Belts

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,695
5,851
113
Phoenix Az
Ok, im gettin really tired of my what truck is doin to belts. everytime i go out and play in her just on the tow tune, it seems like not long after i tear an outer rib off the belt. if i drive the truck like a sane person, i dont have issues. And yes i have PPE dual fuelers but before this turns into some PPE hate thread or some other BS, the pully is perfectly inline with the other pullys short of checking it all out with mics. here is a bit of back history.

First green belt that came with the kit, jumped a rib and ate a rib off. threw another checker belt by Gates on it, did it again not 100 miles in. Realized i never checked alignment of the second pump after i put it on after talking to Trent and Dan. Fixed alignment and went and bought a GM belt as i needed one asap for a trip.

Get back from the trip and go to the track. trans flares bad the whole time on the big tune (didnt realize i had some toasted clutches) and throws my new GM belt while cutting another rib off.

So replace the tentioner and both idler pullys with GM parts. Took back my checker auto belt since its lifetime warrentied, waited 3 days for the new one and put it on. drove it for 2 months without issue but i never played much on the truck as i drove the samurai most of the time. Then i pop the hood a week before moab and find it killed the back outer rib on the belt as some point but it showed absolutly no signs of having jumped a rib to cut it. it looked like i may have just been a bed rib on the belt. take it back to checkers and wait for a new one.

So now im on this 5th belt. put it on before our 8 hour trip to moab. drive there with some playing around with friends on the way up, checked the belt as we went, no issues i could see. Drove back, checking as we went. few WOT runs, no issue. figured cool, just a bad belt.

Well drove the truck easy up till last weekend when i did some playing around again saturday night with brian and tony. probably did 8 or so WOT runs from 2nd gear on up to 5th. parked it till today and drove to work, go to lunch just a few min ago and start it up and hear the belt wacking around under the hood. sure enough it tore another belt rib but this time its the outside rib facing the front of the truck. Again, no signs of jumping ribs on the pullys to cause it.

Now, trans has not flair shifts or banged shifts since Mike refreshed it and steve and i spent time gettin the defuel nailed. it shifts like a good shifting stock truck at WOT :D. i can not find a bent pully anywhere, i went over all the edges of the pullys looking for sharp edges, dinged edges, and checked alignment of ALL pullys the best i could. i did all this prior to moab. couldnt find anything. Truck shifts at 3300rpm so is not like im revin it high.

Im kinda at a loss. only thing i can think of is i need to run a green belt but i dont know if its gunna fix it and then i just wasted 80 bucks and shipping trying to fix it. Ive spent enough throwing parts at it cause i needed the truck asap.

is anyone else running regular belts on a dual pump truck without issue?
 

WisconsinHick1

New member
Mar 11, 2009
1,231
1
0
Minnesota
Gates belt with dual fuelers for a few hundred miles with no issue. I had to buy a bigger idler pulley from ATS becuase they recommend it because the belt streches after a hundred miles or so. How tight is your tensinor?
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,695
5,851
113
Phoenix Az
Gates belt with dual fuelers for a few hundred miles with no issue. I had to buy a bigger idler pulley from ATS becuase they recommend it because the belt streches after a hundred miles or so. How tight is your tensinor?

its pretty tight, you could feel a difference between my old one that had 168k vs this one but didnt seem overly tight to me
 

whitetrash21

put on da damn helmet day
Apr 29, 2008
4,929
0
36
Vegas
X2. I just replaced one one a buddies truck....it was working its way off and throwin his belt.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,695
5,851
113
Phoenix Az
How's the pulley on your power steering pump look. Make sure its no working its way off the shaft.

X2. I just replaced one one a buddies truck....it was working its way off and throwin his belt.

but that would cause the belt to jump ribs right? its not jumping ribs any more, its jsut throwing them which makes no sense. and its not like its the inner side only thats doing it as now the outside one just did it.

what brand tensioner did you go with?

Factory GM
 

WisconsinHick1

New member
Mar 11, 2009
1,231
1
0
Minnesota
With the new idler pulley I have to really push on the tensioner to get the belt off. I also have to slide it off one of the idler pulleys because I can't get it off any ribbed pulley.
 

Ne-max

I like turtles
Nov 15, 2011
3,361
64
48
Lincoln, Ne
but that would cause the belt to jump ribs right? its not jumping ribs any more, its jsut throwing them which makes no sense. and its not like its the inner side only thats doing it as now the outside one just did it.



Factory GM

Mine did the same thing and that was the issue. Make sure the shaft of the pump is flush with the pulley.
 

Dirtymaxx03

Active member
Aug 4, 2009
3,109
1
38
My truck was doing the same thing. Would just eat the outside rib off the belt, if I didn't check it soon enough, it would eventually eat all the way through the belt. Replaced the tensioner with a napa brand unit. Ate a belt. Replaced it with an autozone unit and new idler pulleys, ate a belt. Went to gm and shelled out the $$$ for a GM tensioner and haven't had a problem since.

Does the pulley on your tensioner have "sides" or "walls"?

And is the belt contacting the tensioner and getting sheared? I could see where my belt would rub the tensioner and that's what was killing the belts.
 

Dirtymaxx03

Active member
Aug 4, 2009
3,109
1
38
I think it might have something to do with the belt getting slack in it when you let off after going WOT in the upper rpm range. At least that's what I noticed about my problem.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,695
5,851
113
Phoenix Az
Take a look at the balancer while the engine is running, it should be "true" 100%.







Its flush and right inline with everything







Ill go check that now.


balance spins 100% true. Not a wobble in it. All pullys run smooth




My truck was doing the same thing. Would just eat the outside rib off the belt, if I didn't check it soon enough, it would eventually eat all the way through the belt. Replaced the tensioner with a napa brand unit. Ate a belt. Replaced it with an autozone unit and new idler pulleys, ate a belt. Went to gm and shelled out the $$$ for a GM tensioner and haven't had a problem since.

Does the pulley on your tensioner have "sides" or "walls"?

And is the belt contacting the tensioner and getting sheared? I could see where my belt would rub the tensioner and that's what was killing the belts.

Thats why i went and put a straight gm tentioner on it. Not sure what you mean by sides or walls. Its a metal pully on the tensioner. I have marks everywhere from 5 belts goin so couldnt say
 

mackthehack

DUH...
Apr 16, 2007
831
0
16
My truck was doing the same thing. Would just eat the outside rib off the belt, if I didn't check it soon enough, it would eventually eat all the way through the belt. Replaced the tensioner with a napa brand unit. Ate a belt. Replaced it with an autozone unit and new idler pulleys, ate a belt. Went to gm and shelled out the $$$ for a GM tensioner and haven't had a problem since.

Does the pulley on your tensioner have "sides" or "walls"?

And is the belt contacting the tensioner and getting sheared? I could see where my belt would rub the tensioner and that's what was killing the belts.

I'm a firm believer in shelling out the cash for oem stuff. Auto parts stores components are crap. Only use auto parts stores for chemicals.
 

Chevy1925

don't know sh!t about IFS
Staff member
Oct 21, 2009
21,695
5,851
113
Phoenix Az
Do i have to change belt sizes to run the belt as if i had the ppe oil centrifuge or is it the same belt? I dont like that there is omly a little belt contact on the a/c compressor but its worth a shot.
 

moss

<--good vibrations
Dec 15, 2008
296
0
16
43
sandwich, il
you have 2 different options for tentioners on your truck. you have the wrong one. i will try to find pics...