I'm actually on a road trip. A nearby resident came by to check on us and told us to call 911. Ultimately an officer came by and unlocked the gate. It was really dark by the time we got out of there.
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What did you do for your Terminator today?
- Thread starter mrose75
- Start date
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I bought that RPM belt back in may from O'r, for 97$ with a Bis account. And I took two ribs off it in mid late june. It's all been doc on here, post 7185# "what did you do for you terminator today". And I made a thread the day after I shredded the rpm belt after a run. I put a new 774 gates belt on and haven't had a issue.
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I'm getting close to one year with my RPM belt, zero issues. Got it from Rock Auto for like $57 to my door. It's extremely low dust and this is with a 2.6 RR upper pulley with those sharp grooves in it. It has worn exceptional....I've never had to snug my whipple adustable tensioner at all. In fact, I think this will be the first time I'm going for two years with a belt.....I had always changed yearly no matter what. Not this time.
Just remember.....it requires less tension. You set it tight like the other gates belts or the gatorback...you will break it fast. The initial tension set is much lower because that aramid tensile cord does not stretch once heated like tradional belt designs. No issues here holding 22psi
Just remember.....it requires less tension. You set it tight like the other gates belts or the gatorback...you will break it fast. The initial tension set is much lower because that aramid tensile cord does not stretch once heated like tradional belt designs. No issues here holding 22psi
So should you go up in size like a half inch?
I for the life of me cannot fine my size belt on Rock Auto.
Since I generally use a 74.5" and the rpm belt is 75", I'll probably barely put any tension on it and see if boost holds.
I did try a Gates HD belt the other day in a 75" with a decent amount of tension and it was squealing very bad. Boost wasn't holding.
So I'm skeptical the RPM belt in a 75" will work for me with even less tension.
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My tuner said the 774 belt length was perfect for my set up at about 80-85%. which is what it was tuned on at 25#'s.
I was getting nervous after reading a bunch of threads on here about lower pulley damage/snapping the crank snout off. After reading the rpm belt needed less tension.
I figured perfect. And it was a great belt, less dust held up just fine.
Until 1 night really getting on it. After a run, it didn't feel right. Parked and before I opened the hood I notice a rib hanging under the front bumper.
It was guessed at that the belt was a tad too loose(780). but not so loose that it threw a belt. it was also guessed at that the crank pulley is was cut the 2 ribs off. I still drove home on the remainder.
I was getting nervous after reading a bunch of threads on here about lower pulley damage/snapping the crank snout off. After reading the rpm belt needed less tension.
I figured perfect. And it was a great belt, less dust held up just fine.
Until 1 night really getting on it. After a run, it didn't feel right. Parked and before I opened the hood I notice a rib hanging under the front bumper.
It was guessed at that the belt was a tad too loose(780). but not so loose that it threw a belt. it was also guessed at that the crank pulley is was cut the 2 ribs off. I still drove home on the remainder.
I put it back to stock. I bought it with 14,500 miles back in May and now it has 15,000 and after finding a few little missing pieces in the marketplace, FB and eBay, I put the stock pulley, plugs, belt, intake, shifter, etc. back on. I kept the Ford Racing pulley guard and coil covers, window tint, MRT catted H, Borla S-Types, wheels and radio. I have the stock wheels and tires, exhaust and mid pipe sitting in my basement. I’m contemplating putting the original radio door speakers and amp back in, but I’m not that good with electrical so that might stay until I figure it out.
There is a big difference in the way it feels now that it’s stock versus when it was pullied.
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There is a big difference in the way it feels now that it’s stock versus when it was pullied.
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I understand why you did it and you have a beautiful low mile mystichrome. But it has to be more boring to drive now vs pullied.
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A little back story. Jim Reichard was the original designer of the non-slip upper pulley for the Terminator. Others have adopted his non-slip design and paid Jim for the right. I'm not sure how many know this, but his non-slip design does not cut into or abnormally wear the belt. I had a casual phone conversation with Jim a few years ago about this. His design is very unique in that way. He was very specific about this.
I dialed in my tune this weekend so last night i removed my quarterhorse chip and reinstalled my ecm and interior. Its nice to have the interior back together and the ecm with a bunch of cords off the floor.
It really is. You can feel the difference. I can describe the feeling as 'restricted.' It feels like a caged animal wanting to be let loose.
I'm around 70% tension. I have metco double beating idlers and metco tension plate. We will see how it does. Either way my belt slip is gone. I had my regular gates belt set super tight to remove slip.... I talked with gates rpm reps... They told me the right size and swear by it.
I drive my cobra alot. Already got 100 miles on new belt. No issues yet and working great. I'll report if I break something.
