Hello everyone - truck has 206k miles and I use it primarily for transporting 2 cars twice a year from wi to fl in an enclosed trailer. I bought the truck in 2008 with 140k miles and today it has 206k. I do use the truck as a secondary vehicle.

I will be leaving for fl soon and thought of replacing the pulley on the serpentine tensioner and the serpentineidler pulley. I have already replaced the water pump last year. I am thinking this is a good idea simply because these items are spinning and if they fail they could leave me stuck on the road. I found the tensioner pulley at autozone for $26 but I can not find the other pulley which I believe is located in the upper right location of the serpentine drive belt.


What are your thoughts on replacing these items?
Does anyone know where I can buy the pulley or bearing for the non tensioner pulley.


I understand the alt, a/c, steering pump, and fuel pump bearings can give me issues. Just trying to reduce potential break down issues.

 

I would use Napa or Bumper to Bumper, they seem to have better Parts, just had bad luck with Auto Zone stuff. if you feel they need replacing then go for it, better safe then sorry. have you looked online for the parts? get some recomendations on good brands helps....god knows I used the good recomendations alot on my 04.5

 

I am new to the 3rd gen trucks, but what I have read so far all indicates that the belt tension assembly is a non-repairable part and needs to be replaced as a unit.. you cant replace JUST the pulley..
I saw a warning about the high tension its under and that attempting to remove the pulley from the assembly can be dangerous..
just food for thought, perhaps someone with more experience can chime in here?

 

Many times, I have replaced tensioner and idler pulleys, or even just their bearings, by ordering the part by dimension from the aftermarket. Not sure if it's possible on your specific truck. In your case however, I would consider replacing the complete tensioner assembly as preventive maintenance. I have seen many more cases of the tensioner itself wearing out and causing breakdowns than I have of bearing failure. The bushing on the tensioner pivot seems prone to wearing out and causing belt misalignment.

 

the napa part number for the idler pulley is 36315.

 

The idler pulley up top (NOT the one on the tensioner) uses a 203 bearing, available at your local CarQuest.

 

Thanks everyone