Wow bud , im glad to see what looks like joy and a light at the end of the tunnel!


This thread , even though it was made because of a problem , has been very refreshing and cool to see lots of good people that care and are trying to help . Sucks but you dont see that , And that was a great idea Blown06 had , kudos to him and others , good stuff .

I agree , it wouldnt hurt to shim the idlers out a bit , but like Atomic said as long as its not touching the edge it will be fine .

Go give her hell and see how if that belt stays put now !

 

I agree Tim! The people on here are very helpful and full of ideas! I get off work in 3.5 hours then it's time for some hell rips and see how it holds up!

 

Well guys... I went out for a rip tonight after work and the belt still went back off the tensioner pulley by a rib and ripped into the belt again... I took pics with the laser tool on the pulleys. All are within a 1/4 rib of each other. From what I've read 1/2 a rib for every 6 inches of belt spread is acceptable. So I'm well within that on all of them. Im losing it on this. I just wanna drive my truck!!

 

So every time it walks it is coming off the tensioner towards the engine?

 

Hmmm, put a go pro or digital camera under there and take a video of it so you can see whats going on.

 

Wow this sux. Two more suggestions to check if you have not already:

1. If you remove the blower spacer pulley and flip the blower pulley does it line up wtih the alternator pulley (using a straight edge).

2. I bought a Gates alignment tool but ended up sending it back. Using their paper jig everything looked near enough but with a more solid squared up jig across 4 feet you could really see the difference. After trying to correct the alignment, I figured out the set screws were too small for the tool that holds the alignment. I called their support and he checked the ones they had there too. Apparently the mfg. installed at least one large batch with the screws too small. So I used straight edge like the others herein and LC32 Joe suggested with no problems.

 

It kind of sounds like one or more of the pulleys arent square to the engine. Use the laser to trace a path around the pulley and see if it moves inward or outward on the adjacent pulley.

 

One more thought: Is the power steering and altenator bracket all the way back flush and tight against the head/block....not pinching or being held off by anything.

 

Are you checking the tentioner alignment thru its range of motion? If it is not square to the engine and other pulleys, as it moves thru its range, it will move out of alignment. I would also rather see a full face spacer rather than the fender washers spacing out the tentioner. The cast aluminum on the tentioner face is not very thick and could flex and/or crack unless supported at the edges.

 

How much travel do you have left on the tensioner before it bottoms out? If it is bottoming out under load (the belt stretches quite a bit actually), then it could be getting thrown from the tensioner. The fix would be a slightly shorter belt. I put together all the gates belts listed by length in the sticky thread if you want to look.