I'm looking into replacing my serpentine belt on my 2005 Tahoe 5.3L engine. I heard Goodyear's Gatorback belts are a good replacement. The OEM belt my Tahoe has is a 6KP2365, which I believe measures out to 93.1 inches in effective length. Gatorbacks do not come in 6KP2365. The closest they have is a 6KP2360, which is 93 inches in effective length. They also have one slightly longer, 6KP2375, which is 93.5 inches in effective length.

Does 1/10th of an inch shorter on belt make a difference (i.e. stress on tensioner, pulley damage, etc) if I were to go with Gatorbacks 6KP2360? What about going with the 6KP2375, which would be 4/10th inches longer? Or, am I better off buying the OEM? Trying to save myself some money here.....OEM replacement at dealership costs an arm and a leg.

 

a belt on advanced's website is only $10-$30 depending on brand... INLESS you want to go to the dealer..but i bought one for my truck at advanced and its been good goin on 2 years and 30k miles

 

The tensioner should be able to make up the 0.1" shorter belt.

 

Use the slightly shorter belt, it will be fine.

 

Sounds good fellas. Thanks for the responses. Going with the gatorback belt will save me $45. Dealer wants $74 for the belt....ouch! My current belt has 81,000 miles on it and still looks good; however, the ac belt is cracking. Figured, I'd change serpentine belt (preventative maintenance) since I have to remove it to replace the ac belt.

Thanks again!

 

You may already know this, but its a good idea to keep the old one and toss it in with the spare tire jack as a back up should your new one fail on the road you will have a back up...

 

Good advice...after I inspected the belt, I figured I'd keep it like you said....just in case. Thanks again for all the info.

 

Is there a gatorback belt for 2003 chev 2500 hd