This question probably on pertains to Vortech or supercharger guys in general who run higher boost numbers (>500whp), but I'd like input from everyone who is familiar with engine issues in general....

Often times in order to minimize belt slip with supercharger setups at higher rpms, we often tighen the belts more than usual, often times violin string tight....I was wondering if tightening the belts this much can potentially damage the crank or crank/main bearings?

 

Not sure about the damage it can cause but when I tighten I try to leave at least enough room to be able to turn the belt 1/4 turn or a tad more...

What I did to prevent slippage is install the GTM tension pulley and that works very well.

 

Any excess side load on bearings will add additional wear but it is too hard to predict how fast it will cause the bearings to wear or if they will cause a complete failure.

I ran my belts extremely tight with my 500hp vortech setup. I didn't put tons of miles on the car but I also didn't notice any excessive wear when I tore the engine down.

 

over tight belts are more likely to wear out your bearings in your supercharger then your crankshaft. but I don't think a super tight belt is going to affect it that much at all. I wouldn't worry about it, but a belt that's to tight will wear out faster.

 

Id imagine the belt is the weak link before anything else.

 

Based on the physics of it all if you have uneven belt tension (pulling *hard* one way or another) it's going to wear the front main bearing more than not. SLeeve bearings need oil to flow from the journal all the way around the inside and the constant tension in one direction could impede oil flow. How much quicker it will wear is someone else's guess. With ball bearings it wouldn't be an issue.

You could do a UOE with low tension and another with high tension and see how much difference in bearing wear it causes. If it's small or negligable then you're all good.

 

i honestly wouldnt worry about it too much, even if it does the lower half of the bearing will still wear out first. its true that you need both sections to function correctly but he bottom half of the shell is what takes the brunt of the force during operation.

 

i think that your accessories (alt/ps) would suffer more wear than the motor

 

I am a Nissan Master Tech and do pretty much motors... and 09-12 Maxima have a bulletin to replace #1 Main bearing for knocking noise... I just did my first one today and the worn bearing was the upper bearing... and for those that don't know the 09-12 Maxima has a serpentine belt and auto-tensioner and the tensioner is super tight!!!
So, Yes overtightening your belt will cause bearing wear