross Nicol]

Lynn
I have a Romac steel balancer on my engine, and it looks very similar to those in the photos. Mine does not have the holes around the outside and it is counter balanced for the HO crank.
Regards Ross

[Lynn]

I found out today that the brand name is Powerbond. They are made by :

PRECISION PARTS PTY. LTD.
5 SAY ST. WAGGA WAGGA NSW. 2650 AUSTRALIA
TEL. (+61 2) 69 215126 FAX (+61 2) 217536

Is this a known manufacturer of quality parts?

Thanks,
Lynn

[Lynn]

I forgot to include their website:

http://www.precisionparts.com.au/

[Bill Hara]

Lynn

On their web page, they make reference to the winner of the Bathurst 1000km V8 Supercar race in 2000 using a pioneer balancer in their car.
Those cars put out 600+ KW of power and race up and down a mountain over a thousand kilometers (625 miles) in about 6 - 7 hours of racing. Anything that can sustain that sort of punishment would need to be high quality - if only it was possible to confirm that their claim is in fact true! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Bill

[Robert Logan]

Lynn,

Thank you for your private e-mail. I spent some time yeterday asking about this company and I was not able to find anyone who knew of them and could recommend their product. This does not say that their products are not good , only that no one I talked to knew of them.

I would stick to the tried and tested manufacturers.

A very bright engineer once told me about the difference between the cost of things and the value of things and I always tend towards the "value" side of things.

Best wishes,

Robert