What's in a harmonic balancer that makes them so expensive?
And are 'performance ones' worth the extra dollars?

wat were u quoted for one? my new one was $115.50 that was for an aftermarket job. they must cost a fair bit to manufacture or sumpin to explain the price

Harmonic Balancer
The harmonic balancer, which is also known as a harmonic damper, is essential to the longevity of an engine since it prevents crankshaft failure. It is usually mounted at the front end of the crankshaft in order to absorb and dissipate the majority of the vibration energy. It consists of the hub, an outer weight ring, and a sandwiched layer of flexible rubber. It is the rubber that absorbs the energy of the vibrating crankshaft in the form of heat, damping the amount of vibration to within safe limits.

The crankshaft is the part of the engine that converts the up and down motion of the pistons and connecting rods during the combustion cycle into rotary motion that spins the transmission and the vehicle’s drive wheels. Every time a cylinder fires, the force twists the crankshaft. When the cylinder stops firing the force ceases to act and the crankshaft starts to return to the untwisted position. However, the crankshaft will overshoot and begin to twist in the opposite direction, and then back again. Eventually the crankshaft will experience torsional vibration which can cause it to fail after some time.

In order to keep this problem from occurring, installing a harmonic balancer for your vehicle is necessary. The entire engine system should always be in good working condition in order to give you a safer and more relaxing riding experience.

nah i can get new ones for work for a lot under retail. but there still seem bloody expensive to me forwhat they are hey?
the performance one says it's good to 6,500rpm or something.
think i might be needing one and mine seems to be shacking a lot, but then i'm also having trouble with the timing chain hitting the guide on the passenger side so maybe that's causing it or something.

not understanding the cost only comes down to people wanting every thing for nothing..

you'd have a different view if you were the one making them

it's not that, lets compare it to say a Pioneer CD/MP3 player, at the moment, you can get the DEH2750MP for 150$ish (and that's not even the bottom of Pioneers range, there's cheaper ones still), or a Harmonic Balancer for $120, look at the two, the pioneer unit looks like it'd be a lot more findly to make, uses a lot more little components that would have to be made seperately, etc., would take more design and developement than the Harmonic balancer which would be based on the design and developmet that Ford originally did.

In an open market, supply and demand determine the final price. Not how fiddly something is to make or how complex it looks. I'd be willing to say that there is a bigger market out there for aftermarket CD players than there is for aftermarket harmonic balancers.

ok...... then explain how the hall effect sensor in a distributor of an XF (the same sensor as in EA-ED's) can retail at ~$200, trade price a little lower

the TFI module that goes with it? $99 retail

the whole f**k dizzy including the distributor base, shaft, rotor button, spacer ring, cap, as well as the hall effect sensor and TFI module retails at $258 for the XF unit

EA-ED distributors (exactly the same components except a different base) retail ~$100

It's simple economics, you will purchase an item if you value it at the price it is offered for sale. A seller will sell an item if the value you place on it is satisfactory to their requirements. If nobody is willing to purchase an item for the price it is offered, the demand for it shrinks and depending on how elastic the supply for it is, it shrinks also. The item then becomes somewhat rarer and people who still want to purchase it pay a higher price. On the other hand if a large amount of people are willing to buy an item at a particular price, and the supply is elastic enough to be able to respond to the increase in demand, the price should fall as more units are produced and consumed.

Why do people pay ridiculous prices for hard to find pieces for rare and valuable cars? When all they are is a small peice of metal shaped into a badge or similar? Because there is a much greater demand than there is supply, and that supply cant change. Whereas people will literally give away much more complex and detailed part from a common car because there is such a large supply and small demand. For example, how much would you be willing to pay for a set of used badges off a Phase 3 GTHO? Now how much would you be willing to pay for a set of used badges (for arguements sake we will say there is the same number of badges) of my EL Futura? They are both very similar items physically, ok mine are plastic, but they are also 30 years newer. You would be prepared to pay much more for the XY badges than my EL ones.

In an open market economy (ie. one without outside interventions) the price level is set by what value both buyers and sellers place on the part in question, not necessarily what the part is or how it relates both price and function wise to other parts available.

or what some mug is willing to pay for anti-rattle clips from ford...... $14 each.....

yeah and it probably costs about $10 to make that cd/mp3 player.


i've found the people thatcomplain about prices all the time have no idea what actualy goes into making the things. for some one like me who has to do a lot fabrication with custom performace setups on cars, it really gives me the s**t when people think it cost to much.


bring it back to your mp3 player. then put the cost of a custom intercooler setup or exhaust system. up to $1800 and in some cases more. yet to you it would only seem like a few bits of pipe welded up.
there is a hell of lot of work goes into these things