Fan belt rant

[451Mopar]

I think one problem is the original V-belts were slightly narrower than todays replacements that ride higher in the pulleys often throwing the belts at high RPM.

 

[toolmanmike]

The auto industry went to serpentine belts and the market fell off for the V belts. Old cars and riding lawn mower use them. Old machinery does as well but all the new ones have gone to direct drive motors. Take your new furnace for example. At the parts store we sold matched sets from Gates. "back in the day" oh what a great time to grow up. LOL

 

[kiwigtx]

I avoid them at all cost.

Not easy to do when your car calls for them.

 

[Davefinan]

Not Mopar, but my buddy told me to get some belts for my Toyota van last year, as he was out of town,, and we would fit them that weekend. Turns out he had to order them for me after all.. .... the two Gates belts I bought were different. Cliffy ordered me a "matched pair" of genuine Toyota belts - and bugger me, they were cheaper than the Gates 'Parts Store' belts I paid through the nose for from our local Auto chain "Rapeco"....I mean Repco.

View attachment 1906635

REPCO is our largest chain auto parts store.... acronym is aka "Rip Every Poor C*** Off"

 

[Davefinan]

Rapeco…..lol.

 

[sc440]

Mancini racing has restoration sets.Restoration Belts

 

[themechanic]

Mancini racing has restoration sets.Restoration Belts

You'd have to call for length.

 

[themechanic]

I bought 6 of Gates 7585 AC belts. I took them to Auto Zone and had them measure all the belts until I found 2 that matched. One was longer than the rest and one was shorter than the rest.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[khryslerkid]

There is less rubber in cogged belts so they stretch/squeal more. I avoid them at all cost.

Both my belts are "cogged". Not any problems.

 

[Geoff 2]

Well buy a lottery ticket....
By definition, a cogged belt is more prone to slipping because it is not as strong. It has less rubber in it to take the load...

 

[Geoff 2]

Should have added....
Cogged belts were invented to increase belt life...because they flexed less, ran cooler. Sounded like a good idea at the time....

 

[Kern Dog]

The cogged belts suck eggs.

If the belts have the cogs on the inside they will always slip/squeal. I run the Top Cog belts, but off the top of my head I can’t remember who makes them. Kim

Like these?

There is less rubber in cogged belts so they stretch/squeal more. I avoid them at all cost.

My power steering belt squeals even when it is tight. It is a solid belt, no "cogs" like the Goodyears in the picture above.
Imagine the fun of a belt squeal at the top of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

 

[AR67GTX]

If the belts have the cogs on the inside they will always slip/squeal. I run the Top Cog belts, but off the top of my head I can’t remember who makes them. Kim

Dayco makes the top cog belts. I run them on my cars but they can be hard to find. A lot of them described as top cog on eBay and elsewhere are actually just bottom toothed belts.

To me the top cog belts make more sense, grip better and just seem to be more robust. But, I’m not completely convinced it’s working out that way. My factory AC and PS 67 GTX seems to want to squeal belts no matter what.

Solid, quality belts are the best, but where to find them?

 

[themechanic]

Bouchillon Performance Engineering recommended Gates.

My single Gates cogged belt didn't squeal when I had the wrong pulleys that came with the car. The squeal started after I bought all new double row pulleys for the crank, water pump and alternator and installed cheap cogged belts at O'Reilly's.

 

[ckessel]

Currently on the wagon, I have Gates units. They are cogged though. Was just thinking, maybe the company changed the belt compound/construction over time? Have no squeek issues but when I put the proper pullies on the wp and crank, I did blast the grooves along with the remainder of the pulley. Possibly thats why.

 

[Nxcoupe]

I went through this website when looking for matched belts for my ac on the coronet. Www.vebeltsupply.com
They sell matched sets of belts really cheaply. I had to order a couple different sizes til I found what worked, but they have lasted 3 years even with my rusted up pulleys. I have an extra set in the trunk just in case. I will put those on with the new pulleys when I rebuild the engine this winter.

 

[68BabyBlue]

I’ll tell what are total trash- repop belts from I believe quanta brand. Terrible junk *** stuff. Did look good when I first put them on, before the stretched like stretch Armstrong toy. First drive.

I had the same experience with Quanta belts on GTX number five. Slipped so badly the alternator wouldn’t charge. Replaced them with a set of cheap cog belts from Advance Auto, they worked. Didn’t have the matching issue, the car was single pulley.

 

[ckessel]

Another issue that enables squeaks is not having the accessories lined up. Its beneficial to spend some time with a straight edge and add washers/shorten spacers/tweak brackets etc to get all the players lined up.

 

[themechanic]

I tried the new Gates AC belts today. The squeal is still there.

I ordered a Gates belt for the power steering pump. Fingers crossed.

 

[AR67GTX]

On my AC/PS GTX it’s the power steering belt that seems to give me the most trouble.