96 Cobra Vortech Supercharger broken belt

[Ridehard]

Having trouble replacing my serpentine belt. Do I have to remove anything to install the belt? Does anyone have any tips they can share?

 

[crazycarlo]

yes you will have to loosen the supercharger bracket and atleast slide it out a little to get the belt on the pulley.

 

[Ridehard]

It wasn't easy but I fixed it without having to move anything.

 

[Ridehard]

Decided to give it another try and took the car to the track again.....Needless to say I have another shredded belt.

Is this most likely due to misaligned pulleys or because I used an Autozone belt instead of one from Vortech?

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

1. You might have misaglinment of the belts
2. Don't use a autozone belt.. Use a Goodyear Gatorback
3. For easiest installation, loosed up the bolts that bolt the s/c to the brack not the bracket to the timing cover. pull the s/c back a little bit and it'll get in easier inbetween the alternator and the blower pulley.

 

[PapaSmurf]

Decided to give it another try and took the car to the track again.....Needless to say I have another shredded belt.

Is this most likely due to misaligned pulleys or because I used an Autozone belt instead of one from Vortech?

When i had to change mine on my 97 i bought one from advanced auto. cant remember the brand but it wasnt the vortech brand belt. it worked perfect with no issues. probably a pulley alignment issue

 

[Ridehard]

Do you know who stocks the Goodyear?

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

Best bet is to order it through Summit Racing, or start calling around to see who stocks it.. :/

 

[Ridehard]

Who makes the belts that vortech sells. I went to summit racing and the vortech belt cost $83 and the Goodyear was $41.95. The belt at autozone is $23.99.

Either vortech has a hell of a markup or something is supposed to be better about their belt.

 

[Stanger00]

I use Gates and when I shred them I just go back auto zone and turn them in with the warranty. This happened to me about 4 times in 8k miles. My belts get tossed a rib or 2 when I lift off the gas peddle at higher rpms. So, if I were driving on the street and got wheel spin and lifted the peddle the belt shredded. My warranty on the Gates ran out while I was deployed and when I shredded it, I went with a Gatorback. Its been on my car for about 2k miles and no issues even with spirited driving.

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

I've blown through 3 Gates belts on my car.. They are POS's imo.. I had a gatorback for literally 2x's as long and it never broke, the only reason I had to get rid of it is because I went with a different pulley combo.

 

[Ridehard]

I picked up a belt from autozone since they had it in stock. I'm going to take the car to the shop and have them check the pulley alignment and install a better belt. I'll keep the autozone belt in the trunk for emergencies.

 

[Stanger00]

I've blown through 3 Gates belts on my car.. They are POS's imo.. I had a gatorback for literally 2x's as long and it never broke, the only reason I had to get rid of it is because I went with a different pulley combo.

This reminds that I'll have to learn how to route the new belt since I went from a single bolt tesioner to a 3 bolt. Going to assume my new belt length will be in the 112.5-113" range inner diameter.

 

[gixxer1kr]

U shouldn't be shredding belts the way u do. Even a cheap duralast has to meet minimum specs. Thee belt Vortech uses is a gates u can get at Napa. Get the alignment issue checked out.

 

[Ridehard]

U shouldn't be shredding belts the way u do. Even a cheap duralast has to meet minimum specs. Thee belt Vortech uses is a gates u can get at Napa. Get the alignment issue checked out.

I agree.

 

[Ridehard]

Can I check and adjust the alignment myself or do you need a lift along with specialized tools?

 

[01yellercobra]

You can check it yourself. It just takes a straight edge and some time. You might have to shim it to get the right alignment. You need to check all off the pullies. Including the idler pullies.

 

[J's98Snake]

If you guys are tossing belt's when you let off the gas your belt might be too long or your tension arm too weak.

I'm running an 8 rib, 3.0 pully with the 5.4 crank and a 112.5 in gatorback or whatever it's called. I swapped out the stock tensioner for the 5.4 tensioner which is made of steel and has no flex.

When I was running the six rib I had nothing but trouble with my belts as I was coming off the gas at WOT.

 

[dwtjr3]

Ive never had my belt slip off when coming off the gas at WOT. Are they hopping off because of higher boost? Or just wrong size belt?

And sorry a noob question but goodyear makes gatorback correct? I have a duralast belt form autozone and its holding up well so far. But with a 3.33" pulley and stock tensioner and crank pulley what size gatorback belt will i need?

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

Ive never had my belt slip off when coming off the gas at WOT. Are they hopping off because of higher boost? Or just wrong size belt?

And sorry a noob question but goodyear makes gatorback correct? I have a duralast belt form autozone and its holding up well so far. But with a 3.33" pulley and stock tensioner and crank pulley what size gatorback belt will i need?

Yes goodyear makes the gaterback belt.. Get the part number for your belt you have currently and look up the gaterback belt for the same length and you'll have your answer.