Threw a serpentine belt on a 2014 F-150 last Thursday in the middle of 95 traffic

I was heading to a shop in Richmond and the belt just shredded at 70 mph. Lost power steering almost instantly and the battery light came on. Pulled over on the shoulder and found the tensioner pulley seized up solid. Had to wait 2 hours for a tow because AAA was backed up. Got it home and replaced the tensioner and belt for about $45 in parts. Anyone else had luck with aftermarket tensioners holding up better than OEM on the 5.0?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas_grant8324d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Dave had his 2014 F-150 eat a belt on I-64 last year... same deal, lost steering and everything. He went with a Gates aftermarket tensioner and some random brand belt from AutoZone. That was about 18 months ago and he's put like 30k miles on it since... no issues at all. He said the OEM one was made in China and the Gates was made in the US, if that matters to you. I just remember him bitching about how hot the old pulley felt when he touched it.

singh.jessica23d ago

The Gates parts are actually made in Mexico now, not the US, but they're still decent quality from what I've seen. I used one on my own 5.0 about two years ago and it's held up fine.