2004 Cobra 2.9 Whipple
I hear you! I cant wait to get all the extra cords out of my drivers door (one from the OBD2 port, one for the wideband, X4 device, and one running to the laptop. Hopefully my remote turning session will be completed in the next week or two.
So why did you de mod it? If it’s already stock that’s one thing to keep it that way.
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The mods were only on for a few thousand miles (the first owner sold it at 10K miles and I bought it at 14.5K miles, so the second owner only had the car for 3 years and 4,500 miles). The second owner put in the mods 2 years ago and I didn't like them (off road prochamber, ATAKS, 2.76 pulley, JLT RAI with no heat shield, tune with emissions related equipment turned off, etc.). The car was loud, couldn't pass inspection, etc. so I decided it would be cheaper, and easier to just de-mod it to pass inspection. I kept the radio, rims and found someone to swap exhaust pieces so that made things easier for me. I had to remove the door window tints to pass inspection and I reapplied them afterwards.
I tried a 2.93 and 3.10 pulley and even though my MAF counts never got higher than 965, my FP and Inj D/C's were around 95 so that worried me enough to put the stock pulley back on. Even though, the A/F ratio still held strong at 11.5.
For comparison, with the 2.76, the MAF was 985 and the FP D/C was 96 and the INJ D/C was 98. I was always told to keep D/C at 85 so I wanted to be safe. with the stock pulley, my FP and INK D/C is now 85-86.
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Thats a tough question to answer without seeing your setup in person and where your tensioner tab indicator is measuring at. Maybe 1/2" is it....or maybe it's a 1/4". The bottom line is you obviously have to have enough tension to grab the pulley. It's a fine line on these rpm belts. The best scenario is have 2 belt sizes to try.....maybe grab 2 belts from the local parts store in the standard gates belt.....trial fit, make your decision then order the RPM.
Gates needs to make more RPM sizes. I'm lucky enough the 751 (thats factory size) works perfectly on mine. The only other solution would be possibly check your idler size setup....maybe swapping a 100 for a 90 gets you just right. Pain in the ass. They need more sizes.
Same thing for you, Brady. They need more sizes for you to get it just right. A 748 would be ideal.
That's a good back story....but after running these pulleys for 7 years and going thru 7 years of dust and belt changes with damage, it's hard to believe. I have a 2.6 (the e85 pulley) and a 3.0 (93 pulley). You hold those pulleys in your hand and run your finger across those slots...they're sharp. Then imagine a rubber belt clamped down it under big time force and rotating. It's a trade off to get the wrap you need to run 3X factory boost level.
Regardless, I would never change them. They look fantastic, are highly polishable, and are easily the most beautiful blower pulleys on the market. And they work. If they limit belt damage, thats just icing on the cake. I've had many pm's over the years with people trying to buy those pulleys from me or "swap" for a whipple pulley.....not happening. Lol
I just can't see how the pulley wouldn't cause abnormal wear. It's designed to grip harder which would cause the wear. One of those things we learn to deal with.
I'm with you 100% Henry. I have thought "MANY" times about modifying my Cobra. Then I read all these post around here about alternators going bad, belts getting eaten up, cars not running right because of bad tunes and ultimately engine failure due to bad tunes or other over sights. I know mechanical failure of a modded Cobra is NOT the norm. However, I have read enough to know I don't want to deal with the headaches.
So, I'll keep my non modified (mostly as I do have a cat back and JLT CAI) Cobra and enjoy washing it and driving it vs fixing it after driving it LOL. I still even have my stock Eaton pulley. One of my buddies (Slo984now) said it looks like a dinner plate sitting on the end of my supercharger LMAO!!!
Disclaimer: I'm not knocking those who modify their Cobras. It's just not for me, mechanically. Now modifying my Cobra visually.....That's another story
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I should've let you drive mine last time you were out here Glenn. I bet that would've changed your mind about an upper pulley.
I'm with you 100% Henry. I have thought "MANY" times about modifying my Cobra. Then I read all these post around here about alternators going bad, belts getting eaten up, cars not running right because of bad tunes and ultimately engine failure due to bad tunes or other over sights. I know mechanical failure of a modded Cobra is NOT the norm. However, I have read enough to know I don't want to deal with the headaches.
So, I'll keep my non modified (mostly as I do have a cat back and JLT CAI) Cobra and enjoy washing it and driving it vs fixing it after driving it LOL. I still even have my stock Eaton pulley. One of my buddies (Slo984now) said it looks like a dinner plate sitting on the end of my supercharger LMAO!!!
Disclaimer: I'm not knocking those who modify their Cobras. It's just not for me, mechanically. Now modifying my Cobra visually.....That's another story
You're really missing out by at least not having an upper pulley. I rode in a local guys car that had a stock setup and it was very boring compared to my 2.93 upper car. These cars can handle horsepower so easy you really should be running at least 450-500rwhp.
