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Your ac belt turns the jackshaft pulley that runs the alternator belt. That's why I say if the alternator belt is too tight, you put extra stress on the ac belt.
I disagree because imo there is no way the alt tension would transfer to the ac belt. Ac belt runs along the crank pulley rear and around flip pulley which is free flowing. The other side of same pulley is then turning the ps/alt yes but no way does that transfer stress/pulled tension energy to the ac belt.
Lol i dont want their instructions now i already figured it all out mostly blind. Id like to see how high your bolt is.. But i must say at the tension i have it the belt looked perfect when i pulled it off actually. The only belt that broke has been the old ac belt but the blower belt was kinda beat up it lost about an inch of a rib so i tossed it and now have the hd belt. I think Matt believes in tight tension because these belts stretch a lot and i agree once they break in they are a lot different.
That's fine. Just thought I'd offer. I don't think it would do any good to show you where my bolt is. I don't know if we have the exact same length belt, and they are different brands, so the stretch will be different. Also mine probably hasn't stretched much as my tension is not near as tight as the way you describe yours. One thing I did notice is that you have your belt turned backwards in one of the pics. It usually doesn't hurt anything, but they are designed to run clockwise with the words legible from the front. It's nit picking I know, but I was told that in college by a rep from one of the major belt companies. Just thought I'd mention it.
I know mine is different. I am referring to yours. The ac belt runs the jackshaft. Anything on the jackshaft will affect the ac belt since it has to turn that.
Also if you look at the cartek pic above that alt tensioner pulley is all the way down.
I disagree because imo there is no way the alt tension would transfer to the ac belt. Ac belt runs along the crank pulley rear and around flip pulley which is free flowing. The other side of same pulley is then turning the ps/alt yes but no way does that transfer stress/pulled tension energy to the ac belt.
If you tighten the AC belt extremely tight where the pulley is harder to turn, the ac belt will have more stress trying to turn it.
Yes but cog setup should be a lot less tension than my setup thats y im sayin its different. But i get what ur saying and yes we prob have diff belts because my alt pulley may be a little diff than oem.
That's fine. Just thought I'd offer. I don't think it would do any good to show you where my bolt is. I don't know if we have the exact same length belt, and they are different brands, so the stretch will be different. Also mine probably hasn't stretched much as my tension is not near as tight as the way you describe yours. One thing I did notice is that you have your belt turned backwards in one of the pics. It usually doesn't hurt anything, but they are designed to run clockwise with the words legible from the front. It's nit picking I know, but I was told that in college by a rep from one of the major belt companies. Just thought I'd mention it.
Never EVER heard that before and id call bs on that because if that were true they would prob write on belts "words must be legible when turning clockwise". Ill try that next belt change tho and see if u have something there but that is beyond nit picking lol.
This is a DIY thread meant to help people install these belts that have my setup and if you have something to add please post pics of your setup and describe your DIY.
Never EVER heard that before and id call bs on that because if that were true they would prob write on belts "words must be legible when turning clockwise". Ill try that next belt change tho and see if u have something there but that is beyond nit picking lol.
I agree. I didn't come up with that on my own though. That was straight from gates or someone like that. Can't remember which company came to our class that day. That was 20 years ago.
My cog does have a lot less tension, but my alternator belt runs just like yours. I tried more and less tension on my alternator to see how it might affect the cog belt, and when I applied more tension to the alternator belt, the jackshaft pulley was harder to turn with no belt on the back side so it would put more stress on my cog or your ac belt either one.
Your belt has teeth and they will SHRED because you are tightening the belt turning as you said. Again COG not rib. Think for a second ribbed is opposite of cog. Cog you are going to shred the teeth off it is it too hard for it to move and the teeth arent strong enough to turn all the pulleys which arent turning. That will cause it to shred in your case but not my case i have ribbed belts so i can tighten the ever loving **** outta my alt belt and it does absolutely NOTHING to my ac belt because its not cogged and the ribs have no resistance. Cogs dont like resistance, u resist good bye teeth!! Lol
Stare at that for a min ull see what i mean... Add resistance on rib, but you have a cog opposing pulley leads to what your saying. Not with full rib setup tho. Rib is turning cog is literally going to pull teeth in that case..
Stare at that for a min ull see what i mean... Add resistance on rib, but you have a cog opposing pulley leads to what your saying. Not with full rib setup tho. Rib is turning cog is literally going to pull teeth in that case..
I understand why you say what you say, but if I can tighten the alternator enough to put too much stress on the cogs, that in itself proves the force required to turn the jackshaft pulley has increased. In my case it causes the cogs to strip out. In your case, more than likely, it causes the belt to slip. That will cause friction and heat and cause the belt to break. We also haven't mentioned the extra stress on the bearings in that high dollar alternator. The belt is not supposed to be that tight, and it's even in the instructions. If you disagree, that's perfectly fine. Just trying to help bro.
Also forgot to mention. The instructions I received were printed before they came out with the cog setup. They are for your exact setup with the ac belt running the jackshaft.
Last edited by Xtremespeed; 08-27-2015 at 08:34 PM.
Exactly. Well now that you understand what im saying it wont happen in my case. I do agree and know your trying to help but like i said Matt has 15+ years LS experience and has not steered me wrong yet. Literally has been spot on since day 1 good or bad and if my alt cant handle it i have warranty but so far its fine with that tension. Its the opposite from what you say though. If you dont tighten the rib setup it will slip and squeel like a ****. It has yet to slip or squeel at this tension. I hate squeeling belts lol.
I understand why you say what you say, but if I can tighten the alternator enough to put too much stress on the cogs, that in itself proves the force required to turn the jackshaft pulley has increased. In my case it causes the cogs to strip out. In your case, more than likely, it causes the belt to slip. That will cause friction and heat and cause the belt to break. We also haven't mentioned the extra stress on the bearings in that high dollar alternator. The belt is not supposed to be that tight, and it's even in the instructions. If you disagree, that's perfectly fine. Just trying to help bro.
Also forgot to mention. The instructions I received were printed before they came out with the cog setup. They are for your exact setup with the ac belt running the jackshaft.
Just because crankshaft force has increased, doesnt mean it will cause a rib belt with proper tension to slip. In fact thats quite the opposite, dont tighten a rib belt and increase force its like burning tires, the ribbed belt will lose tread and eventually be down to flat. The rib belt should just pull and in turn help accessories/pulleys turn faster. Btw just because ecs wrote that its not my bible lol.
I have done this for a few years and let me tell you... Ill never touch a cog setup again EVER.. But thats just me..
Just because crankshaft force has increased, doesnt mean it will cause a rib belt with proper tension to slip. In fact thats quite the opposite, dont tighten a rib belt and increase force its like burning tires, the ribbed belt will lose tread and eventually be down to flat. The rib belt should just pull and in turn help accessories/pulleys turn faster. Btw just because ecs wrote that its not my bible lol.
I have done this for a few years and let me tell you... Ill never touch a cog setup again EVER.. But thats just me..
I will happily bow out. You are convinced that tightening the **** out of that tensioner is a good idea, and I am not. I've been in the business for almost 20 years and over tightening the tension on a belt is just as bad as under tightening. I think it's possible you misunderstood Matt about how to tension it.
08-27-2015, 07:20 PM
