Which brand to buy is the best
 

I am going to have the belts on the wifes car changed out ,, what in your opinion is the best surpentine belt and the other belts to be the very best to do so .

Also ,,which is better OEM or Atermarket belts ,,,,, I am not looking at the price as a factor ,,just the best.

Another question is how tight should the belts be ? Like pull up on them say quarter of an incn or so .what is the common rule to set the new belts at ?

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

I prefer Gates belts over Dayco .

They seem to last longer IMHO.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

Thx for the tip...I could look it up but will ask ya all the same .. who sells gates belts ..?

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

You can get Gates at oreilly auto.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

I prefer Gates as well, they're available on RockAuto or Napa or Oreilly's to name a few.
I used to run Goodyear Gatorback belts until they sold that product line to Continental.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

NAPA's premium line are Gates. If available, the green heavy-duty ones are the bee's knees.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

If it's a serpentine belt, the tensioner takes care of this.

If v-belts, 1/2 of deflection is considered the standard.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

I feel the same a belt is a belt and with the width of serpentine belts they generally last for a long while. I think the more important thing is to keep the old belt in you vehicle just in case the new ever has a problem and you will no be stranded.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

thanks guys ..100% says it all .

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

gates

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

I usually go with Gates as well. Check the tensioner while you're in there. It should spin smoothly with no wobble or play.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

Our daughter is taking our car on a 3000 mile plus trip and this is why I am asking for what is the very best in belts to put on the car before she leaves .. now if any one is still reading this ,, how about what is the best windshield wiper blade brand? I have in the past just bought what looked good.. I cant think of any thing else to change out on the car for her trip ,, but you might and I appreciate all suggestions .. thx all of you for what you have shared with me above.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

I like the Rain-X brand.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

I use Bosch wipers on my modern cars.

Re: Which brand to buy is the best
 

A long time back when I replaced my first original wipers on my new truck with aftermarket wipers I heard the wind going though them at around fifty five mph or faster drove me nuts, they did there job worked good but didn't want to hear it.I mention to a friend that I thought I had a bad seal somewhere, he zero me right to the same problem he had, aftermarket wipers and to use dealer stock brand, it worked no more wind sound. Yes more expensive, well crazy expensive to replace every year, but to me it's worth it. On a side note, i now use hearing aids, if I'm not using them there's times when my son tells me old guy your blinker is still on, he gets that from his mother lol.
NGN
Nick