* * * * * CAUTION * * * * * Gates T195 OEM Replacement Timing Belts ARE WRONG

**Maximal** · 12-19-2012, 08:36 AM

Interesting. I've sold a few of these (sell a lot more racing ones) and haven't had any complaints. I think I have a few in stock...I'll have to test them out when I get a chance. Hopefully you just got a bad production run Eric.

And yeah, where's Aaron to defend himself?

**SUTHNR** · 12-19-2012, 08:44 AM

Hey Terry,
From talking with Hans yesterday and him looking at his, it looks like there may be production run variations. I figured you sold more of the RB ones, still awaiting our first shipment of those here. But it's apparent that this is one more thing that has to be checked on inbound shipments before they can hit the stocking shelves... :-/

EricB

**DrGonzo** · 12-19-2012, 08:45 AM

I'm running a gates currently and it fit just as Hans described it. I always test my bets by wrapping them first to ensure it lines up correctly.

I got my 60k kit last year from IPS. Interested to see the outcome of this.

**Maximal** · 12-19-2012, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by SUTHNR

Hey Terry,
From talking with Hans yesterday and him looking at his, it looks like there may be production run variations. I figured you sold more of the RB ones, still awaiting our first shipment of those here. But it's apparent that this is one more thing that has to be checked on inbound shipments before they can hit the stocking shelves... :-/

EricB

Agreed, it's pretty disconcerting even if it was a bad production run. I have some RB's in too so I'll check those as well.

**Chris@Rvengeperformance** · 12-19-2012, 11:26 AM

very curious to hear gates response on this. I have a T195 timing kit still in the box, just haven't needed to use it yet.

**Hans@GZP** · 12-19-2012, 01:12 PM

The gates belt is a snug fit. But remember... the belt never goes all the way around the sprocket. It only ever covers 1/3 of the sprocket at a time, which by the pics shown... it does that with no issues.

**aaronatstate** · 12-19-2012, 01:40 PM

Here I am!!

Those belts are made at our plant in Dumfries Scotland. The reason it does not wrap fully around the pulley is because it is shorter than normal. It actually will wrap around the crank pulley completely and fully. The bigger the pulley, the harder it is to get the belt to fully wrap around a pulley.

The 3S DOHC timing belt has a length spec of +/- .018" They are measured at 140lbs of tension. So just applying hand tension to them will not fully seat the belt in the pulley. It is likely that this belt came from a build that was on the shorter side of nominal. I guarantee that it will seat just fine under tension. I have personally seen belts that have less teeth than the 3S belt that are up to .050" short still seat in the pulley under tension.

**aaronatstate** · 12-19-2012, 01:50 PM

Our belts (actually all timing belts) are NOT DESIGNED to run at zero tension. They are designed to run at some set tension in a system, which is why we measure them under tension. The tension they are measured at is based on the width of the belt, the wider the belt, the more tension we use to verify the length. I can also tell you that we absolutely do not ship belts that measure out of specification for length.