I have a 1996 Evo IV GSR. (Quite new to the evo scene) I heard tons about the notorious crankwalk issue. I currently do not suffer from this issue, but was wondering if getting an aftermarket block, nitrided crank, and aftermarket thrust bearings would help prevent crankwalk in the future/be more resilient to it than oem parts? I am hoping to build the engine anyways, and was curious if getting non oem parts would help. Sorry if this has been covered many times already, but i couldnt find anything about it online. Thanks

 

https://jackstransmissions.com/blogs/pages/crank-walk

There's countless threads about crankwalk. Just google "crankwalk evo" and you'll get more threads than you can handle. That link should help answer your question.

 

I don't think the crank walk thing is as big of an issue as the internet made it out to be. It's certainly not something to pointlessly tear down a currently healthy engine for.

As for "fixing" it, an aftermarket block isn't needed. If the motor has the issue, just rebuild it with a new crank and bearings.

To help prevent it, disconnect the clutch switch so you can start the car with pushing the clutch in.

 

It really isn't that big of an issue. I've owned and been around 4G63s since 2003 and haven't met a single person that had a crank walk.

 

Only one I've seen also got ran with out oil. Lol.

Otherwise I actually built the 7 bolt motor in a fitness 2g gsx. It got torn down at 90k miles with no issues, did rods/pistons and cams. And it's been fine since. Probably 10k miles on it.