serp belt vs. v-belts

[ZooMad75]

i am in no way trying to be an @$$ here... but people on here would do that? one has to know the propper tension of belts, but thats so simple and kinda basic.

I know the proper tension required on a V-belt, but when you have an alternator that consistantly looses tension you got to crank it up to keep the belt from slipping. I had that exact issue on an 78 malibu I used to have. If I set it at the correct tension and drove 15 miles the "gen" light would come on due to the slippage. It even chucked the belt once on the highway. I had to carry a 1/2" wrench and prybar just to make the adjustment on the side of the road periodically. Seems that the issue was really the threads on the alternator case where the bolt went for the upper bracket/tension adjustment were stripped down deep enough to let the bolt get tight and 1/4 turn more and it would loosen up. Drilling the hole out and tapping it for the next larger bolt helped for a while but it still did it eventually. Only solution for the longest time between adjustments was to crank the snot out of the belt and get it as tight as possible. Yes a new alternator should have fixed it but at the time I was low on funds and had to make it last.

Watching my buddies throw thier v-belts on thier street trucks (v-8 s10 and big block 72 GMC) while cruising Woodward in Detroit is another reason I would rather have a serpentine. The S10 would throw his belt consistanly during a burnout even with correct belt alignment and tension. The big block GMC just pitched his when he snapped the throttle to rev it up. For the effort it would take to install deep groove pulleys to try to combat the belt throwing, it would be just as easy to convert to serpentine and forget it.

I'm just wondering (besides Harryh3) how many of you v-belt fans have even tried running a serpentine setup? I know I've had both and you know what I prefer.

 

[diesel4me]

Both kinds can suck!

As a former lawn mower repairman,I have seen more than a few shredded V-belts on lawn equipment!...but they are much more forgiving than a serpentine "flat" belt when pulleys are slightly misaligned or bent...once a V-belt "flips over" and runs upside down in a pulley,its toast..no matter how many times you re-install it,or tighten it,it will keep flipping itself over,once the cords in the belt are twisted,your screwed!...but a flat belt requires the pulleys to be in perfect aligenment,and in perfect condition,or it will derail or shred itself in record time!..

My 86 305 motor in my 79 C10 has BOTH a V-belt for the P/S,and a serpentine altenator belt!..guess GM couldn't make up their minds whether or not to go to all serpentine belts or not right away,and had to use both for a year or so,to see how they held up... --I've seen serpentine belts last over 100,000 miles on my dads 76 Ford Torino station wagon "company car" he drove for the local gas company!--it also went 90,000 miles before its first tune up,and the plugs still looked factory fresh!..

 

[Kiwi John]

As a former lawn mower repairman,I have seen more than a few shredded V-belts on lawn equipment!...but they are much more forgiving than a serpentine "flat" belt when pulleys are slightly misaligned or bent...:

As a current lawn mower repairman I still see v-belts chugging on in the most arduous conditions... and they still keep going! I voted for v-belts. They're basic and durable. They are forgiving. They are adaptable. if you really are in trouble and can find a belt that is nearly the right size, you can 'make do' by using the adjusting bracket to take or let-off tension. They're available almost anywhere. The best feature is the alignment question. They runat weird angles and round corners etc. You're always at the mercy of the bearing manufacturers with either belt type so always buy the best bearings you can! A cheap belt will run on quality bearings but a cheap bearing won't run a quality belt ... for long.

 

[dirtwarrior17]

I'm just wondering (besides Harryh3) how many of you v-belt fans have even tried running a serpentine setup? I know I've had both and you know what I prefer.

I run v-belts and my bro has serpentine....... I'll take v over serpentine anyday. After watchin my bro screw with tensioners replace the belt because it was misalinged, change pulleys, pumps, etc. RIGHT when they break otherwise the rest won't work, i'll probably never own a vehicle with a serpentine unless the PO or factory puts it on...

 

[Larry]

Make mine a serpentine anyday. Much cleaner set up, more HP (so it feels), higher amperage alternators, better A/C compressors and virtually no maintenance. Plus the rubber stays on at 5000 plus RPM’s unless a hack job was done on the serp retrofit. If an accessory fails and leaves you stranded on the trail…shame on you as any potential alternator or idler pulley gremlins always give you ample warning…..like about several hundered miles of humming and whinning.

If you like V-belts, you probably also believe in carburetors and breaker point ignition. Oh, yeah….I still have a carburetor. Ugh, I still need to change that.

 

[cbbr]

Serpentine, but mostly because that's what I have right now. It is nice only having to carry one spare (I have needed it) and the OBA was no problem with the Kilby pulley (damn, that's two spares), but i do worry that if anything (alt) goes out, everything is screwed.

 

[ntsqd]

i am in no way trying to be an @$$ here... but people on here would do that? one has to know the propper tension of belts, but thats so simple and kinda basic.

On my '79 SBC powered Sub I have tension the HELL out of the single puny V-belt GM used for the Alt or it shreds the belt. This with a new alt pulley on a pro rebuilt alt (not a 'bottom feeder' rebuild). B4 I got smart I ate up two belts in short order trying to do it the "right way".

either way is fine, but all these 'inconviences' from a vbelt setup...

carrying 3 belts instead of 1 is not a big deal, how much space does it take up?? not much...

