Oh god, not another cam belt thread....

FWIW (next to nothing really) by my understanding a belt's life span begins once under tension, i.e. once mounted - enter the 5yr or 15K mi interval. I don't know if 4 years is pushing it - a year I wouldn't worry about (and have used 12mo old belts on my Ducs before), but 4...not sure.

 

Rubber ages sitting on the shelf. While in school I spent a few years working for Goodyear back in the old days when they were #1 in the industry. Among other things UV and ozone attack rubber. One of the things I did was to inspect tires returned under warranty. You can look at a tire and see ozone exposure. Ask any racer about old race tires. They get old, hard and loose elasticity among other things just exposed to air and light. Those are some of the properties that are important to drive belts. Fighting environmental degradation is a huge problem with rubber products.

Your quandry is why I not only buy from reputable sources but I buy from suppliers that I know turn inventory fast and buy direct from Ferrari. I know Ferrari turns belts fast. If there is a slow down in the supply chain it is not them.

 

Yep, I think I read this same recommendation from Brian a couple of years ago and took it to heart. Belts are cheap. Buy new ones from Daniel at Ricambi. Easy peace of mind.

 

So, how would you know that the belt you are buying has not been sitting on a shelf somewhere for years before you bought it?

Aaron

 

They have date codes stamped on them.

 

Typically, how old are the ones you ship out?

 

Between 15 and 19 years old. We try to age them in french oak barrels before getting them ready for shipment. Our belts are generally more expensive than competitors because we use 70% "new" oak barrels each year. The old barrels are sent to the "Comtesse de Ricambi" for our second quality service.



Just kidding. Actually, our belts are generally 8-10 months old at the oldest point. The first two digits on the code indicate the year; the next indicate the manufacturing week. Remember, "brand new" belts almost always have a mfg date 3+ months old, because they simply take that long to get through legitimate/legal distribution channels -- regardless of how much money or where you get them.

To be perfectly blunt, I tossed 35 old belts into a dumpster when we moved into our new facility. They were a combination of 348 and some 328 belts that had date codes in late 2007. I figured it was easier to trash them than pay out for somebody's engine rebuild. One day, an enterprising young kid will come dumpster diving and find some real goodies at our place. Cheaping out on belts, bearings, or frankly, any 'mission critical' Ferrari part is a false economy.

 

At which point they'll end up on ebay, real cheap, nonexistent warranty.

And since this belief "cost" you money by tossing old bits, is it any wonder you excel at customer service? Got my stuff today by the way. Thanks Daniel.

 

Thanks for the info!

And, as a customer, I agree with above, your service is great!

 

I'm here in Colorado, planning on doing a major to my 90 348 ts this winter, I'll be sure to contact you Daniel for all our parts needs.

 

The reputable sellers will ALL have basically fresh belts. Unless a parts house is buying way too many, we all rotate inventory items like belts pretty frequently.

Whether you use Ricambi, or our competition (gasp!), just give a glance at the date code on a timing belt. On 2v, 4v, and (I think) Testarossa belts, its a MARSH dot-matrix impression that is sometimes quite faint. On later Dayco belts its printed in white or yellow.

If I can remember, I'll take a bunch of pictures tomorrow for reference.

-Daniel


p.s. And while Mike and I will groan, roll our eyes, and snicker in the background, its perfectly fair to ask the date code on timing belts before we ship them to you.