I have had the gatorback belt on my car (17% pulley) for like 15k miles and I can barely see the hole on the tensioner, which surprised me (I don't track the car, occasional red-lining) I don't hear any pig squeels or anything unusual.. how do you exactly feel / hear the sc belt slipping / strectching??

Are the lifespan of the gatorback belts shorter than NAPA belts?

Thank you in advance.

 

My experience is to change Gatorback belts at 25~30K to be safe. I ran one on my 17% pulley to 44K, while keeping a close eye on it. It had stretched to the point where I couldn't see any holes in the tensioner strap. That was way to long on borrowed time.
Replaced it with another Gatorback

 

When I installed my 15% pulley, I was told by Randy Webb that I should see at least one hole on the tensioner. In my case, the hole was not showing, so I installed a shorter belt which corrected the situation. I later installed a 2% crank pulley and ended up changing the belt again. I find the gatorbacks very quiet and I change them every 20k for peace of mind.

Hope this helps....

See you on Friday....

 

Ah thank you for the replies.

I was thinking about picking up NAPA this time but o well, gatorback is cheaper I will change it over the weekend just to be sure