CARC686
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If anybody wanted to try those 1/2" green belts, now is the time.
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Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!
Seems like this is turning into a build thread.
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RattleSnack
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That's actually where I bought mine....pretty hard to beat that price!
I've probabably put about 400+ miles on my truck since I posted my pulley and belt upgrade....
https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threa...ay-lately-part-2.107203/page-485#post-2608090
...and so far, it's been working great....no belt squeal whatsoever. I'm definitely glad I did this upgrade. Just as a comparison, last year I put on all new regular (black) 3/8" Gates belts. They worked good at first, but it wasn't long before they started to squeal again. I'd tighten up the belts up....it would go away for a while....then the squeal would come back. I probably re-tightened them 4 or 5 times. You could tell the belts were wearing because you could see they were getting narrower, and the alternators would have black belt residue all over them.
Definitely recommend doing this.
CARC686
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Hard to find anything reasonably priced anymore. My belts are older than my ownership of the truck. Since they have to come off anyway while I deal with my reward for putting mechanic in a bottle in my engine, figured I'd replace them too. Thank you for the reference image. I had saved it and forgot where it came from.
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Squealing belts are a positive indicator of pulley misalignment, period. The squeal occurs when a belt enters and exits a pulley at a slight angle, so slight that the eye cannot detect the misalignment. If a belt is misaligned with a pulley, it will not matter which brand of belt you buy, they all will squeal and all will eventually wear out. An old-timer aircraft mechanic taught me this back in 1985 when I purchased a brand new '85 GMC K30 Diesel and had a squealing belt. He determined that the thin alternator belt tension bracket that GM used on that engine was slightly bent from the factory. After straightening the bracket and verifying all pulley alignments, not only did the squeal disappear, but the OEM belts lasted through my sale of the truck in 1995. My advice on this forum is - align the pulleys and be done with squealing & short-life belts. I posted details of aligning the pulleys on my P400 engine here - https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/squealing-belts-and-how-to-fix-them.189721/ .
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
CARC686
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In the process of pulling the damper, I noticed I'm going to have the engine pulled down to a short block fixing leaks before I'm done. If it's rubber, it's ruined. Yeehaw.
CARC686
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Is it true you can cut the rubber off the oil cooler lines and replace them with clamped 1/2" hyd hose? OEM has been discontinued for 16 years.
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It should not be any different than having new A/C lines or power steering hoses made. Cut off the rubber lines and have napa custom clamp new hoses on.
CARC686
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I read in an old post that the hard lines on the ends are barbed and you can DIY it. No harm in giving it a try. Either way, it's getting dealt with.
CARC686
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Anybody got a trick for yanking the front main out without scratching up the crank nose?
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Long ago I had a seal puller like this one. Use a small hammer with it, go around the seal from inside the lip and walk the seal out. 
CARC686
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Pricey, ain't it? I'll pull out the oxy ace and make one.