Heavy duty belt tensioner

[Caman96]

Japan = Good….imo

 

[Orpedcrow]

Japan = Good….imo

Si bueno

 

[someotherguy]

Years ago I was having a lot of trouble with the custom-made idler pulley on a hydraulic kit for a wrecker unit. Bearings were wearing out prematurely with no obvious cause. The pulley was a $100 lump of custom-machined billet steel with a pressed-in bearing that would go bad, and you can only get another pulley from the wrecker shop, IF they were open and had one in stock.

Well, it uses the same 6203 bearing size which is used in many automotive applications. I just started buying my own bearings and replacing them myself; screw a $100 pulley with limited availability. A few minutes and a little more value out of my Lisle bearing/race installer kit (#12600) for the win. Bought that kit decades ago when I still ran the 1960-1966 trucks; FYI 1960-1961 still ran ball bearings in the front hubs (though it was easy to swap to 1962-up tapered rollers if you replace the hub) so when you replaced bearings, you couldn't cheat and not replace the races.. those bearings grind themselves down to dust quickly if there's any flaws in the assembly.

Anyway point is, if you want good bearings in an assembly you often have to source the bearing yourself, and owning a bearing/race/seal installer kit is a wise investment.

Richard

 

[Orpedcrow]

Years ago I was having a lot of trouble with the custom-made idler pulley on a hydraulic kit for a wrecker unit. Bearings were wearing out prematurely with no obvious cause. The pulley was a $100 lump of custom-machined billet steel with a pressed-in bearing that would go bad, and you can only get another pulley from the wrecker shop, IF they were open and had one in stock.

Well, it uses the same 6203 bearing size which is used in many automotive applications. I just started buying my own bearings and replacing them myself; screw a $100 pulley with limited availability. A few minutes and a little more value out of my Lisle bearing/race installer kit (#12600) for the win. Bought that kit decades ago when I still ran the 1960-1966 trucks; FYI 1960-1961 still ran ball bearings in the front hubs (though it was easy to swap to 1962-up tapered rollers if you replace the hub) so when you replaced bearings, you couldn't cheat and not replace the races.. those bearings grind themselves down to dust quickly if there's any flaws in the assembly.

Anyway point is, if you want good bearings in an assembly you often have to source the bearing yourself, and owning a bearing/race/seal installer kit is a wise investment.

Richard

Thanks Richard, I have a driver set similar to that. I think mine bluepoint or matco maybe (probably all the same)
Did you see any premature belt wear with that machined pulley? I’ve thought about trying to source a full billet set.

 

[JOHNGAAA1]

I take the pulley off the new tensioners, pull off the plastic cover piece for the bearing on both sides, with a small pick, and pack the bearings by hand with synthetic mobil 1 red high temp grease. The bearings from the factory only have a small amount of grease in them and cause them to fail.

 

[Caman96]

When they are new and after using for awhile, I pop off seal on side and add grease.

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I take the pulley off the new tensioners, pull off the plastic cover piece for the bearing on both sides, with a small pick, and pack the bearings by hand

 

[someotherguy]

Thanks Richard, I have a driver set similar to that. I think mine bluepoint or matco maybe (probably all the same)
Did you see any premature belt wear with that machined pulley? I’ve thought about trying to source a full billet set.

Not the greatest picture as this is a really beat old piece at this point; I saved it when the wrecker shop replaced the pulley with a new one. Easy enough on this design to pull the snap ring and then drive the old bearing out for replacement, so that's what I did going forward as the new pulleys were coming with really low-quality bearings.

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It wasn't a dress-up item, I guess the hydraulic kit company (I believe this was from a DeWeze kit) needed a specific size that wasn't available so they just had some made up for each application. Serpentine belts on these trucks don't last as long as you'd think they would because of the abuse they take. Guys jumping on the switches while the engine is revved up are murder on belts (and the pump, as well as its clutch) - but if treated reasonably, we'd get 100K+ out of a belt so I don't think there's any issue with belt wear on this type of pulley.

Richard

 

[Orpedcrow]

Not the greatest picture as this is a really beat old piece at this point; I saved it when the wrecker shop replaced the pulley with a new one. Easy enough on this design to pull the snap ring and then drive the old bearing out for replacement, so that's what I did going forward as the new pulleys were coming with really low-quality bearings.

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It wasn't a dress-up item, I guess the hydraulic kit company (I believe this was from a DeWeze kit) needed a specific size that wasn't available so they just had some made up for each application. Serpentine belts on these trucks don't last as long as you'd think they would because of the abuse they take. Guys jumping on the switches while the engine is revved up are murder on belts (and the pump, as well as its clutch) - but if treated reasonably, we'd get 100K+ out of a belt so I don't think there's any issue with belt wear on this type of pulley.

Richard

I wonder what the belt routing difference is. The gates fleet tensioner also has a smooth pulley. Mine is grooved.

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Bearings came in. Sealed boxes. Hecho in Japan. I’ll return when I get the pulleys off to make sure they’re replaceable.

 

[someotherguy]

I wonder what the belt routing difference is. The gates fleet tensioner also has a smooth pulley. Mine is grooved.

Sorry if I gave the wrong impression - that smooth idler pulley from the hydraulic kit is off a 2010 6.0 gas engine. It's an extra idler that is included when they install accessory bracketry to add a big hydraulic pump to the belt drive setup, and of course also a longer belt.

Back to your setup, I'd be concerned about getting the right parts. A smooth pulley where a grooved one belongs, or vice-versa, would probably not be good. You're working on a 2000 W3500 with the 5.7.. that's the tilt cab chassis right? All four of the tensioners that Rock shows for that application have the smooth pulley. Gates, Dayco, AC Delco, and Continental.

The Gates and AC Delco have notes that say "Fan, Alternator, Power Steering and Air Conditioning" - does your engine have any other belt-driven accessory besides those? Or is it possible you saw a grooved idler pulley and mis-remembered?

What makes it more confusing is if you look up the pulley separate from the tensioner - both smooth and ribbed are offered. Same goes for the idler pulley.

Richard

 

[454cid]

On a pickup, I think the smooth pulley is for CA emissions, on the 454. I'd imagine the 350 is the same. I've never looked at the 350 in the W3500.