Serpentine swap...yay or nay?

[mu2bdriver]

I kept mine v belts when I did the 3G swap. Lost the one that connected the alternator to the vacuum pump at highway speed and nursed it to the side of the road for a fix. It was my fault; I noticed it starting to separate but got sidetracked with other stuff. I always had a full spare set in the truck and at home. The biggest inconvenience was sometimes having to remove multiple belts to get at the one to replace. That one belt was the only one I replaced and if I maintained it the way it should have been I wouldn’t have had to do that.

 

[vegas39]

its not the 3g that's the kicker, its the fact that its internally regulated, and you can hook it up straight to the battery and clean up your wiring, not to mention one less item to diagnose.

when it comes to serp, most of the issues people have had here comes from the open spring design.
where mis installation is very common due to having to tighten the bolt down with spring dragging on the casting.
and the fact that they are prone to failure.
us avid serp fans switch to the closed spring tensioner, which is actually a completely different drivers side bracket.
we also install the tensioner with the shock.
I have not any issues since I replaced everything and got it on point.
the belt does chirp in the morning when driving it hard, but only till it warms up.

they are more or less problem free.
look at all of the modern cars now a days, you can prolly count on 1 hand which manufacturers still use a v belt, and its usually to drive 1 item.
people say "if you throw a belt, you loose everything...
which is correct. but you know about it immediately.
**** happens. all cars are junk, and they always break.
this is why we are all here in the first place

hay @Clb how many miles were on your truck when the open spring took a dump?

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Funny you mention how to install that crappy spring tensioner, as that's exactly the problem I had.
My original I assume tensioner broke on me late at night in October. I got towed home and the next day I replaced the tensioner, idler pulley and belt.
When I was installing the tensioner, something didn't feel quite right. Two weeks later, I loaded the truck and went to leave for a job in Cali and heard a bunch of racket as I backed out of the driveway. I got out and looked and the new tensioner was sitting **** eyed.
Turns out the bolt snapped off inside the bracket. When I installed the next new tensioner, I realized the spring hangs up and you have to jiggle the unit up and down as you tighten the bolt. The bolt tightened down properly this time and no more problems. I carrya spare tensioner and belt with me now.

 

[snicklas]

I've had both, in 2 different trucks. The 92 we recently sold, and now the 88 in my signature. I actually prefer the V-Belt system on these trucks.

On the 92, the A/C Compressor pulley locked up. When we shut the engine off, the heat from the pulley burned the belt in two. Fortunately, we were only a half mile from home, and were able to limp to our neighborhood and then get it the rest of the way with the tractor. If, we had the V-Belts, a pocket knife would have fixed the problem. With the serpentine not only did I have to buy a belt, I had to get the A/C Bypass pulley to get back on the road.

On the 88, the PO routed the block heater cord poorly, and it wound up getting pulled into the belts the other day. The belts chewed up the cord, and the alternator/water pump/crank belt and the alternator/vacuum pump belt rolled. They are still working, I know they now won't last long, but, with the current weather, they will be fine. Besides, I think the thermostat stuck shut today, so the belts won't need to do anything till it warms up a bit, might look at it this weekend, it's supposed to be close to freezing, so not as bad as today.....

That being said, all my other vehicles have the serpentine setup (see signature) and they all work well, including the 6.0. I think the serpentine system was a "last minute" design by Ford (all the accessories are a Ford design, I don't think IH ever had a serpentine on the IDI) since it's a mid year change (3/92) and there were at least 2 different designs in the last year and a half they used the IDI.

 

[vegas39]

I've had both, in 2 different trucks. The 92 we recently sold, and now the 88 in my signature. I actually prefer the V-Belt system on these trucks.

On the 92, the A/C Compressor pulley locked up. When we shut the engine off, the heat from the pulley burned the belt in two. Fortunately, we were only a half mile from home, and were able to limp to our neighborhood and then get it the rest of the way with the tractor. If, we had the V-Belts, a pocket knife would have fixed the problem. With the serpentine not only did I have to buy a belt, I had to get the A/C Bypass pulley to get back on the road.

