Changing your belts in 25 minutes (4 Viewers)

[Doc]

"... the A/C belt will nearly fall off"

I cannot see how this thing went on. I got the the tensioner authority maxed out.

Make sure you loosened the lock nut first. I just did this job today, and forgot that part, much frustrations arose... until I remembered the darn locknut!

Hardest part for me was loosening the lock nut on the alt tensioner, it wanted to round off instead of turn out. I had to dig out the 6 point sockets and stuff the 12's back in the box.

 

[surfersti]

Thanks for the how-to instructions Doug, they helped out a lot and was done in 45 min.

 

[yotame]

Did this last night and it still is a pain in the @@##. The tensioner on the a/c is loosened counterclockwise and is located at an angle when looking up at the 1" hole but still easy access compared to the other alternator one. Lots of small turns on that one. The Alternator attachment nuts are 14mm and the lock nut and tensioner nut are 12mm. I found easier access with left hand standing in front of battery on stool with light lying near brake fluid shinning down toward tensioner. left hand goes in with open ended 12mm right by alternator. Atleast this way you can see the POS. If you can get your fingers on it you could do it by hand, but that is near impossible. Watch out for those OEM hose clamps as they will rip your arm after you drop that wrench and go digging under the flywheel. Definately no reason to take out the battery etc...

 

[RedTacoma]

ha, too tight=bearing wear, not tight enough=improper wear and squealing belts

talk about the feel technique! I'm going to check mine this weekend again to see if they loosened at all. Its interesting that the FSM states a "used" belt is any belt that has been run for more than 5 minutes

What I do is I try to turn the fan wheel with belts not moving (wheel slipping underneath the belts) If I can not turn the wheel with my both hands thats tide enough.

Of course I recheck belts in less then a month after wards to re tide them. This way bearings dont have to work too much and belts are always have enough friction to turn alternator and fun.

 

[iptman]

Thanks Doug. I changed out the belts and idler pulley on my new 80 today. It took me a of couple hours but I did end up having to remove the battery tray and skid plate. I just couldn't reach that alternator lock nut and couldn't visualize how to move the A/C tension pulley. Being my first maintenance job on the 80 I didn't mind doing these extra steps though. I was able to gain a little more familiarity with the engine bay not to mention it's waaaay less frustrating without the battery tray in the way.

BTW, I realized why the previous owner decided to sell this truck during the winter. The A/C belt was shredded and laying in pieces on top of the skid plate. That's ok by me though. Got a good deal on a clean low mileage 80 and it only cost me ~$100 in parts.

Thanks again.

 

[ajessup]

Just replaced the a/c belt for the first time and it was just as easy as you wrote.

 

[Leroy]

I used this technique mostly to do my belts the other night and it took about an hour. I took off the skid plate underneath (took and extra 2 minutes) to get a better look at things and found myself working from underneath and from above. The A/C pulley and tensioner are a breeze. The alternator tensioner was a PITA (would be easier if the battery tray was out but i got to it anyway). I used some goodyear belts and they seem fine. One thing i've noticed the last couple days is the usual clatter i hear in my valve train at cold start up is not there anymore. I know these valves are chain driven..... is it just coincidence? Anyway, quiter is nicer. Thanks for the great write up. How you pull the unknown yoga move to get to the A/C pulley from above is beyond me....

 

[Lil' runnah]

thanks for the tips fellas!! just swapped the belts ...about 15-20 minutes ...air wrench sped things up and dropping the splash plate on the bottom helped.

 

[Sporin]

Great write up! Thank you!

My new-to-me truck has generic ribbed drive belts and NO AC belt at all. It has a shiny new pulley under those wrong-belts even and the belts are loud.

I just picked up 3 new Toyota belts at the dealership and plan to fix this up this weekend.

I am/was assuming the AC is/was shot since there is no belt but I think I'll put it on and see how it goes. Wonder if I can diagnose that without going through the trouble of putting a new belt on?

 

[UCBerzerkeley]

The timing of posts on this forum could not be better sometimes! I just decided to install belts this afternoon, and boom, this post crops up on the front page. Awesome! Thanks Doug

 

[Beowulf]

The timing of posts on this forum could not be better sometimes! I just decided to install belts this afternoon, and boom, this post crops up on the front page. Awesome! Thanks Doug

Actually, the thread has been here for a year and half. You just became aware of it today since someone bumped it, but it has been here along with hundreds of other gems, just waiting to be read.

