Someone said recently that that you're not really saving much money by skipping a stroker crank because when just swapping to forged rods and pistons, so much metal has to be added to the crank it adds so much to the cost of re-balancing the stock crank that you may as well have gotten a stroker crank. But even a stroker crank would have to be balanced to the chosen rods and pistons so.....

Is the cost variable and if so what is the range? I've been working under the assumption that I could throw in forged pistons and rods for decently cheap and call it good. Rods - $500, pistons - $600, so bearings, head studs, gaskets and balancing would be all I'd need. If that stuff is going to add up to $$$ I'd rather get an HKE iron 402 short block and sell my stock LS2 shortblock.

Just spit balling.

 

I paid $350 for the balance work done to my rotating assembly (forged crank rods and pistons) in addition to a LOT of other machine work. I felt it was a fair price. I'm sure you could find a better price somewhere, and I'm sure others would charge more...but I like knowing that someone with a great reputation did the work.

 

Machine work prices seem to vary wildly by location, so it's hard to compare apples to apples. I only pay $150 for crank balancing around here, but a guy on the west coast might easily pay more than twice that.

 

If you order your crank and rotating assembly from a sponsor such as HKE, they can have the crank shipped directly from the manufacturer balanced to your assembly for only $100 more.

 

I pay $125 here in FL for crank balancing....

Also I have never liked buying a manufacture balanced assembly as their tolerances are usually higher...

 

I did order mine balanced...it wasn't good enough at all. It was probably "close enough" that it would have been ok...but it wasn't good enough for me at all.

 

I paid 100 for a shop here in Pensacola to digitally balance, with a print out before and after.

 

Never heard of balancing just the crank, what purpose would that serve? AFAIK, the entire rotating assembly needs to be balanced together. Locally, that's around $225 not including any Mallory metal if needed.

 

Balancing rotating assembles is misunderstood by a lot of enthusiasts. Paying extra for peace of mind is fine if you have the funds to do that. This is an area in engine building where not understanding what is being done costs you extra. Lots of bs on balancing because who can check it out when you get done? You are all relying on someones opinion.

 

of course they put bob-weight on that is equal to your piston rods rings and bearings . mine was $125.00 with the before and after

 

The crank is balanced to the bob wt of the rod and piston assembley. I will take Callies balance jobs over anyone in my local area...and it is less expensive.

 

I recently did an ls2 block with forged ibeam eagle rods($300) mahle pistons($500) and an ls1 crank. The rods and pistons were light enough that the crank actually need a little material removed so no mallory needed. This engine makes about 450 rwhp and really revs quickly. Staying away from the hbeam rods helps with the wt and keeps your crank from needing expensive mallory metal. The rest of the engine was ls3 heads and intake and a used cam. Very inexpensive build for what I had when finished.

 

I sorta agree. Callies did mine (it's their crank and rods with JE pistons) when I gave them all the numbers on the other parts...a very very small amount of weight was removed from my crank by my builder to make both he and I comfortable with it...like I said, it was probably "good enough"...

 

Thanks guys. Sounds like it's not a big cost to get the crank balanced to the new pistons/rods. There is a little to be saved by buying a rotating assembly but you have to spend the $$$ on the crank.

 

Anyone know the weight of the stock LS2 rod and piston?

 

Well it all depends. When we ship entire kits, our cranks will only be under / over 1/2 gram. Now on the other hand many of our shops and or distributors have us"rough balance", because they like to put on their own finishing touch. So, when you say "close enough", more than likely it was rough balanced. I hope this info helps.

-Adam @ Callies

 

Thank You very much, w/ balancing equipment costing 30K shops need to charge accordingly for there services
Hebert's Diesel Engine machine shop
Thibodaux la

 

I just paid $150 to have my crank balanced. That was a brand new factory LSA crank from the dealer, Callies Compstar H beam rods, and Summit Pro LS (Wiesco) forged blower pistons. Like you said, $600 rods and $600 pistons. The pistons and rods are heavy, I am using thick tool steel pins too, but surprisingly, the crank did not need weight (mallory) added to it. Some drilling into the counterweight edges, and it was all set. LS is neutral balance damper and flywheel, so they stayed home.

If you are not doing a high level of forced induction, you can probably skip the head studs and save more $?

 

between 100-350 dollars depending on time. if it's set-up up check and close SEND IT and it's WAY TF OUT, take 8 hours to fix it and only charge you 3 and hope you bring beer.

 

You guys are responding to decade old comments.