On the 88, the PO routed the block heater cord poorly, and it wound up getting pulled into the belts the other day. The belts chewed up the cord, and the alternator/water pump/crank belt and the alternator/vacuum pump belt rolled. They are still working, I know they now won't last long, but, with the current weather, they will be fine. Besides, I think the thermostat stuck shut today, so the belts won't need to do anything till it warms up a bit, might look at it this weekend, it's supposed to be close to freezing, so not as bad as today.....

That being said, all my other vehicles have the serpentine setup (see signature) and they all work well, including the 6.0. I think the serpentine system was a "last minute" design by Ford (all the accessories are a Ford design, I don't think IH ever had a serpentine on the IDI) since it's a mid year change (3/92) and there were at least 2 different designs in the last year and a half they used the IDI.

I agree about the v belt setup, like it much better.
Everyone complains about the flopping alternator belt but I've never had an issue with one coming off. If you get the tension correct, they are fine.
I like the idea off being able to cut off a belt when a component goes bad so you can get where you need to go

 

[Trevtron]

I like the V belts for the same reasons others had already mentioned, and it’s old school (like my truck).

Funny thing about that flappy alternator belt is the reactions ya get from folks while looking under the hood while it’s running....Last week while I was getting an exhaust quote the shop’s mechanic mentioned that my alternator belt was “extremely slack”, ha ha

 

[Golden Helmet]

Hydroboost is awesome, but wait... lose vacuum assist and you'd get a tow?
I've limped to an autoparts store several times with no power brakes... it's a pain, but totally doable if you can leave a large stopping distance.

Heck, I did that on the '92 - vacuum pump siezed, pulled it, put a shorter belt on and drove it into town(10mi away, mostly highway) for a new pump, installed in the parking lot I think?

The first time I lost my power brakes, there were no parts stores in my town and it was right when school was getting out, so a lot of traffic and kids. I didn't think it would be a smart idea at the time to try and drive my truck back across town with no brakes, I'd rather burn a AAA tow and fix it at home than risk hitting a kid.

 

[Clb]

For those keepin track...
Brian tagged me way back in post 10, my rig may have had 45k on the orignal setup, destroyed the ***** engineered open tentioner. Went with the new closed unit, only a few k on it so far.
I had no issues with the 88 v belt setup, shy of the pita factor.
Plus a serp has to add masss h.p. due to parisitic loss...rotflmao

 

[vegas39]

What's this other tensioner setup you guys are mentioning?
Do I have to change the aluminum housing behind it?

 

[Thewespaul]

There is a closed tensioner and shock absorber tensioner, both require a different accessory bracket for the ac, ps and vacuum pump

 

[vegas39]

There is a closed tensioner and shock absorber tensioner, both require a different accessory bracket for the ac, ps and vacuum pump

Is the setup I have really that bad, or is it ok to keep running it?
Like I mentioned before, I've got a spare behind the back seat

 

[OldIron82]

Thank you for all the replies! Ok, here are pics of the salvage yard truck over a year ago. It looks the same as of a few days ago. Can anyone tell me if I have the good tensioner or the bad tensioner? Judging by the first rib on the belt being chewed up can I surmise that something is on the way out already?

Probably the tensioner [emoji23]

I know the pics are not that great.

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[vegas39]

Thank you for all the replies! Ok, here are pics of the salvage yard truck over a year ago. It looks the same as of a few days ago. Can anyone tell me if I have the good tensioner or the bad tensioner? Judging by the first rib on the belt being chewed up can I surmise that something is on the way out already?

Probably the tensioner [emoji23]

I know the pics are not that great.

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Looks like the undesired tensioner like mine.

 

[OldIron82]

Looks like the undesired tensioner like mine.

Of course it is...[emoji30]

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[Thewespaul]

Is the setup I have really that bad, or is it ok to keep running it?
Like I mentioned before, I've got a spare behind the back seat

I have over 250k on mine, went with a custom pulley on the tensioner and havent had any squeaking issues anymore

 

[pelky350]

my alternator belt always gets people going when they see it flopping everywhere lol I've only even lost one belt when I first got my truck.. they were at least ten years old that's how long my truck sat before I drove it and it drove like 5k before it when flying around the fan lol