i was wondering if there is any difference between OEM belts and aftermarket belts such as Power Enterprise, Toda, Greddy, Gatorback, etc...

PE and Toda, which i'm aware are the same belts, say they're 200%-300% stronger than OEM. just wondering if its just a waste of money, or if its worth the added insurance?

 

when building an NA car specially i think is when this comes into play.. but im sure it goes with turbo setups also, but ive seen and heard of damage from a motor skipping a tooth on the belt cause it had too much flex.. then the owner switched over to aftermarket and never had the problem agian..

 

Never had a problem with OEM. I have and will continue to use OEM.

 

any other feedback? my oem belt jumped 2 teeth a couple weeks ago...nothing damaged but it wasnt on boost at the time.

 

Do you think the problem may have been with your tensioner instead of the belt itself?

 

GOOD topic.. I'd like to know as well since I may be in need of a new Timing Belt for my new setup...

 

not to take over this thread. Should you change out the tensioner when putting together a motor and then get a belt to match it?

 

I think a aftermarket strong timing belt is well worth the peace of mind. Think about it, would you rather risk your whole motor (thousands of dollars invested) because you're trying to cheap out $200 for the belt? With the power that most of the guys are putting down and crazy rpm to go along with it, I think a strong timing belt is more of a necessity. Oh, and replacing the belt tensioner is always a good idea

 

I've compared a toda with an oem t-belt and noticed a big difference. If you look at the outer part of both belts, you can see the the toda is thicker, making it stronger and less prone to stretching on high rpm. As far as the teeth part, they're both the same. If you have the money for it, I would go with the toda or something like it.

 

OE has always worked fine for us , the Toda's look clean tho

 

A very wise engine builder once told me...

"Always get the highest quality timing belt possible"

Toda for me.