How To Balance Your Pistons And Connecting Rods [TECHTALK]

 Where should you remove material from? Are V configuration engines treated differently to flat 4’s? Should you balance your piston rings? Removing material from your conrods and pistons is a common task when balancing your internal components, let's learn how it’s done.

In this [TECH TALK] we’re going to dive into all the frequently asked questions above along with discussing where and how to remove material from your pistons and connecting rods, how removing as little material as possible is always your main goal, the difference between how much material will physically be removed from a piston vs a conrod and also how accurate you can be when undertaking this task.

Thinking about balancing your crank at home as well? It is our advice that it is more economic to get a machinist to do this for you given the equipment and skillset required, but as we show that doesn’t mean there are not other aspects you can take care of yourself with a minimal investment in tooling that includes scales, a die grinder, conrod balancing fixture, a linisher (aka belt sander) and burrs. Why an expensive scientific grade set of scales is not required is also explained with the importance of repeat results over specific weight accuracy covered.

0:00 - What Do You Balance And Why?
0:40 - Can YOU Do It All At Home?
0:59 - What CAN You Do?
1:38 - Your Engine Specifics
2:59 - Do This Before Your Machinist Visit
3:18 - Wrist Pins, Ring Packs, Wire Locks, Pistons
3:45 - Balancing Ring Packs and Wire Locks
4:09 - Equipment
4:12 - Scales
5:07 - Die Grinder And Burrs
6:08 - Connecting Rod Balancing Fixture
7:38 - Linisher / Belt Sander
8:15 - [Piston Balancing]
14:12 - Tolerances. How Tight Is Too Tight?
15:15 - Where To Remove Material From?
16:45 - GOLDEN RULE
17:35 - Where To Stay Away From and Why
18:05 - Main Point Takeaway - Piston Balancing
18:36 - [Connecting Rod Balancing]
19:02 - Material Removal Big End
20:24 - GOLDEN RULE
20:40 - Material Density
21:08 - Material Removal Small End
22:26 - Cheap Scales 101 - What To Check For
24:10 - Learn More

Want to learn more? Andre has also done a deep dive into BOTH these topics via members lessons. You can find one on con rod balancing here, and one on pistons here.