Best quiet drive belt

[christopher shears]

Since we’re on a belt tensioners
Forum…for you cheapskates out there ..you can take the bearing off and regrease it and put it back together..I know it will freak out half you hard core S/T guys but it works if bearing is in good shape..look on YouTube for videos … the belt tensioner does get weak. Over time..you can check it with your hand strength. Saves you 50 bucks and takes 30 mins to change. Regreaseing is fun ..synthetic grease best…do every 50 k..just trying to save you money…will give you a heads up if not working properly by squealing.

 

[Todd Z]

Since we’re on a belt tensioners
Forum…for you cheapskates out there ..you can take the bearing off and regrease it and put it back together..I know it will freak out half you hard core S/T guys but it works if bearing is in good shape..look on YouTube for videos … the belt tensioner does get weak. Over time..you can check it with your hand strength. Saves you 50 bucks and takes 30 mins to change. Regreaseing is fun ..synthetic grease best…do every 50 k..just trying to save you money…will give you a heads up if not working properly by squealing.

Actually I do this on a lot of brand new bearings I receive because half of the time the failure is due to lack of grease from the factory.
I do this on every single RC bearing that I get for all of my RC cars because they never have any grease in them.

 

[DILLARD000]

Is the belt INSTALLATION TOOL necessary or does this go on easily?

No "special" tool needed; just use a 1/2" 3/8" Swivel\RatchetDrive
& may be an 18" long piece of 3/4"pipe as a cheater
for the 1/2" 3/8" Square hole in the BeltTensioner.

 

[swshawaii]

@DILLARD000

^ Good post with one correction. Tensioner square drive hole is 3/8".

 

[DILLARD000]

Okay, okay, I admit, it's only 3/8" !!!
The wife too always corrects my lies about tool dimensions.

 

[Have An Upvote]

"I put the the new one on"; do you mean HarmonicBalancer or SerpBelt?
Can remove Belt & start a cold engine, to see if HarmonicBalancer squeeks.
But do NOT let it run more than 30~45secs without coolant circulating.

The belt is what I meant. Okay. I’ll check it out next time. Thanks!

 

[RMYLY]

BTW people saying the .5 shorter belt is no good...… FORD switched it on the Gen 2 to guess what ????? the .5 shorter !!!!!

Yeah, they listened.....

Todd...want to order the belt you suggest for a V8. The 1/2" SHORTER. Believe you mentioned Gates..do you recall the part #?

 

[Brad B]

Use OE and be done. It doesn’t matter if it’s the same brand as something you’ve tried, it’s made to Ford specs and is different. I have a squeaky belt story that goes with this recommendation which is why I defer to OE.

 

[Todd Z]

Todd...want to order the belt you suggest for a V8. The 1/2" SHORTER. Believe you mentioned Gates..do you recall the part #?

I believe k060860

 

[RMYLY]

I believe k060860

Thanks...found it. Rock Auto has it for $22
Weird...does NOT LIST it as an option for V8 ST, but when i put in your model #, it comes up and it shows it does fit.

 

[Todd Z]

Woah woah woah. This is only for the 4.0. Not the V8.

 

[RMYLY]

Woah woah woah. This is only for the 4.0. Not the V8.

ah ha...thats why. So the 1/2" shorter recommendation does NOT apply to the 4.6 V8 ? I should just stick to the normal size?

 

[Mattee]

BTW people saying the .5 shorter belt is no good...… FORD switched it on the Gen 2 to guess what ????? the .5 shorter !!!!!

Yeah, they listened.....

Your Awesome, I have been looking for this info everywhere! I have been struggling for days putting on and taking off my old and new 86.25 inches long belts and idler arm pulleys. No matter what.... Way too loose every time, less than zero tension on the idler arm pulley. I'm going crazy, I'm going down to NAPA Auto parts and see if I can find a 85.75 belt and see if that works? I hope that does the trick!

 

[parker_lansing]

Goodyear Gatorback or Continental Elite 4060865 is the perfect length.
Gatorback or Elite belts are completely different from OE Technology's conventional 6 rib design.

I can confirm, this specific belt fixed a bunch of problems for me. Thank you for the recommendation!