those of you with super tight belts. are you having any problems ? such as :
idler/tensioner pulleys going bad.
water pump, p/s pump making noise/leaking
belts breaking
anything else

i'm wanting to know if i will have future problems.

also. how do you judge how tight your belt is ?

 

Overtightened belts will cause undue stress on bearings on the blower. This overtime will cause the blower to "loosen-up" and than then leans down the road to the blower going bad. Its hard to tell exactly what is "too" tight. I will put the belt on and tighten the belt up and then see over several runs how much the belt slips and then slowly adjust and tighten the belt, untill the slippage goes away. You must also remember that a new belt will also "stretch" a little(some are Very small others up to a 1/4 inch+). It is very little but after several heat cycles and actual driving it will need to be adjusted. Good luck.

 

There's a tool to measure belt tension. A buddy has one, which is real handy. Only probelm: it costs $125. If anyone is really interested I could get more info, but I won't see him until next week.

Rich Krause

 

Vortech blowers have spring loaded tensioners, one of the advantages of vortech... i don't think belt tension is a problem for a vortech blower.

 

One other thing that can be a result of to tight of a blower is increased wear on blower bearings and crank bearings.

If you are using a ATI setup I HIGHLY sugguest SD concepts for a new tensioner.