Email sent, sorry for the delay. I forgot to check back on some of the threads I commented on.

 

midnite1987

I have the same year truck and the same engine (351w,speed density,ac,ps,stock alt.)
When i removed my smog pump I first tried a 96" belt using a re-routing i found on this site, belt would not fit. I then tried a cheaper NAPA belt that was 97.17"oc, it went on and worked but was a little effort to get on. I went back and purchased their best belt and it was 97 1/8" oc (part #25-060966 micro-v at) it went on easier and works great.
I have about 4 months and around 800 miles on it with no problems. No squeeking or squelling or anything. The routing I used from this site not only bypasses the smog pump but also the top idler pulley. The smog pump or at least the pulley will have to be removed to get clearance for the belt as it slightly touches if you don't. When I removed smog pump I also removed everything connected to it except crossover tube between heads, have not figured out how to get those bolts out yet. My next project is to remove that very large mounting bracket for alt,smog pump,idler,tensioner and replace with aftermarket bracket for alt. only that has tensioner included. That will clean up front of engine a lot. I don't know how you got a 95.5" belt on there as the 96" i first tried did not even come close to going on. Good luck

 

I removed the full smog setup, pump and all lines.
I have the 130a 3G alternator which has a smaller diameter pulle an required a 1" shorter belt when I still ha TW smog pump.
I tried routing the belt as you said without using the top idler and the belt would just squeal. I had a hard time getting the belt on there too. But it still squealed. Then I tried using the idler as well and got the 94.5" belt an it fits great and no squeal but it rolls off the back of the tensioner now .....
I'll be erring a idler to replace the pump from fordbozo soon so I'll give that a try and see what happens.

 

midnite1987

When i did mine i had read a lot of posts from people that have done this, and as you can guess there were various opinions on doing it. Some said you had to have smog pump replacement pulley and a lot said you didn't. Since my goal was to clean up engine compartment and remove unused junk (i have no cats, so pump not needed) i don't like removing something and replacing it with something else (voids purpose) which in this case was eliminator pulley and expense to buy it. I would put stock sized pulley back on and try the re-routing with 97 1/8" belt. I am assuming yours is the same configuration i have. Check all pulleys for tightness and clean surfaces and maybe even clean them with a brake cleaner or something. A little grease or grunge can cause squeeks. It sounds like you have a pulley out of allignment which is causing the belt to start walking off. I doubt that the elimator pulley will stop this as you are just adding another pulley to the mix, but you never know lol. When i did mine i started engine and then stood to the side and watched belt to check if it looked aligned and was tracking ok. I also reached under throttle body cover to access throttle cable and reved it up fairly high and watched for any slop in belt or any change in position on pulleys, everything was good. I have also read in some posts that changing to a higher quality belt solved the squeeking problems. Did you have any problems with belt walking off before replacing tensioner setup? If not i would assume the problem is the tensioner. Just removing smog pump would not cause this. A pulley only has to be off a little to cause a problem, they all have to be aligned exactly. Also, after alt. upgrade did you have same problem before removing smog pump? Since it seems that only the alt. and tensioner have been changed or replaced that the problem might be connected to those two. Happy wrenching

 

I didn't have this issue before replacing the tensioner.
The bolt on the old one broke. So I removed the smog pump while I was at it since I had to pull the bracket to get the broken bolt out. I tried 2 aftermarket tensioners and even went to the JY and got a oem one off a truck and still the same thing. I didn't have the problem of the belt rolling off when I routed the belt as you did but I had a problem with squealing. I figured that the belt was now running on the opposite side of the tensioner so it didn't keep tension causing it to squeak. I'll grab the belt Ur suggesting -1" since the 130a alternator has a smaller pulley and try it today. I was using a AC deco belt but I know where I can get a gatorback now so I'll try them instead

 

Well I left the larger pulley from the 95a alternator on the 130a ad grabbed a 96.7" gatorback belt and it was tight going on routed without usin the top idler but it's not squealing and not running off he tensioner. It runs nice and straight where the 94.5" belt using the top idler the belt would wobble 1/4" from side to side.

Funny I had a 96.8" AC deco belt on there that was the one squealing. And now I out a 96.7" gatorback and it's working like a charm.

So it's back up n runnin again!

 

Congrats! You still want those smog pump replacement pulleys?

 

not looking like ill need them but i haven't driven it home yet either lol, maybe hold off for right now.

im impressed by the gatorback belts tho....

 

Nice! could be that the delco belt was a little too stretchy and the gatorback is rock solid. I have a gotorback on mine and it has never had any squeal or movement. (knock on wood)
gatorback is a goodyear product, those folks know their rubber.

 

NP! Good luck with the new belt!