Remembering which one goes where is the problem. It's always "try this one......shiat! nope that'ns too short, OK how about......"

adjusting vbelts and tightening them, that takes about 1 minuts with a prybar and air ratchet...

What's an "air ratchet"?

 

[big_truxx]

what bites the big fruit is my 89 crew dual scotsdale 454 tbi has serp/v-belt 2 v's and a serp what were they thinking on that one?

 

[dirtwarrior17]

What's an "air ratchet"?

same thing nascar uses to change the tires, except those ones cost about 2k.

what bites the big fruit is my 89 crew dual scotsdale 454 tbi has serp/v-belt 2 v's and a serp what were they thinking on that one?

If you have v- belts you don't have a serpentine. Most setups don't have all v belts because the alternators like to have a flat belt. Usually the a/c pump, smog pump, and power steering pump are the ones with v's. A true "serpentine" system only uses one belt.

 

[big_truxx]

same thing nascar uses to change the tires, except those ones cost about 2k.



If you have v- belts you don't have a serpentine. Most setups don't have all v belts because the alternators like to have a flat belt. Usually the a/c pump, smog pump, and power steering pump are the ones with v's. A true "serpentine" system only uses one belt.

"semi-serp" setup my bad

 

[big_truxx]

alt, water, power steering and smog i believe are on serp. a/c i know is on v and there is a 2nd v in there. i will look again later tobe sure which is run on which

 

[raptorparts]

v versus serpetine

my 78 3/4 ate the stock alternator v belts up, unlike my 79 which never had a problem even though the trucks appeared to be indentical in every way.

found a late 80's impala in the boneyard and snagged the serpetine alternator setup and swapped all over to the 78 and have had no more problems. it uses a latter style, slightly larger bodied alternator that i've put 50k plus miles on straight from the junkyard with no problems. the pulleys swapped no problem.

gm switched to this setup before going full serpentine on computer controlled vehicles with mucho power accessories because they too suffered shreaded v belts on high electrical demand cars and needed the extra beef of the serpentine style, wide belt. this i know as a mid 80's gm line technician. i replaced alot of alternator belts on the early 80s big cars....

in the end, the ultimate setup is the hybrid serp/v setup..

 

[GotBoykins]

I like the v-belts.............just cuz.

 

[BigDummy89K5]

serpentine all the way! '89blazer, no problems. '89gm truck with 430k, no problems. In the old days with v-blets, nothing but problems. Sqealing this, sqealing that. If it wasn't the alt. it was the power steering pump. I had a '75 Grand Prix. What I thought to be an alternator going out, turned out to be a bad belt. There is more to this story, ah sh!t maybe tRusty (Rene) would like to finish this story.

 

[Leadfoot]

I've had both and serpentine all the way (for me).

I carry one spare belt and one spare (tested) alternator.

Regardless if you have a v-belt or serp setup, carrying a spare alternator on the trail is a smart idea. Yes you can run without one, but if you need lights (night) or winch, or have any distance to travel, you are F'd without one anyway. To have two alternators sieze up on the same rig, during the same ride would be like getting hit by lightning twice....

Serpentine has a much better grip (i.e. stalling a motor IF an alternator seizes).

Talking with GM techs they have seen alternators lock up and stall a motor, but most of the time it's aftermarket reman cheapies (I'm wondering if they use different bushings/bearings). I know a reman starter has a nose cone bushing rather than a bearing from the factory (just saw it on a Buick I installed a new starter on), so I'm assuming the same crap happens with reman alternators.

If I were going on a long trip I would probably pack a spare tensioner too, just to be safe.

On a trail rig or a rig that I didn't have a couple spare dollars for, I might go with V-belts as cheap "good enough" alternative.

There were many reasons the factories have gone away from v-belts but it doesn't mean they aren't a viable alternative.....

 

[lrazer]

serp all the way
only one belt to carry for a spare and like mentioned pullies don't just lock up without warning
and even when they do your not nesecarily stuck, i dorve around all day with my idler locked up before i got a chance to fix it the belt just slipped on the pully
had to replace the belt too but hey it got me where i needed to go

 

[jeeptuff]

I just got a factory GM serp setup that is going on the 383, will post pics of all the goodies that came in the install kit in a day or two.. Complete from bracket to hardware to Alt., P/S pump, idler, tensioner, the whole kit and kabootal.

 

[6.2Blazer]

My trail truck has V-belts, and while I like the idea that the failure of one accessory won't leave me stranded that goes away every time I have to retighten the alternator or p/s belt, though after years of wheelin' I've never had an accessory lock up.

I have an upgraded 140 amp alternator (new Delco unit) and a V-belt struggles with it and has to be super tight. The p/s (hydroboost) is the same way including the factory unit and two different reman's.......plus tightening a diesel p/s pump is a huge PITA.

 

[Uncle Fester]

fresh can of worms.....

Ok, here is a fresh can of worms on the subject of V vs serp belt setups..... IF you where to convert a V-belt set up to a serp set up, who's conversion kit would you use? An after market kit? Then who's? A factory conversion kit?
I have owned cars and trucks with V-belt set ups, and with serp set ups, both types worked well for me, so I guess I don't care, as long as the darn thing works...when they break...you fix it, reguardless, right?

 

[AussieK5]

V's because I can find one in any town or outback servo that I can make fit.....serp's? I would have to wait while one was ordered in, and that just sucks.