very good info D'oh.......this belt might be slightly different than the robotics belts.......i used to be a plating and back end line tech for NEC, so i'm familiar with what you're talking about...........these Gates belts are impregnated with fiber mesh........looks similar to fiberglass when the belts tear.......the fiber is even in the teeth.........my pulleys have worn slightly, enough to make them shiny and rounded on top of the teeth, but my belts appear to be in perfect condition, and i haven't had any pulley problems as of yet

from being familiar with the changes that Max's car has gone through lately, it appears that the belts being too tight might have caused this........i know it sounds crazy, rubber damaging metal.......but i think the fiberglass in the belts combined with heat and speed and pressurized air might all come together somehow to make this happen.....like i said, i have the same wear as this on my car........initially, when it showed up, my belts were installed with a really small amount of deflection.......ATI says 0.4 inches, for the record

 

The belts themselves are similar, but maybe different enough to behave differently (we are using belts similar to the Gates PowerGrip GT2 but with a kevlar cord instead of fiberglass) . However, the applications are so different that my experience may not carry over. Usually an overtensioned belt would wear along the contact surfaces (causing the teeth to form a triangle shape instead of the rounded, gear tooth shape they have when new), and not strip the teeth, but maybe with the larger forces involved it is different in this case. It is an interesting problem from an engineering perspective, but I sure wouldn't want to be experiencing it.

How does the "deflection" method work out? I know the belts will vary slightly in legnth, so when they say 0.4" deflection, what do you use as a baseline? Has anyone every tried measuring the belt tension using the "frequency" method? You can pluck the belt like a guitar string and measure the frequency of the primary mode of vibration. If you know the belt properties and the span you can "easily" calculate the tension. This method is nice because it eliminates any confusion about where the 0.4" is measured from, but it also requires some additional tooling (like a frequency measurment device).

Just another random thought....

Later,
D'oh!

 

the deflection is from the point where the belt is centered........holding a ruler behind the belt, you press on it.....the deflection from centered is supposed to be no more than 0.4".......not the most accurate means of tensioning, but it's their kit.......maybe they know something we don't

 

Well my belt and pulley arrived today.

EJ is correct, ATI is attributing this to the rear belt being too tight not too loose and yes it was very tight much less than .4 or 1/4 inch I guess, mine had zero play in it. This time we will put it exactly to spec. Per them I will be the first to ever have to change the pulley so wish me luck.

P.S. Cheston I sent you an email through this forum system for an email address I can use to attach my A/F files too until I figure out what my website is doing. Thanks for your offer I will take you up on it and thanks EJ, Doh! et al. We are doing the belt/pulley Sunday.

 

Bonz,

Nothing was covered under warranty on this deal, the small 22 tooth pulley and small cog belt cost me $122.00 bucks!

That is their "special" price.

Thanks!

My car has no warranty lol. I should have gone with someone else but I am gonna make this work this weekend because I love my car it's awesome and gets looks everyday even a year and 4 months later. I am going to go into hibernation mode for awhile and go track this baby in the 1/4 and at Willows and attend some functions including HIN in San Mateo so peas to all and shift redline always!!

PEAS!

 

I just tore up ANOTHER belt same as you ,today at the track...Ran a 12.44@110 with a 1.79 60ft But tore the bely up..It semms to be riding up on the pulley towasrds the rear of the car..

 

Damn!!! Mind if i ask what where your shift points?

 

6200-6500

 

My belt was too tight in back, it was fixed this weekend and will be tracked today, A/F is perfect and test runs have been excellent. Traction will be an issue. I would normally launch at 2500 but this is causing severe wheel spin and I sold my ET Streets after last season.

I am hoping the new Nitto 555R II's come in a smaller size for my 18's if they do I will probably eventually buy a set. I am shooting for low 12's today it will be close track opens in 4 hours and it's overcast and close to rain. The car is definately mid 12's as is. EJ and I's test runs were in cold dense air and the boost was 9.5 not 8.5 with both of us watching the boost guage 4 times on WOT runs launching at 2500 and losing traction.

 

For whatever its worth, all of the Maxima guys with superchargers swear by Gatorback belts.

 

Please do expound on that???Gatorback???

 

Gatorback is a brand of belt that's made by Goodyear. Some of the guys with Vortech chargers on their Maximas have had problems with belts shredding as well. From what I gather it's a combination of weak belts and misaligned/mistensioned pulleys. The general agreement over there is that Gatorback belts hold up the best. Autozone carries them I believe.

This is a post about converting from Gates to Goodyear:

 

But our pulleys are COG pulleys and have notches not ribs..

 

well then I guess it's not worth that much