Which balancer?

Ah, OK, so this advice to not install the damper applies to a fluid-damper type? I did not catch that...


Yes, FD type dampers only. It takes several hundred RPM's to center the inertia ring in the housing and distribute the fluid equally around the housing.

Most crank balancers use about 500 RPM and that's not enough to get the inertia ring centered.

FD does a damn good job of balancing the pieces before they go together. It's effectively zero balanced so it doesn't need to be on the crank when balancing.