Belts lasting 100+ k miles?

Re: Cracks in the belts. I have had Ford's, GM's and Volvos with serpentine belts going back to the 90's. The serpentine belts all developed cracks early on in their life from new and likewise after replacement. The reccommended life/change interval on the majority of them was 100,000 miles. I changed them at that time and never lost one on the road. My garden tractor has the same type of serpentine belts for the transmission and deck and has the same cracks. I replaced them because they eventually stretched beyond the adjustment range to keep them snug, but they never failed under what I would call "extreme +" service: extremely high RPMs especially for the deck belt, high loads in extreme conditions like high wet grass, etc. It took about two seasons for the cracks to re-appear on the new ones. It's 22 years old and still on the second set of belts (John Deere OEM). Makes me happy because they are expensive but worth it because they last.

 

I'm at 133,xxx miles on my stock belt. I guess I should take a look at it.

 

Almost had ya beat. 2015, 230/240K miles (keep it on trip). For the record, I do check it when I change the oil and I have a new belt waiting to go on when I have time or when I think I better make time.

 

7 year old belt with 125,000miles looked like it could probably go another 100,000 miles but glad to have changed it. It only takes 10 minutes and now I have a spare in the truck.