Aftermarket accessory belt tensioner?

[Harley#356]

Does anyone know of aftermarket accessory belt tensioners for the GT500 accessory belt?

I have a brand new stock one, but 2 things.....1.) everything on my engine is either aftermarket, billet, powdercoated, etc. so a stock one looks out of place, not going to PC because I don't want the heat to affect the spring, so I'll paint it if I have to, but 2.) I also don't like cranking down on that pulley bolt to rotate the tensioner and most aftermarket versions for other style tensioners usually have a square hole to rotate them. Unless I'm missing something here, I'm just envisioning a mater of time before the bolt snaps or the threads strip (more likely w/ using an ARP bolt lol).

I saw VMP has these for the yote's, but wasn't sure if it's the same style tensioner where it'd bolt up & align the same

VMP Low-Profile accessory belt tensioner for use w

 

[Catmonkey]

If I'm not mistaken, the supercharger kits for the Coyote use the same belt for the supercharger as the accessory drive. The accessory drive on the GT500 only runs the water pump, alternator and if you don't have EPAS, the power steering pump. Yes, the A/C compressor is on the supercharger belt. I'm not sure you need something that heavy duty for those systems.

 

[Harley#356]

I'm not sure on the coyote, but looking here at VMPs site for their aftermarket accessory tensioner, it looks like it sticks out further for an outboard belt, like the GT500's accessory belt sits, and not an inboard belt closest to the motor.
VMP Low-Profile accessory belt tensioner for use w

I know what the GT500 accessory belt runs, mine will be running the WP and the PS pump, and my s/c belt will be running the SC and my alt (flipped alt & no a/c). I have a thump racing tensioner for the s/c belt, and I know I don't *need* a heavy duty tensioner for the WP & PS, I'm just looking for a *nicer* looking tensioner for them as well as one with a *better* design for de-tensioning than just over-torquing the pulley bolt to rotate the tensioner. It's a sickness when a build goes this far, everything has to be upgraded and nicer than stock lol. A bare bones stock part ends up looking out of place against everything else!

 

[Catmonkey]

Just looking up the factory piece, it shares the part number with a 3.0 V-6 from 1997 to 2008. You could try and find an upgraded tensioner for that engine. I doubt it exists.

 

[GT Premi]

When I swapped out my pulleys, I noticed that the alternator pulley has a built-in tensioner. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. How does it work, if the pulley is off-axis?? (Maybe that's why so many people report alternator failures?) Anyway, adding an additional tensioner on the accessory belt might not be a good idea.

 

[Harley#356]

Just looking up the factory piece, it shares the part number with a 3.0 V-6 from 1997 to 2008. You could try and find an upgraded tensioner for that engine. I doubt it exists.

Thanks. I'd agree I doubt there's any upgraded tensioners for that engine lol. I'll likely just continue with this stock one then and paint it up nice, and swap the allen bolt in the BPS pulley for an ARP bolt, and just cross my fingers the tensioner threads don't strip out on de-tensioning to swap belts. It must hold up well enough since that's the OEM method, I'm just not crazy about it. I'm shocked though, seems like there's aftermarket parts for every single piece of a mustang, even if it's to make it shiny and do no other function, but nothing for the accessory belt tensioner? haha

When I swapped out my pulleys, I noticed that the alternator pulley has a built-in tensioner. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. How does it work, if the pulley is off-axis?? (Maybe that's why so many people report alternator failures?) Anyway, adding an additional tensioner on the accessory belt might not be a good idea.

I'm not adding an additional tensioner on the accessory belt. There's a factory tensioner on that belt that comes stock from Ford (and pictured above on my engine pic). Also my alternator isn't even on my accessory belt, it's on my s/c belt since it's flipped to the A/C side and there's no tensioner in the pulley of the alt.