does anyone know who makes motorcraft belts.

 

Did your alternator one let go, and wipe out the others with it? You don't need Motorcraft belts as replacements, you will do just fine with some HD Gates or NAPA belts.

 

gates is what I was looking at.
rockauto has it,
napa has 2 gates types, one that they say is stronger than the other.
don't know which one to get it from

 

Get the strongest one you can! Which is the stronger belt accorting to NAPA, the Green Stripe XL?

 

It doesn't have a xl in it. but I am assuming it is the$50 one. the other one is $30. they said they think it has an extra strap in it.

 

Ah, well see I paid about $30 for mine, but my belt is a short one that only runs between the alternator and water pump, instead of the factory routing that reaches all the way down to the crank pulley. This is to avoid the belt-slapping at idle and decel, as it fatigues the belts faster than normal, and I really don't wanna risk a belt failure when I'm like 3 states away from home in the middle of nowhere at night.

By the way, here's a part # for you to look into: 5726 HD, this is a Gates no-stretch belt that was used in the ambulance vans and trucks, these had te 200-amp Leece-Neville alternator that required a much higher belt tension so there's no slipping, hence the belt needed to me that much stronger than normal.

 

yeh, i don't have the neece alternator. the belt for that is 2" longer. guess I'll go with the $50 one, even though the cheap ones from autozone have been working fine for me. Like you said, I don't want to be stranded, but I always keep 2 extra used ones with me.

 

THe cheap vatozone belts work just fine if the distance is short, say the alt to the vacuum pump, but on our ol trucks the alt belt is so long and the with the torque pulses of a diesel your best off with the Gates Greenstipes (one of mine is an Xl, one isn't, hmm)

 

Not to mention the damage they can cause if they break.

Spend the extra bux for a good belt.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

alright, you all convinced me. I'll get the $50 gates at napa

 

Or that o $#!t feelin when you lose your alt belt, shrug it off, with ah I don't hardly need any juice to keep this all mechanical motgine going, then when you come up to stop sign and realize that the alt runs the vacuum pump which runs your brakes. I thought I was gonna push myself out the back of the cab.

 

Thats a shorts filler for sure!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Actually you should have enough vacuum stored in the booster for like 3 brake applies, and on the first one the light should come on the dash to warn you about it. That said, I did have my vacuum pump die on me once, and that darn light never came on, good thing I got a pretty decent pedal feel and knew something ain't right right away...

By the way, if the ambulance belt is 2" longer, that means the alternator has to swing only 1" away from where it sits now, and those brackets have some looong adjuster slots for that purpose.

 

Hmm, I didn't even know there was a low vacuum light or a brake light of anykind, except for the ABS light which I removed the bulb so I could get the truck inspected.

I should have realized it, but I was in a huge hurry, I knew I didn't have an alt, but I was already running late to get to my school to leave for my State CX Debate tournament, so when I was coming to the stop sign, I was running hard and was expecting to be able to make a quick stop, but instead I got a near pantload.

 

There's a red "Brake!" light on the right side of the cluster, under the tachometer, tis the same light that comes on when you use your parking brake (it's a dual purpose light). The low-vacuum switch that triggers it is on the passenger-side inner fender, it looks like a small tuna can with a vacuum hose and a three-wire harness attached to it.