Kinsler Tough Pump® - A Highly Recommended Racing Fuel Pump

If you’re familiar with Kinsler fuel injection products, then you’re also familiar with our commitment to quality and durability with each of these products.

The Kinsler Tough Pump® is no exception. In fact, it’s one of the most reliable mechanical pumps on the market. You might be wondering, what is it that makes the Kinsler Tough Pump® so highly recommended?

In a nutshell, it can go a long way in improving your racing performance and reliability.

Why Is the Kinsler Tough Pump® So Highly Recommended as a Racing Fuel Pump?

When it comes to a high-performance, durable mechanical fuel pump designed for consistency and reliability in racing, the Kinsler Tough Pump® pulls out all the stops. With its wide array of features, it ensures stable fuel flow for maximum engine performance.

Let’s take a deeper dive.

One-Piece Gear-Shaft

Our pump is made to last with high alloy steel that’s been case hardened, precision ground, then proprietary coated. And the one-piece design doesn’t allow for radial movement of the gear on the shaft, thus maintaining correct clearance between the gear teeth tips and housing. This enables the Tough Pump® to ingest dirt and spit it out with ease better than a two-piece gear-shaft.

Rock-Solid Housing

The final design of the Tough Pump® is the strongest in the industry. MIL-Spec hard-coated to +/- .0001” tolerance for consistent flow over a very long life is combined with twelve 10-32 studs to super secure the extra-rigid cover. The housing is good to 400 PSI, but higher PSI is available.

Steady Flow at Extreme RPM

The design for most pumps has the inlet port coming into the gears after making a 90-degree turn. Not so with the Kinsler Tough Pump®. In this case, the inlet port comes straight into the gears. This, combined with special internal design features to feed the fuel to the gears, give excellent top-end performance (up to 7,000 pump RPM (14,000 engine RPM)) without cavitation. Meanwhile, the larger diameter roller bearings are rated at higher load (output pressure) and 2,000 more pump RPM than other brand pumps.

Pressure Balance Plate System

Our gear side plates are constructed from high alloy steel that’s been heat-treated, then ground to a 6-micro-inch finish. It has an end-to-end flatness of .0001”. The plates are then coated with a harder-than-carbide composite, then lapped to a 2-micro-inch mirror finish. This extra smooth coating greatly reduces the torque required to drive the pump.

With this system, one plate is movable. It has a pump outlet pressure fed beneath it to keep it in constant contact with the gear faces. This provides minimum pump output flow drop vs. pressure to compensate for housing expansion due to temperature and wear. In addition, two coil springs keep the plate in contact with the gear faces for excellent priming during engine cranking.

Consistent Test Output

To ensure consistent test output, the Tough Pump® is flow-tested, then run-in for two hours before being re-flow tested before shipping. Each size pump is held to a high flow output specification and test benches are designed for repeatability and consistency.

Pumps of the same size can be interchanged without a change in the fuel system settings. This way, no time is lost ‘dialing in’ a fuel system again and there’s no risk of damaging the engine due to flow differences.

Thermal Expansion (Temperature)

Consistency is crucial in racing. So, if a fuel tune-up changes excessively with the fuel pump’s temperature, the engine’s not going to perform consistently. Fortunately, the above-mentioned pressure balance plate system and highly stable housing/cover provides architecture that reduces the loss of flow up to 75% less than other manufacturers.

Smoother Output

Tough Pumps have more teeth on the gears. That means the same overage flow output but with smaller peaks and valleys of the wave cycle. This reduces the instantaneous rise and fall of the pressure. In addition, the smoother wave cycle allows the bypass valves to operate more consistently because the valves aren’t as frequently hammered by the pressure pulses.

Drive Alignment

In many mechanical pumps, the female drive hex and mounting pilot are not concentric to each other. Forcing these two elements together puts a large side load on the pump’s bearings and drive shaft that can cause the bearings to fail. The Tough Pump® has a universal drive that allows the male hex to swivel and absorb minor misalignment, thereby eliminating side loading of the pump’s drive shaft and bearings.

Safety

A static brass sleeve around the drive shaft is sealed to the housing and to the movable plate by o-rings. This prevents pressure from reaching the shaft seal, reduces the possibility of a seal leak, and reduces friction on the drive shaft. This results in a longer seal life and a reduction in the required drive torque. The seal cavity is then vented back to the inlet side of the pump to further ensure that there is no pressure on the seal. A snap ring positively locates the seal, so the chance of fuel leaking out of the drive end is minimized.

The Kinsler Tough Pump® is the complete package.

Racers Win with the Kinsler Tough Pump®

Professional racers:

Rico Abreu in the Rico Abreu Racing #24 powered by a 410 cubic inch Speedway Engine Dev. Utilizing Kinsler’s Beast Fuel Injection and Tough Pump®

2025 Kubota High Limit Championship

David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports #2 powered by a 410 cubic inch

Morrison Racing Engine utilizing Kinsler’s Monster Fuel Injection and

Tough Pump® 2025 World of Outlaws Championship

Sam Hafertepe Jr in the Hills Racing Team #15 powered by 360 cubic inch Fisher Racing Engines utilizing a Kinsler’s Raptor Fuel Injection and Tough Pump® 2025 ASCS National Championship

Jeremy Huish in the Jeremy Huish Racing #88j powered by 305 cubic inch Myers Racing Engines utilizing a Kinsler’s RS 305 Fuel Injection and Tough Pump® 2023 RaceSaver National Championship

It’s Time to See How the Kinsler Tough Pump® Can Improve Your Racing Performance

Now that you know what it is that makes the Kinsler Tough Pump® so highly recommended, why not try it out for yourself? The Tough Pump is available in a wide range of models, sizes, and types that you can check out here.

And if you have any questions at all, the team at Kinsler is ready to help service and support you with whatever make and model will fit your racing needs.

So contact us today to speak with our sales team or service team. And discover all the ways a Kinsler Tough Pump® can jack your engine’s overall performance and give you a serious advantage.