-B-

 

[Atticus]

Great write up! Thank you!

My new-to-me truck has generic ribbed drive belts and NO AC belt at all. It has a shiny new pulley under those wrong-belts even and the belts are loud.

I just picked up 3 new Toyota belts at the dealership and plan to fix this up this weekend.

I am/was assuming the AC is/was shot since there is no belt but I think I'll put it on and see how it goes. Wonder if I can diagnose that without going through the trouble of putting a new belt on?

The a/c belt is super easy to put on and tighten, though. Much much easier than the other two belts.

 

[reconranger]

Great write up! Thank you!

My new-to-me truck has generic ribbed drive belts and NO AC belt at all. It has a shiny new pulley under those wrong-belts even and the belts are loud.

I just picked up 3 new Toyota belts at the dealership and plan to fix this up this weekend.

I am/was assuming the AC is/was shot since there is no belt but I think I'll put it on and see how it goes. Wonder if I can diagnose that without going through the trouble of putting a new belt on?

The a/c belt is super easy to put on and tighten, though. Much much easier than the other two belts.

Talk about lazy.

I've had my truck for several years. I had ribbed belts.

Put on OEM belts and new idler pulleys from Dan. Very simple to put on. No more whine.

Now I'm hearing clicks and whirrrrrrrs.

That's another story.

 

[Sporin]

I'm not lazy, I just have no idea why there is no AC belt there and have visions of putting the belt on, starting the truck, and immediately burning something up or causing some other damage. So if there was another way to check the AC compressor function without putting it into rotation it would be worth the extra check pre-belt.

 

[UCBerzerkeley]

i put on new belts but not idler pullies. oh well. i am definitely a and it took me almost 2 hours. pictures would be very helpful, as part of my problem was finding the rights bolts. also, that the tensioner on the alternator is a BBIITTCCHHHH

edit: thanks wulf. I should have said it was "bumped" by coincidence the day I did my belts

 

[Beowulf]

pictures would be very helpful, as part of my problem was finding the rights bolts.

Agreed. There are pictures of each step and better pictures in unrelated threads but this thread definitely needs pictures. If you want to increase your positive balance in Cruiser Karma, you will seek out the best pictures and link them to this thread. Will you accept the challenge?

I'll give you a head start... These were found with a search of the 80-section, saving the images on my local drive, then a few minutes with Paint to annotate. (Pics courtesy of some poor sole with a rusty truck, a leaking oil pump O-ring, and a leaking dizzy O-ring. )

-B-

 

[Lil' runnah]

I originally swapped out the old belts with Napa belts. In the past I've had decent experience with Napa parts. They have small ridges on the inner surface however and although they seem to work fine, now has an annoying "whirring" sound at initial accelleration until the rpm's increase. My guess was from the ridges.

I stopped in at the stealership and picked up some OEM belts. THey have a smooth inner surface so hoping this gets rid of the annoying "whirr". FYI, they're about the same price (even from Toyota) as the Napa belts.

If this was posted before:whoops: ...if not, maybe this will save someone from making my mistake.

 

[Beowulf]

If this was posted before:whoops: ...if not, maybe this will save someone from making my mistake.

About a hundred times but it never ceases to amaze me how many people will post up saying their Cruiser sounds like a jet taking off and it is almost always due to after-market belts. The Toyota belts are well made, fit perfectly, inexpensive, and last a very long time.

-B-

 

[reconranger]

Talk about lazy.

I've had my truck for several years. I had ribbed belts.

Put on OEM belts and new idler pulleys from Dan. Very simple to put on. No more whine.

Now I'm hearing clicks and whirrrrrrrs.

That's another story.

I'm not lazy, I just have no idea why there is no AC belt there and have visions of putting the belt on, starting the truck, and immediately burning something up or causing some other damage. So if there was another way to check the AC compressor function without putting it into rotation it would be worth the extra check pre-belt.

Not you. I'm the lazy one.

I can see why you'd be worried.

Check the float in the AC line to see if 'frigerant is there. Gonna need a belt to test the AC compressor anyways, I suppose.

Good luck.

 

[Michael Hanson]

I too can no longer bend as good as I used too. Removing the guard plate helps. Never had to remove the battery though.Worst time to remove your belts,laying next to the interstate with 18 wheelers going by at 70 plus mph ,with sleepy drivers at the wheel. Talk about scary and speeding you up! Good post! Mike