Paxton Belt Deflection

[Fast Too]

Folks - This post and question is directed to those running a Paxton with a DLM tensioner. Opinions or comments from those with this setup are preferred.

I had the Novi head out about 4,000 miles ago and at that time replaced the Paxton belt and had a DLM tensioner installed. The finger deflection on the belt now seems a bit excessive to me after these many miles which with reasonable pressure is a good 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch. That seems loose. I have noticed my A/F creeping down to lower 10s in third and lower 11's in 4th (I assume the belt to be now streched and broke in). I know Doug Levin says tension the belt to be not to tight but not to loose, but what does that mean. How much belt deflection do you guys have with this setup without slippage while not over tensioning?

 

[MikeR]

Thats a tough question. I was told by a Tuner that he knows of a few that make them so tight you can stand on them. Others just go by a feel. I wish there was a certain torque setting, but theres not. The best thing is to just monitor if your losing boost, that will tell you if you have belt slippage, then you can slowly tighten a little at a time and recheck.

 

[Viper X]

As Mike says, monitor boost. If you are getting consistent boost, don't worry about belt tension. If not, well, worry ..... but keep in mind that there are other things that can lower your boost, like a leaky vacuum line, a bad fit / seal at the intake manifold or a malfunctioning blow off valve.

I had to go over all of my hoses and either clamp them or zip tie them to eliminate that pesky boost loss. When I first had my Paxton installed, I had a couple hoses blow off.

Good luck,

Dan

 

[plumcrazy]

there HAS TO BE a device to measure the tension. kinda like a spring loaded thing we can push down on the belt and then have it register a rating.

make sense ?

 

[Fast Too]

there HAS TO BE a device to measure the tension. kinda like a spring loaded thing we can push down on the belt and then have it register a rating.

make sense ?

Plum - Your right. I know they make those gizmos but the question then becomes what is the tension setting? I'll call Paxton and ask them what that is. If I get an answer I'll post it.

Thanks everyone else for the feedback.

 

[Frank 03SRT]

there HAS TO BE a device to measure the tension. kinda like a spring loaded thing we can push down on the belt and then have it register a rating.

make sense ?

I made my own. I put a spring I had laying around on a dowel mounted to a piece of plywood. Adjusted the dowel height with the aid of a small weight scale so that when the dowel touched the belt, you have 10 lbs. force. Then measure the belt deflection at that time. Use it on my Harley drive belt, which requires 1/4" deflection midpoint with 10 lbs force. Seems like something similar could be used here, if you could find the deflection/force parts.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

I'm sure there is a limit to what you should tighten the belt to also. I would be worried about premature where and Paxton warranty issues if bearing failure is linked to over tensioning. Also the idler pulley is another weak link from excessive tension.

 

[dave6666]

there HAS TO BE a device to measure the tension. kinda like a spring loaded thing we can push down on the belt and then have it register a rating.

make sense ?

Universal Belt Tension Gauge

 

[Fast Too]

Universal Belt Tension Gauge

Thanks Dave - I'm waiting for reveille to occur in cali and will then call Paxton to see if they have a tension spec.

 

[Fast Too]

Interesting response from Paxton. They wouldn't give me a tension setting spec per say, but they did say I want about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deflection on the long side of the belt (being the top). That sure sounds loose to me.

 

[plumcrazy]

id say figure out what you think is right, measure it on that gauge and keep it that way.