FFE or Pineapple Racing idler pulley?
 

Considering one of these. A quick search of title terms didn’t turn up much recently. Sounds like some early pineapple pulleys had bearings fail. But sounds like it was from over tightening the belts and Pineapple stood behind them anyway. Always been satisfied with PR’s service and products over the years. No experience with FFE but no complaints I could find either.
So any input is appreciated.

I can't speak specifically to the FFE pulley kit, but I have the FFE fuel rails in both my FC and FD, and I have their Hall crank trigger kit in my FC, and all of those parts were top notch in terms of quality, form, fit & function as advertised.

I recently installed a FFE idler pulley. As with all things FFE it is incredibly well made and looks sharp. Install was easy and the directions on their website were very clear. On top of that, I ordered mine from Banzai. When it arrived the pulley was chipped and appeared to have been dropped during shipping or something. Instead of kicking me to the shipper Banzai and FFE worked together and I had a new pulley in like 3 days. Great product, great service all around. 10/10 will buy from them again

I'm a big fan of FFE products (and Banzai too) but this recent offering from Chris Ott over at Rotary Performance is definitely worth a look...... I was fortunate enough to visit the shop when I was out in TX back in February for work (the good old pre-Covid days) and was able to see the idler mounted on an engine and in action.

I've recommended it to a few fellow FD guys and they've been happy with it:

https://rotaryperformance.com/collec...kit-93-02-rx-7

I have the Pineapple Racing idler pulley and am happy with it. It's well made and looks great. It also compliments my other polished aluminum pulleys. With that said I did have a clearance problem that forced me to grind off some material from the thermostat housing so it wouldn't touch. I was told that this was a casting issue on some of the Mazda-produced housings. See pics.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...fbbf6cc15c.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...665decbe77.jpg

^Yep, it's random if you'll need to grind off material from the thermostat housing. I've installed some that needed it and some that didn't.

One of the guys around here went through like 2-3 bearings on his. Pineapple pulley. Rob does stand behind it and you can get replacement bearings so that's good and the bearings are pretty easy to swap out.

Really, any kit is a good way to go. See what you like aesthetically and it also may be a case of what works with your turbo setup. Pineapple's big single version really tucks it in out of the way.

Dale

Had FFE on my car for a year or so. Looks and works great.

That RP one look very similar to FFE.

My FFE pulley been on the car for about 6 years now, the reason I pick them is because of the bearing. IIRC in their introduction announcement they talked about they use of OEM bearing, and the larger pulley also help reduce stress on the bearing.

I've had the Pineapple piece on mine for 5 years and haven't had any problems with it. I did not have the issue of having to take away material on the thermostat housing luckily. Great unit and it was local to me in Oregon so I can't argue with it.

I bought both and ended up using the FFE one because it matched my everything painted black engine bay theme.

The idler bearing was actually a bit wobbly in the FFE one whereas the Pineapple bearing was really tight- seemed like a much better bearing.

Havent had any issues wit FFE one yet though.

You can't go wrong with either piece. It will come down to fitment and preference. I went with pineapple big turbo pulley due to fitment. Its excellent and never had a single issue with it.

I purchased the FFE kit, and received a lose pulley. FFE was awesome enough to replace it with a new pulley and mailed me a replacement quickly! I like it, good fit and finish.

FFE is the best. I bought the one recently for sale on the forum and the pulley screw was too short. I called the service dept and they sent me a new one some day. Aaron there at FFE was very helpful.

^ I remember that one. You beat me to it as I was reading the post, searching here and checking out FFE’s site. :)
But it’s all good. Got me off my butt on the issue. I’ve been rockin’ the old Garfinkle pulley for years. Has been dead reliable...just big. And a little cleaner look is my goal.

Hehe sorry man. Mine has the typical water pump pulley barely contacting the belt which has never been an issue but still concerning.