One of the most important steps of your swap is identifying the accessory bracket belt "spacing" you need. This spacing is determined by the crank pulley that you have or the one you plan to use. GM made three main types of spacing, each to fit different engine bay constraints.

The Corvette, with its tight engine bay and high performance needs, used what we call -1 spacing, which sits closest to the engine. The GTO and 1998 to 2002 Camaro used -2 spacing. Lastly, the trucks and 2010 to 2015 Camaros used -3 spacing, which is the furthest out and allows the alternator to mount in front of the passenger side cylinder head. This is going to be our suggestion for any swap that doesn't need the additional front clearnace. We suggest this because it makes your engine bay look clean with the tucked in accessories and also we have the most bracket options available.

Some aftermarket kits position the accessories much further forward, but this can cause the balancer to lose effectiveness and the pulley to run out of true. We do not recommend going past -3 spacing.

Supercharged Applications

GM equipped the LSA and LS9 engines with superchargers that added separate 8-rib and 11-rib pulleys in front of the existing crank pulley setup. The LSA used a smaller diameter 4-rib accessory drive, while the LS9 did not have a 4-rib pulley. The original 4- or 6-rib belt alignment stayed the same, so accessory belt spacing remains unchanged. However, new accessory brackets may be required to open up the mounting points for the supercharger accessory drive.

Changing and Installing Pulleys

Crank pulleys can be interchanged across all wet sump engines, which make up nearly all LS vehicles. For example, we have installed an LS4 balancer on an LS3 in our twin turbo Lamborghini build using a simple spacer.

To remove the pulley, use a balancer removal tool, then press it back on with an installer tool. Always replace the crank bolt since it is a single use, torque to yield bolt that seals the pulley face to the bolt head. Reusing it may cause an oil leak.

Wet sump engines use bolt 551218 . Dry sump engines such as LS7, LS9, and some Grand Sport LS3's used a longer length bolt than wet sump engines. Install the balancer with the installer tool, then torque the new bolt to 37 ft lbs plus an additional 140 degrees. To do this properly, remove the starter and use a balancer holding tool. A large breaker bar is needed to apply this amount of torque.

Bracket Selection

At ICT Billet, our brackets are designed around three crankshaft pulley spacings:

• (-1) Corvette, CTS V, SS sedan, and G8 balancer
• (-2) 1998 to 2002 Camaro and GTO balancer
• (-3) Truck and 2010-15 Camaro balancer

Now that you know your dash number from the above, the part number you are looking for ends with that number.

Example: Part number 551577-2 is a high mount alternator bracket for an LS1 Camaro. The same part number ending in -3 (551577-3) fits a truck engine with a stock crank pulley.

Balancer Safety and Recommendations

Balancers can be dangerous if exposed to excessive RPM, load, or if the spokes are weakened by improper removal. We have seen first hand when pulleys come off and chase a vehicle down the street after a hard pull.

To prevent this, we recommend using an SFI rated balancer such as ATI that we have in stock. These come in a range of hub styles, some of which can accommodate Gilmer and cog belts for belt drive fuel pumps or dry sump oil pumps. These are referred to as HTD or High Torque Drive. This cog belt drive can be added to either side of the balancer to accommodate a ton of applications.