Another caged lower thread

[Albatross]

Long story short, I roasted a factory caged lower yesterday on my 2.9 whipple Cobra.

The bearing took a dump, got super hot and melted the bushings. The bearing eventually locked up and the tribar completely seperate from the mandrel taking the threads with it. Unfortunately, there is really no way for me to put this back together. I was surprised by this because I just had this caged lower off to replace the oil pump and chain tensioners. The bearing spun freely without any noise and the bushings were solid. Not running the belt crazy tight either.

Fortunately, I do have a spare caged lower that needs to be rebuilt.

This is what has led me here to seek advice from fellow members. Here is my dilemma. I'm thinking this bearing may have failed due to the extra stress/load of the larger blower?? My concern is that if I rebuild the other caged lower I have it will do the same thing. Or maybe this was a fluke coincidence? Who here is running the stock lower with the 2.9 or larger blower with success? How long have you been running it without issues?

Now on to the second part of the rabbit hole my brain is going down...

What are my other options? I am currently running an ATI damper. I know metco makes an adapter to run a non caged lower with the ATI but that makes me worry about added stress on the crank. Any input on this is welcome.

And on to the final and extremely pricey option, the Lethal Performance lower crank support with the IW balancer. I just spent a ton of money on the whipple setup so this is a very difficult pill to swallow but I will go this route if it truly is the best and only option. Those of you running this setup please chime in. Is it worth it? I have heard that they are a pain to install/setup. Any truth to this? Any input or advice is welcome.

 

[P49Y-CY]

how long did you have the 2.9 on before it failed?

i would def only go with a caged setup

 

[Albatross]

how long did you have the 2.9 on before it failed?

Not long. 30-40 miles maybe. Got it all together a couple weeks ago. Tuned it on the street. I was on the way home from the dyno when this happened. Took a couple hard pulls on the dyno like a champ. The dyno is not far from my house and I got the battery light right when I pulled in my neighborhood. I did some spirited driving on the way home but nothing too crazy. Got it home and saw that the outer pulley was not spinning at all. I am thankful this did not happen on the Dyno. Could have been a lot worse.

i would def only go with a caged setup

I prefer to stay with a caged setup. This whole situation has me worried about the stock unit now. I know there are guys running the stock cage with bigger blowers. Was this just a fluke or do I need a stronger unit? I just want to get some conversation going on people's experiences. I dont want to put the other stock cage I have on it just to be in the same boat a few months from now. I will pull the trigger on the LP crank support if I have to. I just want to hear from people running this setup before I invest over 2 grand.

 

[cobracide]

What kind of boost you running? Ya since you smoked the stock caged, try the IW/Lethal setup. Sort of a weird one but not unheard of as it's usually the 3.4L guys who break the crank. Maybe you just had bad bearing or possible alignment issue.

I have over 100k Miles on my 4lb cageless metco lower 16.5lbs boost on a ported eaton lower but I don't push it too hard.

 

[Albatross]

What kind of boost you running?

22 lbs on a gen 3 2.9 standard inlet.

Maybe you just had bad bearing or possible alignment issue.

^^ Definitely possible. I would think it would have shown signs before just exploding though. I checked the belt frequently. I was worried about it throwing belts at first because I put a KMJ 250 amp alt on it. Everything was in check every time I looked. The belt never walked in or out. I even took it off a few times to check all the pullies. Using the stock tensioner with a metco brace. Tension was set right in the middle of the gauge. Maybe a hair tighter.

 

[cobracide]

22lbs is pretty hard core. I'd guess it was the tension/pull that was too much and not an alignment issue then.

 

[MG0h3]

We’re you running a lot of belt tension?


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[01yellercobra]

I remember Malcolm had issues tearing up lowers and eventually went with a Metco. But his whole set up was far from stock. I think he was running over 25psi on a high compression engine.

I'm at 20psi on my current set up. The blower has been on since 2019 and I'm still running the stock lower. I've driven it a few thousand miles since then with tons of WOT passes. Personally I'd rebuild the spare and run it. Keep an eye on it and if it starts to have issues go from there.

 

[Albatross]

We’re you running a lot of belt tension?

Nope. Stock tensioner with a metco brace.

This was taken right before I added the brace.

 

[MG0h3]

Damn.


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[Wings65288]

Long story short, I roasted a factory caged lower yesterday on my 2.9 whipple Cobra.

View attachment 1749295

The bearing took a dump, got super hot and melted the bushings. The bearing eventually locked up and the tribar completely seperate from the mandrel taking the threads with it. Unfortunately, there is really no way for me to put this back together. I was surprised by this because I just had this caged lower off to replace the oil pump and chain tensioners. The bearing spun freely without any noise and the bushings were solid. Not running the belt crazy tight either.

Fortunately, I do have a spare caged lower that needs to be rebuilt.

This is what has led me here to seek advice from fellow members. Here is my dilemma. I'm thinking this bearing may have failed due to the extra stress/load of the larger blower?? My concern is that if I rebuild the other caged lower I have it will do the same thing. Or maybe this was a fluke coincidence? Who here is running the stock lower with the 2.9 or larger blower with success? How long have you been running it without issues?

Now on to the second part of the rabbit hole my brain is going down...

What are my other options? I am currently running an ATI damper. I know metco makes an adapter to run a non caged lower with the ATI but that makes me worry about added stress on the crank. Any input on this is welcome.

And on to the final and extremely pricey option, the Lethal Performance lower crank support with the IW balancer. I just spent a ton of money on the whipple setup so this is a very difficult pill to swallow but I will go this route if it truly is the best and only option. Those of you running this setup please chime in. Is it worth it? I have heard that they are a pain to install/setup. Any truth to this? Any input or advice is welcome.

I have a 4# caged lower if interested PM

 

[Albatross]

I have a 4# caged lower if interested

I may take you up on that. Is it one that @cj428mach made?