cambelts ...which ones best to buy ?

Need more information!

What model are we talking about? I presume it's a 308 of some sort?

The belts are made for Ferrari as OEM by Dayco and Pirelli (Isoran)for most of the Fcars including the 308's...The OEM Tensioner bearing manufacturer is SKF.....You can buy the bits in the Yellow boxes with the Prancy horse label and be raped by the Fcar pimp on $ or save some money.......see www.birdmanferrari.com , it has an excellent section on changing the belts and t.bearings as well as lots of other great info.

Me personally, I wouldn't change them yet if it is verifiable they were done as you say! Search this site and you will find lots of threads on the topic!!!

Hope this helps,

Cheers

Pete

 

3 years is very soon for belts and tensioners, but ... it is your car, so your decision.

I bought the belts at a dealer, and it was only $20US each, so not too bad. The bearings from Ricambi. I understand there are some super duper bearings now for the 308, so... you may elect to go that route.

My car, I would not touch the belts and bearings for at least 5 years.

 

One question has evaded my eyes in all the posts I've read here on belts and that is; do any of these belts have Kevlar in them?

With this being the weak link on such an expensive engine you would think that after all this time especially on the 308's that some manufacturer would have incorporated some kevlar strands/fibers into the rubber belts to make them far tougher and last longer.

Lockheed HANGS an F-22 from the ceiling on a Kevlar rope that is about 2.0" in diameter for testing. Nothing classified about that rope. They take it down and replace it every one or two years and break it to see what the tensile strength was and how it was holding up.

Needless to say, it is far stronger than it needs to be to suspend such a load. Looks like cog belt manufacturers would have some of this stuff in a belt for the F car, they do so in other belt applications and tires for that matter.

 

From what I've read here the belts are NOT the weak (weakest?) link but rather the tensioner bearings.

 

Re: Kevlar - From the pictures and stories I've seen and read on this board most belts actually fail by losing teeth, not actually breaking. Kevlar wouldn't help the teeth. It might save your engine from the stray toll token, however.

 

Kevlar is finiky stuff. It performs very well under very controlled conditions and events.

Change the contdition or the event and Kevlar fails like butter being cut by a hot knife. We used to use Kevlar vests for backstops for throwing knives. They would sink right in up to the handle "stop."

A Ferrari engine bay is likely NOT within the optimal Kevlar design paramaters. BUT I think it is used in the best belts available today.

Any chemists here that can add to/correct this?

 

Kevlar is a perfect material for this application. A kevlar fiber in tension, even with lateral motion, is highly stable and strong. That's why kevlar (and CF) is used in racing sailboat sails and running rigging for example. Kevlar is even better than CF threads as kevlar is not as brittle. It's also light which, of course, is an advantage in certain situations (likely not a big deal for a cam belt however).

Kevlar is an amazing fiber. It is susceptible to UV degredation and abrasion, but performs very well with changes in temperature or humidity.

 

Boys boys boys,

We seem to have got a bit sidetracked here........the OP simply wanted to ask if he should change his t. belts.........now were talking about Kevlar belts?

Kevlar is wonderful stuff.........great for body armour amongst other things..........but can you imagine the cost in $$$ of Kevlar timing belts???

Kevlar t.belts could be a whole new thread I think???


Pete

 

Actually, no, he did not ask if he should change his timing belts.
No idea how much Kevlar belts would cost. How much would they be exactly??

 

I know we speak Ozstralian down here...LOL....but we do read and write English....if you read the OP's original thread my friend, he was asking whether his t.belts and t. bearings needed changing!!!

No idea how much Kevlar belts would cost but no doubt they would be big$$$$.

One downside I can think of with Kevlar is lack of water/liquid resistance. I'm in the security industry and use/wear Kevlar body armour regularily(i.e. vests)and you cannot get them wet if you do they are useless...could imagine Fcar leaking oil(cam seals)or coolant onto Kevlar belts....disaster!!!!!

 

Negative. He stated that he was going to change them. Then he went on to ask if it was safe to go another 2 odd months/200 miles.

