Anyone used an aftermarket cambelt?

RomanV · Post by **RomanV** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 9:59 pm

Just wondering if anyone's ever bothered with using an aftermarket cambelt, like TODA or HKS or whatever?

Seems like a bit of a waste of money at normal retail price I guess, if the normal timing belt does just as a good a job.

HKS timing belt is made of kevlar or something, feels a lot more rigid and stiff than a normal one, and the teeth have a fibrous sort of pattern on them which I'm guessing probably makes it a bit noisier than a normal belt.

Have heard some people say that you end up with a supercharger whine sort of sound coming from the cambelt.

Anyone here noticed anything good/bad/strange from using an aftermarket belt?

strx7 · Post by **strx7** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:59 pm

what warranty do they put on their belts?

Gates belts have a 250,000km warranty on them, thats pretty impressive i reckon to put that kinda warranty on them..............

metal_sean_head · Post by **metal_sean_head** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:01 pm

I thought they had an extended life span compared to an OEM replacement belt.
Or maybe its to look awesome through your clear cam cover with your matching purple HKS cam gears?

Lloyd · Post by **Lloyd** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:11 pm

strx7 wrote:
Gates belts have a 250,000km warranty on them, thats pretty impressive i reckon to put that kinda warranty on them..............

Ummm.... what? I'm assuming you're talking their "racing" ones?

RobertC · Post by **RobertC** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:18 pm

Lloyd wrote:
strx7 wrote:
Gates belts have a 250,000km warranty on them, thats pretty impressive i reckon to put that kinda warranty on them..............

Ummm.... what? I'm assuming you're talking their "racing" ones?

must be "special" ones. Unless the original was to last 250,000km as well.

Timing Belts Limited Warranty
Merchandise is warranted to be free from defects in material or workmanship for the specified replacement interval determined by the belt manufacturer and original equipment car manufacturer.

Exclusion of warranty:
(g) the Products are used for modified performance, racing or competition;

Which rules out "racing ones"

Bazda · Post by **Bazda** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:20 am

OEM is good enough for most applications.

I last used a Gates racing blue belt, real stiff. And cheaper than a HKS Toda etc.

Post by **Mr Revhead** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:37 am

gotta wonder at how much extra heat and drag the stiffer ones create?
Also possiblly extra wear on tensioners maybe?

I have never ever heard of a cambelt failing due to too much power etc.
Closest I can think of is GT4's with thier cambelt cooling duct.
I suspect they are a gimmick created to sell more crap. Only popped up a few years ago, so what did people use before?

touge_ae101 · Post by **touge_ae101** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:26 am

surely if you are using uprated valve springs and high lift cams you would want to invest a bit more in a belt which is stiffer so will have less elongation under high loads etc. especially if you are running high boost.
in reality these products are only designed for the highly tuned 'monster' engines, but the products flow down and end up being used on reletively standard engines because someone sees a magazine with a sweet purple HKS cambelt and has to have it because if its good enough for 1000hp engine, it is the best and they only want the best for their car.

but fact is manufacturers already over-engineer their cambelts cause it would look really bad if a OEM cambelt broke, resulting in catostrophic engine failure. doesn't do much for brand image does it!?

nile · Post by **nile** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:14 pm

Don't the formula atlantic 4age's just use the oem cambelt?

Post by **Mr Revhead** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:15 pm

Well TRD never saw fit to make a special one

gasman · Post by **gasman** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:04 pm

Mr Revhead wrote:Only popped up a few years ago, so what did people use before?

chains

Bling · Post by **Bling** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:12 pm

Chains are still where its at :oops:

rollaholic · Post by **rollaholic** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:15 pm

as long as its not a nissan wingroad

i heard aftermarket belts are supposed to stand up to repeated removal and re-use (for fiddling with cams, timing, changing heads etc) better than standard ones.

i have no doubt they have a purpose but seems a bit gimmicky to me on most cars as mentioned above

iOnic · Post by **iOnic** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:42 pm

Had an HKS one. Didn't notice any difference. Thank $&#$% it was free - $&#$% if I'm paying 3 times the price of OEM for something that effectively does the same job.

frost · Post by **frost** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:13 pm

touge_ae101 wrote:
but fact is manufacturers already over-engineer their cambelts cause it would look really bad if a OEM cambelt broke, resulting in catostrophic engine failure. doesn't do much for brand image does it!?

cam belts should be done before 100,000k best at 80,000k
manufacturers wont give a toss if the belt breaks, because its pass its warranty, they will be real happy to sell you a new car though, belts are a serviceable part,

even chain needs replacement at 200,000k normally three times the price of normal cam belt changes.

strx7 · Post by **strx7** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:04 am

frost wrote:
touge_ae101 wrote:
even chain needs replacement at 200,000k normally three times the price of normal cam belt changes.

or in the case of a suzuki 2L v6 every 100 just like a cambelt but still 3+ times the price

tsoob · Post by **tsoob** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:06 am

i use a gates racing one.. seems to be pretty good

Flannelman · Post by **Flannelman** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:24 am

I snapped a belt by going slow... pulled the clutch up to move away and engine died. Broke clean in half between the cam gears. Unsure of brand as there was no marking left.

If previous owner had it done at 90k, then the belt lasted around 80k. If not then it did 170k on the stock belt. Replaced the belt and left the covers off and a rock found its way into the belt giving it a V slit. Drove on that for 40k before replacing it again. The belts are nothing special, just the stock gates belt.

Chells pointed out to me that she has her belt in her race car changed every 50k as a precaution. Belts are alot cheaper than a bucket full of bent valves and holes in pistons.

rollaholic · Post by **rollaholic** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:31 am

i've seen plenty of stock belts do 150k or more

1I1 · Post by **1I1** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:36 am

Most Toyota's from 2000ish onwards are 150k for cambelt

Had to do the cambelt on my new daily*, and it's only done 37k

Mind you the cambelt was 12years old

* a '98 Galant