For this week’s Thursday Tech Tips we go back to our friends at BoxWrench videos for a look at how to properly install a harmonic balancer.

Using a mallet to beat the balancer onto the crank snout… we’ve all been there, and done it. If you’re lucky, nothing has gone wrong. If you’ve experienced the bad side of this practice, you’ve either damaged the balancer, the crank snout, knocked the thrust out of some other kind of damage to the rotating assembly.

What about using the balancer’s center bolt to draw the balancer into position? That’s even worse and will trash the threads on your crankshaft snout.

Using a harmonic balancer installation tool is the only acceptable way to install the balancer without creating any problems with engine rebuild.

For a closer look at how to install your harmonic balancer check out the BoxWrench video here: