OEM lasted and was still good when I replaced it with OEM so I use the old one as a spare

I am sure there are other good belts but I am not going to test them to find out when the OEM already passed

 

PS remember your tensioners / idlers ETC are all getting old

 

I chose a brand name premium aftermarkets for mine. Figure I'm safe. I have a couple of general purpose aftermarkets that I got on clearance at RockAuto ($40 marked down to $5) as spares.

I recommend watching this before digging in. The beginning will be helpful:

 

holy cow! That belt is buried in there...will I be able to get it out without removign a buncha stuff ?
what all needs to come out , from those that have done it? fan shroud(s) ? I assume the fan can stayt, just work around it but it seems like the shrouds will hafta go since that tensioner is buried so low in the engine. I have not looked til now to see it but I figured it was up higher like in my 5.4 f-250...the tensioner sits up high.
It seems a bit more involved than my gasser. I think I did that belt in about 15 minutes.

But definitely thanks for the video djmaguire!

 

holy cow! That belt is buried in there...will I be able to get it out without removign a buncha stuff ? ...

Ya its buried. No nothing needs to come off. ... Not a hard job at all if you know how to do it already lol.

JBG is right. Technically, nothing needs to come off. That fan shroud is like a wheel well liner, though. You might find that pulling it is faster and easier than working around it. Basically, four bolts to rock the rad forward and four to pull the shroud. I've done it a few times now. Not bad at all.

...and that "easy job once you know how to do it" thing is pure wisdom.

I run the Gates belt.

Well, it's no wonder Gates is the richest man in America...

 

Ya its buried. No nothing needs to come off. If you aren't tall enough, get a step to reach down in there to release tension. It's pretty easy if you have the height and muscle. You will be dirty and swearing but it will get on. Gonna have to work the belt in around/behind one of the pullies. I can't remember which (to early, not thinking straight).

When doing mine i remember the belt coming off super easy. Went on easy enough, but for some reason i had to take it off and put it back on a few times...dont remember why right now, but do remember cussing the entire time. Remember how its routed, have a sheet with you showing the routing to. Took me just over an hour with my 3 fk ups. The final time putting it on it only took a couple minutes. Not a hard job at all if you know how to do it already lol.

 

I run the Gates belt.

 

I thought that was trump :taze:

 

Trump is rich, alright. He's got lotsa money, too.

 

Thanks, all useful info. Will try it without removing anything..then if the cussing gets too extreme, pull the shroud.
Yeah it is a job ya do once in many years..unless yer helping friends with there truck or something it just doesn't need to be done like changing oil !
Gates is prolly the only other brand I would want to trust vs an original FoMoCo belt.