Front Belt

[DA_cookie_monstA]

Hi people, just a concern, how tight should the front belt be on initial build as mine seem tight enough that I can play a tune on it, and it just don't feel right.

Cheers guys and girls.

[James_Stewart]

Really dumb question here - Have you got the bulkheads on the right way round?

Other than that, both belts are the same length, so you can't put the wrong one at the wrong end.

[DA_cookie_monstA]

They can only go on one way James, otherwise you can't get the top decks on, so it has been built to the manual. Dunno whether the belt will loosen up after a run or two though, if it don't, the transmissin is going to be awefully tight.

As a check, how much up and down play should be in the belt, it has been a long time since I built a belt drive, and that was a Boss Cat, and that had to have a little bit, like I think about 5 mm.?

[James_Stewart]

I've just dug out a Plastic bulkhead, and it seems the holes for the bearing carriers are in a different place to on the alloy versions. They look to be about 0.5mm further forward and about 1mm lower, so I guess that would make the belt run tighter.

They do soften up quite considerably over time though, i've just fitted new belts to my GT3 and it's gone quite tight.

If you want really slack belts though, then the 17/37 kit is an option.

[DA_cookie_monstA]

Think I will have to get some cells and run a few packs through on the bench to loosen it up then.

[Remo]

I had to file down a little the front edge of the top deck as I found mine pushing the front bulkhead a bit too forward and tensing up the belt... I mean if you have to push on the front top deck and notice that the front belt tenses up as you put the front top deck on then you can file down the top deck (a bit and with loads of care to do it equally and so that you donw tweak your chassis....)

[Craig]

The belts do become lose after a while of running. Try putting them in WD40 over night.

[Remo]

The rear belt gets more load than the front plus it has a tensioner which stretches the belt in use... after few weeks of racing swap the front belt to rear and you will notice the difference... :) I find WD40 wont stretch the belt but may soften the rubber... so it may not slacken the belt as one would have like...

[Craig]

If you soak them in wd40 they slacken a lot quicker. Just something i found. In cold days when the belt dont flex as much it does become hard work.