That's where I put it. The ridge went right in the highlighted piece.

 

Could your entire alternator/tensioner bracket be loose, so it's pulling away from the head?
When I replaced the alternator on my 5.0, the bracket bolt that goes into the head was loose.

 

I just see cheap Duralast tensioners do exactly the same thing
Even when bolted up correctly, they have enough bushing clearance to allow the pulley to go sideways (on an angle)
Noticed I still have one of those cheap bistards in my cabinet
I believe you can just run it

 

Dodge tensioners on Jeeps do exactly the same thing as they wear out and the bushing fails

 

Put the old one back on, does it look the same?
If not, return your tensioner and get another.

Something is not right. I would NOT run it.

Check that your bracket is not cracked.

 

Where is your air injection pump?

Is it right? No. It will never be right because the air pump is not there. Ford did make a bracket that replaces the pump. Someone came up with an idea that thinks removing the pump and running the belt differently is ok. I've always had an issue with the distance between the alternator and crank pulley. I just can't see the tensioner working properly. Yes, I understand there are many that run it that way and have no problems, but to me, it still ain't right.

The belt is not running centered on the pulley because the tensioner is not true to the belt line. As someone mentioned above, the bushing in the tensioner is too loose. I just suspect the cause is because the air pump pulley cannot do it's job to keep the belt on the right plane.

 

Are the threads on the new bolt f'd up?
Looks like it's only been threaded in with 4-5 more threads/turns to go, which is about how far out the pulley was sticking.

 

No. I checked for play on all of the pullies. Only the P/S pump had any, it was in/out play, very little.

 

It was the only one oreillys had. It feels straight and true, no play on the tensioner.

 

I swapped out the new one for the old one.


Here is the old one back in place.

 

Airpump went away with the emissions stuff.

I bought the idler for it. Will try to put it on soon. But how could that affect the belt down the line. It goes from the crank pulley to the alternator before the tensioner.

 

The threads on both the old & new tensioners are in good shape

 

Is this a crack in your bracket? (circled in green)

 

Good eye. I will check.

 

In the field I work in, we deal with V belts, round belts and flat belts that drive conveyors, via tensioner pulleys, idler pulleys and crowned pulleys.
One pulley out of place or cracked or too tight or too loose can make a difference.
You've got to figure they engineered the serpentine belt and pulley arrangement for longevity.