Just curious if these are acceptable replacements. Seems like a really old deal....
Just curious if these are acceptable replacements. Seems like a really old deal. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ferrari-F360-Tensioner-Bearing-Kit-Part-181264-184986-/220915467050?hash=item336f96832a&item=220915467050&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr
Thanks for the link - that's the first time I have seen the Capristo tensioners. The test looks interesting - but only equates to 6,000 miles (if you average 60mph). I would have liked to see them tested to destruction and know how long they lasted. I suppose the choice for owners is to go with Hill Engineering bearings that are fitted to cars all over the world with very few reported problems or these new Capristo units that don't currently have much real world testing. An interesting test would be to sit two of those rigs side by side - one with HE bearings, the other with Capristo and run them until the first failure....
The ebay ad says "The timing belts are OEM Dayco, as used by Ferrari. The bearings are the high quality units from CapristoExhaust.com. " You could contact the ebay seller if you require more info
Doing accelerated bearing life testing is never easy (nor maybe accurate ), and they've certainly made a significant and, no doubt, good-faith effort. Interesting though that they've cranked up the RPM rather than the load (not that I have any reason to say for sure that one is better than the other for predicting the life under different conditions). Don't mean this to say that it is, or isn't, a good product, but one thing that would interest me is to see what is the actual RPM of the tensioner bearing ODs during the "16,000 RPM" portion of the test. At those kinds of (high) linear belt speeds, an air bearing can form between the (flat) back of the belt and the bearing OD so it decouples the belt speed from the bearing RPM (i.e., I believe the RPM display in the test is a calculated value based on the drive motor RPM, not an actual measurement of the tensioner bearing OD RPM). Just something that peaked my interest...
When I was young and had no sense (immediately after buying my 360 which needed a belt service) I was supplied with these Capristo bearings as part of a packaged service kit by a well known UK supplier of F parts. I didn't know about H.E. bearings at the time. 12k miles and three years on they have been fine. I'll post back if they fail before I get around to changing them but so far so good!
