waddisme

Still running stock tensioner on my 500+rwhp C5Z but it is starting to squeak. Hawks is $100 shipped and Katech is $147 shipped and stock ~$60. Anyone use this Hawk:

https://www.hawksmotorsports.com/bil...2-ls3-ls6-ls7/

Just a few comments in the General section about them and they were all good.

Thoughts?

smitty2919

What makes that pretty billet piece better than a OEM one? Why not go with another OEM one?

Look into what springs are used on each part to see how they differ.

waddisme

Was thinking the manually adjusted is probably what I should have.

'Shifter

I have the Katech, and it needed a bearing pretty quickly, but it was probably my fault as my balancer was going away at that point. I replaced the bearing with a high-quality Japanese bearing, and all is well now.

waddisme

Amazon has this one for $50 by LSX Innovations:




Not familiar with them, but an impressive website though.

STANG KILLA SS

ive bought two that looked like that hawks one off ebay for much cheaper. both worked great! one was on my track car that kept throwing belt at 6000 rpm (stock spring wore out) it fixed that. and the other was was on a street car.
i may still have one off the street car, (we were hunting a squeel, didnt fix that so removed) if your interested i can try to find it if you want to buy it. PM me if interested.

SocalC5Z

I've been running this exact tensioner for 4 years. Works great and stopped my belt problems.

ErnieN85

Stock has a problem with instability of the spring around 6,000 rpms and up and tends to through the belt. later year pulleys have a higher lip that seems to stop the problem also.

waddisme

I repl my LS6 one with a C6 one a long time ago.

Just ordered mine from Amazon - $50.

Thanks for all the input.

Hi Volts Z06

davidfarmer

I've used several from Katech and all worked well, but those cheaper ones look just fine. You really only need a fixed tensioner if you are running a lightweight clutch and/or underdrive pulley. I throw belts with OEM tensioner since I have a 5.5" clutch and underdrive aluminum damper. That 50lb reduced rotating mass wreaks havoc!

waddisme

Got the $50 one from LSX Innovations installed and squeak is all gone. Will see how it holds up when track season comes back around. Now off to fix power steering line leak.

Mark@AMT Motorsport

Why is that exactly? I still don't get why GM bothered to spend a ton of time and money and R&D equipping millions of cars with a spring loaded tensioner if the spring wasn't necessary. I don't know enough about it which is why I ask. Every time someone talks about using a fixed tensioner I think about this video and figure there's a reason these things are spring loaded.

NSFW

I assume the reasons are ease of assembly and ease of maintenance. With a spring controlling the tension, installation is trivial and the tensioner won't need maintenance over a lifetime of typical usage.

Race cars see a lot of atypical usage though. With a fixed tensioner, installation requires a torque wrench or good judgment, and it needs to be adjusted periodically. I'm OK with that.

Also, cost. A tensioner that can last for years of atypical usage is probably feasible - but if it costs more, manufacturers won't choose it for typical cars.

Edit: ...and I wonder if supercharged vehicles really do require a spring loaded tensioner, due to belt stretch. A supercharger making lots of pressure at high flow probably puts a lot more tension on the belt than the accessories on naturally aspirated cars.

sccaGT1racer

The lightweight clutch and high rpms associated with a race engine far exceed the design parameters of the factory unit. I went through 2 factory tensioners and finally fixed the belt throwing issue with a manual tensioner.

Katech_Zach

I use that video all the time also to illustrate why you can't use a fixed tensioner on a supercharged application. One of the reasons GM uses a spring-loaded tensioner in naturally aspirated applications is to automatically adjust as the belt stretches, or to deal with slight variations in belt length. A fixed tensioner needs to be re-adjusted during maintenance, but eliminates the issue of throwing belts at high RPM and in racing conditions.