My serpentine belt took a chit

why not use a Continental Elite Poly-V belt?
My truck came with one already installed but not knowing it's age had me order a Bando on Amazon for $30. Haven't installed it yet.

This thread is giving me second thoughts. Not sure if I should try to return the Bando belt, or install it and keep the Conti as a spare.
But even as a spare sitting aside, it would still face the effects of time and aging in storage, which could still make it wear out.
Maybe I should've left it alone, or just ordered another new Conti Poly-V belt for replacement.
I've used their belts on other cars with success.

 

I’m running a gates fleetrunner part number K070834HD. On rockauto.com it’s listed under 2007+ tundra with the 4.0 v6 but not for the Tacoma

 

I look at it this way...you probably only need to replace the belt once or twice in the life of one of these trucks and it’s a simple DIY 15 minute job. My original belt was 125k miles old when I replaced it and it still looked fine.

For best results suck up your pride and go to the dealer and get one. An extra 10 or 20 bucks is worth it for peace of mind.

 

at 160K, replaced all 3 pulleys and belt with parts Oreillys for under 125.00. Still good pushing 200K

 

This is the exact one I used, I’m at +/- 50k on it so far, it’s got good reviews overall but looking at the description again it seems to be the USA one, is this the one y’all are saying is the one to avoid?

edit: when I replaced my original somewhere around 100k it still looked good to my eyes and I keep it just in case

 

Same one I used, mine lasted less than 25k. I changed to Gates idler pulleys at the same time, maybe those contributed to belt failure. Hard to say.

 

hard to say. Well I guess I’ll just run it til it dies or i hit 200k and switch anyways. Got the oem as a backup and as I understand it even if the belt fails on our motors the timing is unaffected? Just slap a new belt on and carry on. Unlike some vehicles its a tow truck and timing needs readjusted before running again?

 

Correct, there’s no timing considerations with changing or messing with the fan belt.

 

But... Some TW members have had a failed serpentine belt get into the front crank seal and cause a major oil leak.

 

Well that’s no good

 

the damage caused from a snapping belt is what would concern me the most, I was going to buy an US BANDO belt because of the price and it wasn't a Chinese made part, but after looking at the AMAZON reviews I'll pay the extra for an OEM that will go over 100k miles rather than the $25 one that's highly suspect

 

from what ive read the made in USA bando belts are multiple applications where the size of the belt is slightly different so it can be used on different makes/models the OEM which is a specifically made for the engine, so like the old saying goes size does matter. Its kind of like running a multi vehicle ATF in your auto trans its not specific to the trans like the OEM version but should work supposedly.

 

I like gates or Dayco personally

 

If gates belts are good enough for our million dollar pieces of equipment at work, I'll put one on my truck and feel fine.

 

USA made Bando belts have worked well for me in several vehicles for hundreds of thousands of miles. ::shrug::

 

My old 2006 still had the original belt when I sold it at 157,000 miles.

 

Don't overlook a stuck compressor pulley or some other accessory pulley from causing problems. Check them thoroughly when replacing the belt, not just the idler & tensioner pulleys.

 

Here are the ribs for your pleasure

 

Honestly that looks like wear from a bad pulley.

 

I got new OEM pulleys on the way