I'm sure you speak more better English than me but this sentence doesn't "work" for me: "No idea how much Kevlar belts would cost but no doubt they would be big$$$$."

You have no idea or your idea is they, no doubt, would be expensive?

I think oil leaking on cambelts, regardless of composition, would be disastrous.

Here's some actual useful information:

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/cosworth-kevlar-high-performance-timing-belt-subaru-wrx-sti-ej25-ej20-02-p-53671.html

And yes, turns out they're probably more expensive but may last much longer and possibly can be re-used (re-tensioned) if you want to change bearings only (since they supposedly do not stretch). So, maybe in the long run they're not really more expensive.

 

Hey bertspeed,

Hill Engineering in the UK, will have the proper belts, tensioner bearings and anything else you may need.

Their products are top notch.

Cheers, Hank

 

Eulk 328

Now your starting to split hairs mate....he was asking whether to change his belts and bearings now or wait!

Dayco belts are around $40USD from most of the reputable fcar suppliers we all know such as Ricambi/Trutlands etc....Genuine SKF Tensioner bearings were around $100USD last time I looked....the cost of the parts is not excessive....it's the mechanics/workshops labour to do the job!

I can't see the point in paying over $200USD for Kevlar t.belts....same labour time to change them,maybe not so often?

Ferrari's factory recommendation on time/mileage on belt changes was more a precautionary move than anything else.If my memory serves me correctly when the 308's came out Ferrari was attempting to ape Porsche's service interval times and then reduced the time/mileage recommendation on t.belt/t.bearing changes!

On my own 308 the belts and bearings were done 3 years ago,but the car has travelled less than 8,000klm since then. A visual inspection confirmed all was well recently.

This whole topic has been done repeatedly on this forum.I say do whatever you as an owner are comfortable with and that lets you sleep at night....LOL!

Cheers,

Pete

 

Aren't we all... ;-)

PS. Check the title/subject line of the OP's thread. That will give a clue as to what he's trying to get answered.

 

not to shift the topic, but does anybody make a kit to replace the existing belts and pulleys for chain and gears?

 

Jonny if my memory serves me right this has been asked before on the forum and the answer was no.... was put in the two hard basket.....anyone else know more?


Pete

 

Not to be disrespectful or hijack a thread but the reason a few posts were discussing Kevlar is because I asked a question in this related thread.

I don't know if there are or are not any belts with kevlar for the 308 but if my question revealed that there are then that would be an option and a good one in my mind to the original poster and everyone else as well.

Comparing Kevlar woven to its best advantage into a belt with how it is woven in layers for vests is apples and oranges. I used Kevlar for tying my chocks and stoppers for free rock climbing. I cut it off the roll with a razor blade, the rope being 4,5,&6mm and had to change blades after each cut. It does not stretch at all in fiber form. When woven in certain ways it can "stretch" or take up the slack when loaded but that is just compression taking up slack in the weave and not really stretching at all.

I didn't mean to re-direct and will be glad to make a new thread. Cheers.

 

Yes I do. An acquaintance of mine does this but I think it's not in production at the moment/on the market as he's currently in charge of damper development for Toro Rosso F1 and Sauber F1 and rather busy at the moment.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Sweet!!!

 

chains require constant lubrication and ferrari used the belts to save weight and the belts actually stretch less than chains as each link can stretch but the belt once it gets a set stays relatively constant... or so ive been told!

 

I don't mean to distract with more talk of the properties of kevlar, but the most basic kevlar fiber is highly resistent to damage from moisture - that's why it's used extensively in high performance sailboat sails, sailboat hulls, and sailboat running rigging.

Incidentally, kevlar isn't that expensive, even by weight - can't imagine there would be more than $10 bucks of kevlar fiber in a ferrari timing belt, probably less. The core of a kevlar sailboat line is 100% kevlar and not that expensive per foot really.

 

Which dealer did you get your belts from? Ferrari Silicon Valley in Redwood City? Not a bad price on them from the dealer. I see you are fairly local to me in San Carlos. Thanks.