i changed the water pump last weekend, went well exept removing the fan clutch from the spindle, anyway a week later the alt. belt broke, I went to Autozone they listed a gatorback for $16.00 but only had the less exspensive $4.95 belt. I have tightenened the darn thing 3 times. Obviously I am giong to change the belt( all of them). Does any one know anything about the gatorback belts or is the old Ford parthouse my next trip?

 

I'm assuming a Gatorback belt is one that has ribs on the outside. Dayco made some a while back called Top Cog. I've found that the alternator is better off having a belt with no cogs inside or out. I bought mine at Napa, they actually listed a heavy duty one. It's been on there for years now, still holding up nicely.

 

I recently had to use my "stash" belts (complete set of spare belts that I bought and put under rear fold down seat) they were O'reillys house brand so far sooo good ! I will be replacing them with NAPA belts as they are or used to be made by gates . Had real bad luck with gatorbacks or dayco top cogs!!

 

My truck came into my possesion with I think dyco top cogs its a toped cog belt anyways. ive never had any trouble with them breaking or squealing the previous onwer said they were new a year before i bought the truck and ive owned it for 3 years now so there atleast 4 years old. Only trouble ive ever had is the power steering belt slipping when the plow is on and i lift the plow up i figured it was just from all that weight on the front axle tho.

 

Thanks for the info. i'm going to go withthe heavy duty Napa's

 

My truck has Dayco HD Gold Label Diesel Rated belts. I've driven the truck about 4k miles since I've owned it and had to tighten the alternator belt at about the 2k mark - no idea how many miles total on the belts.

I've had to run the alternator belt tighter than is needed in order to minimize belt slap at idle. The portion of the belt between the alternator and the crank seems to swing close to a water pump bolt if I don't have the belt pretty tight. Anybody else notice this or is this a symptom of something else (plugged injectors, weak pump, etc.)? What is the proper belt tension?

I did find the AC belt flipped at about the same time I tightened the alternator belt. It pretty well self-destructed.

 

There is no way to remove all the belt slap at idle, If you do, it'll be way too tight. The water pump shaft is about the size of your pinky and doesn't need the extra load. As long as it feels tight enough not to slip and it isn't banging into things it's good enough. It's the combo of the diesel's harsh idle and too much distance between the pulleys that makes the slap.