mcduck

Thought I would throw this out to see if anyone else has first hand accounts.

Recently, I was tinkering with different pulleys and what not. In the process of getting the standard Vortech 3.33" pulley on, I tried two different belts to spin it. I had a Gatorback, but it would not tension properly. So, I picked up a high quality Dayco (supposedly comparable to the Gatorback). Then, a few days later, I switched from the Dayco back to a brand new Gatorback belt.

Basically, this was a back-to-back comparison because the Dayco-to-Gatorback switch was done mid-afternoon and the car was driven shortly before and after the swap.

With the Dayco belt, I noted a definite lag in power as compared to the Gatorback. I'm not sure if this would be due to slip or belt compound or what. But with the Dayco under acceleration, the motor revved slower and had a noticeable hesitation when you first hit the gas. This immediately went away with the Gatorback and the car went back to pulling as strongly as it ever has.

Has anyone else with a serpentine driven SC (that is, a Vortech) noticed this? Beginning to think the $10 more the Gatorback costs is well worth the money.

ttsupra94

iTrader: (1)

I've seen in a couple other threads the mention of the problems with the belt that comes with the vortech. I had seen other mention that the Gates (i think) 93" belt was a good choice.

was wesman

iTrader: (7)

I have noticed similar results on my Lightning, belt slip/power loss on a Napa belt, but none on the gatorback....definitely a noticeable difference during a sudden WOT.

--wes

mcduck

yep... that's exactly what I got ww... giving the car sudden gas (doesn't even have to be WOT) with the Dayco belt produced a noticeable hesitation, but not with the Gatorback.

ttsupra94... not sure what belt issue that is. My Vortech kit came with a Gatorback and, thus far, in my experience it seems to be the better belt. Though, I may need to compare it to the comparable Gates belt at some point... could be that the Gates belt is even better.

was wesman

iTrader: (7)

FYI- the NAPA belt I refer to in my post is a Gates, the Gatorback is a far superior belt IMO.

--wes

luanda

I just switched from the Gatorback to the 93 inch Gates - IT,s too early to say - I think that the Gates may prove to be a bit better because the ribs are not slash cut...can't see how that helps.

booger

iTrader: (6)

The gatorback seemed to stretch way to much for me . Always tightening it because it started to squeel at start up . The Napa belt is made by Gates , but didnt seem to be as well made as the Gates name brand belt .The Gates is much thicker belt [ than goodyear ] and may take a little longer to warm up and start grabbing the pulleys better . It also seemed to get tighter after fully warming up . I tried to put on a Gate 92.7 inch belt on and I just about got it on . So [ dumb thought ] I put it in the oven for a few minutes to see if it would be able to stretch it on . After doing so , it wasnt even close to going on after warming it up .
Once you adjust the Gates it doesnt need to be adjusted hardly as much as the goodyear belt . I would suggest running the gates for week or two and do your test again . ....Bill

mcduck

Bill...

I never ran the Gates... I did run the Dayco for about a week prior to switching back to the Gatorback.

I agree on the tensioning bit... I've had the same problem with the Gatorback. On the Gatorbacks, I've had to adjust 2 or 3 times before I can leave it alone. But I'd rather do that than have impaired performance. Besides, retensioning takes all of 10 minutes.

Looks like I will need to try and compare a Gates (brand-named, not NAPA version) belt next time I make a swap.

luanda

Curious.... you distinguish between the Gates and gates Napa Belt - they are the same model, and the Napa Belt had the Gates branding on the belt itself. Do you really think they are different belts??

SungNamZ

Started with the "Gator", switched to "NAPA" and now running "Dayco Poly Cog". Have not noticed the "hesitation".

mcduck

Dayco Poly Cog is the one with the evenly spaced ribs right? This is what I ran and experienced problems with.

LOU

iTrader: (2)

I use the NAPA belt. It needed to be tightened once, but that is expected. The stock belt sucks. It did nothing for me but spit out little pieces that covered my air filter... and my hood... and the rest of the area around the blower.

mcduck

When you say "stock belt"... what exactly to you mean? that is what brand?

My Vortech came with a Gatorback belt. Did yours come with something else?

LOU

iTrader: (2)

Yes it was the Gatorback belt that came with the kit. I didn't like it.