it is not the tensioner it is the instant let off of the gas, the blower almost stops and causes the shock that breaks the unit. Let off easy.

 

that is a gates tensioner

 

Yeah I went to Napa with the dayco part# and wound up with the gates tensioner which im glad I did this one looks like it will last a while longer than the maggie supplied tensioner and I still run the original maggie belt with this tensioner 100mm idlers and 2.9 pulley imagine that

 

the main difference between the gates and dayco tensioners is gates used a round spring vs dayco which uses a flat spring. Gates claims the round spring is superior to the flat spring setup

 

Has anybody checked or messured the spring force of each unit to see which one has the most force to keep the belt from slipping, if not I will try to get my hands on the Gates unit and compare the two in the next 2 weeks.

 

anyone ever thought about using a diesel truck belt tensioner? I have "heard" that they are pretty stout, just never looked into it before.

 

Interesting, I just broke my tensioner a couple of nights ago. I might go to autozone tomarrow and see if I can pick up a dayco one or something, beats ordering one off the net and having to wait for it to get here.

 

Maybe one of Dayco's Heavy Duty tensioners for big rigs can be adapted with a 6-rib pulley and made to work on the stock accessory bracket. These tensioners are more heavily constructed and built to keep tension on 8, 10, and 12-rib belts.

http://www.daycoproducts.com/daycowe...nerCatalog.pdf

 

I just picked up the Gates Belt tentioner and it does seem to be a better built unit, I will take some force messurements soon as I can build a test fixture.
First observations is that the Gates unit has less total travel, that could present a problem as the belt stretches under boost and you could lose tention. I will report back with pics and numers next week.

 

Mine's been on for just over a year and has worked flawlessly like they should.