Justin00Stang

This article will cover installation and removal of the GT500 crank dampener (balancer). On the GT500, the balancer is all one piece and serves as the drive pulley for the 10rib SC belt and 6rib accessory belt. I will go over pictures and differences between the stock 2007, stock 2008, and aftermarket Innovators West balancers.

The stock 2007 GT500 balancer is extremely heavy, about 27lbs. The design is borrowed from the Ford GT. Due to its weight, it is possible for this heavy balancer to strip out the keyway and/or crack the crank snout. Ford re-designed the 2008 GT500 balancer and made it over 10lbs lighter. Ford Racing requires the use of the 08 balancer on 07s, if you want to have the TVS blower upgrade installed by a dealer under warranty. Anyone that is racing their 07 a lot or has an upgraded blower should consider installing the 2008 part or one of the aftermarket dampners out there, especially if you have nitrous. When you spray N2O it results in a sudden power increase and sudden acceleration of the engine, which will put a lot of stress on the crank keyway, a lighter balancer will help reduce that stress.

This picture compares the 07 and 08 units, you can see all the extra material on the front of the 07 part.



This picture shows how the 07 balancer is solid all the way through the middle. You can also see how to mount the balancer removal tool with three M10 X 1.5 X 80MM long bolts .



You can see how the 08 balancer is open in the middle (much less material). A special ford tool is specified in the shop manual to remove it, but I heard a regular 3 jaw puller will work too if you grab it by the little "wings".



For VMP Tuning's 2007 Red/White GT500 I decided to go with the new Innovators West 10% OD crank pulley. I am running the Ford Racing TVS Supercharger upgrade, so the 10% OD pulley will get me several more pounds of boost. I have already put the smallest upper possible on my blower (without machine work) which is a VMP 2.65" stock look pulley. The IW balancer is even lighter than the 2008 oem part. The 10% OD balancer comes in at around 12lbs and the stock size balancer is around 10lbs. The IW balancers are SFI certified, which you'll need to be legal if running 10.99 or faster at the track.

Currently there is only one aftermarket GT500 balancer on the market (as of 1/08) and it's made by www.InnovatorsWest.com Several vendors carry it. Some are claiming that it’s a "4lb lower", but in my experience the amount of boost increase you see varies depending on your combination. On my TVS blower which already had a 2.65" upper pulley, I only saw about 3psi peak increase. When you work out the pulley speed math the 10% OD balancer is roughly equivalent to a 2.7" upper pulley, which we know yields about 2.5-3psi. Maybe if you had a KB or whipple that was right in the sweet spot you could see a 4-5psi change in boost, but those blowers need a lot less RPM due to their large displacement.

The stock GT500 setup with a 3" upper pulley and 7.1" balancer results in blower RPM of roughly 15,300. A 2.60" upper will get you 17,750 RPM. The 10% OD balancer alone will get you 16,900 blower RPM. Both combined add up to about 19,500 blower RPM. All of these numbers I'm quoting are based on 6,500 engine RPM.

On my TVS blower I saw about 18.5psi in the midrange and 19.5psi peak with a VMP 2.65" upper and IW 10% OD lower. (more on that in another article).

The IW stock size (7.8") balancer is shown here:


Here is the IW 10% OD, you can see the larger 10rib SC pulley in the back:


Onto the installation...

Disclaimer: always follow Ford and Innovators West instructions for installation and torque specs.

While somewhat involved, don't let the install intimidate you. With some normal shop tools and an afternoon anyone that is mechanically inclined can knock this project out.

First thing you'll need to do is unbolt the intercooler reservoir and coolant overflow tanks, use an 8mm socket with an extension on it. On my car, able to do this without letting ANY fluids out. I disconnected the small "Tee" line from the overflow tank and stopped it off on both ends, and then tied it up under the fuel rail crossover. I was able to lift up both tanks and use a bungy to hold them on top of the motor and out of the way.

While you've got that 8mm socket out there is a bolt on either side of the radiator fan that you'll need to remove. Those two bolts and clips are what hold the fan to the rad. Disconnect the electrical power to the fan. Once you lift the fan up out of the clips you can twist it sideways and get it out past the rad hoses and ac lines. It's a little tight, but its possible to remove it without disconnecting any lines.

Now we've got room to work.



It would not be a bad idea to lay a piece of cardboard up against the rad for protection.

That AC line looks like it will be in the way, but I found it pretty easy to work around.

Both belts will need to have the tension taken off of them.

The supercharger belt comes off by inserting a 3/8" ratchet into the tensioner on the passenger side and pressing down. I usually slip the belt off the supercharger with one hand while pressing down on the tensioner with the other.

The accessory belt tensioner is on the other side of the motor, you'll need a 15mm socket and low profile ratchet, or a long box wrench. The tensioner bolt is behind a hard water line, you may need to pull the line back a little. If I am remembering correctly, you need to put the wrench roughly parallel to the ground, and pull up, effectively turning the bolt righty-tighty and moving the tensioner arm. You can then lift the belt off of the top of the power steering pulley.

If you are installing a 10% OD balancer you will need a longer belt, the 6 rib belt will need to come off too. If you are just swapping in a stock sized balancer you can leave the belts loosely in place.

You'll need to remove the crank bolt with an 18MM socket. A good impact gun will work hear, or you can put the car in gear with the e-brake up and use a breaker bar. Often the cheap impact guns rated for 250ft/lbs will not cut it. Put the bolt and washer off to the side.

You'll need a balancer puller tool, this is a pretty common piece available from just about any autoparts store. Get the puller bolted up with three M10 X 1.5 X 80MM bolts. I supply these when you purchase the 08 or IW balancer from me.



Just crank clockwise on the fine thread bolt and let the puller do its work. When it comes all the way off be prepared to grab it and pull it up, it's heavy. You can't actually drop it because the sway bar and rad support are in the way.

If you are installing the Innovators West 10% OD crank pulley you will need to do some grinding. On the left side there is a tab with a bolt through it. About 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch needs to come off.

IW supplies these instructions with the 10% OD balancer:


Try to put something over the crank snout to keep junk from getting in it.

Here is the before