Goodyear gator belts from Autozone, what the #'s

[Mike Stitzer]

I just replaced my 95 MTXs accesory belts with Goodyear Gatorbacks. THE installion went flawless except that the AC/alternator belt was about an inch too short. I got the belt from AutoZone so I took it back and they gave me a belt that's an inch longer. I don't know if this is the case with other years but on mine the Autozone computer said they would fit. THe other thinner belt fit fine but the alternator/ac belt wasn't even close. Here's the right # for a 95 MTX alternater/ac compressor belt.

Gatorback 4060455

The one that was too short was a gatorbadk 4060445

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[sdpatt]

That's the right belt. Did you loosen the Allen screw on the tensioner a bunch of turns to install the new belt? (You first have to loosen the 14mm nut on the idler pulley's hub.)

 

[shojuan]

Goodyear gatorback 60445 fit my 89 MTX perfectly.

Rick

 

[Xs SHO 1]

i have the gatorbacks on my sho and ranger, did u guys ask about the lifetime warranty on the goodyear's? mine has it! thumbs_u

 

[yamahaSHO]

I ended up getting the 45.5" belt cause the 44.5" belt was too short. FPN sent me 2 original belts and neither one would go on, even with tensioner taken off. I just put a gatorback on that was an inch longer than the OEM and it works great.

 

[Mike Stitzer]

Scott,
Yes I loosened the tensioner pulley and even pulled it off and the belt wouldn't go on. I asked a guy at work that put the goodyears on his 89 and the 445 worked on his. Ford must have changed the pulleys between 89 and 95. The 455 went on soooo easlily. A five minute job. THe battery tray didn't even need to come out.

Mike

 

[sdpatt]

You may be on to something about the differences between the generations. The 44.5" gatorback belt fit just fine on my engine (1991). I have, however, installed the 44.5" Gates belt on several Gen II SHOs with no unusual mounting requirements. Maybe there was a "shortcoming" in the production of the Goodyear belts.

 

[shojuan]

Kind of like when you buy a bunch of shorts on sale and one pair of size 34 really turns out to be a size 32 with a 34 label on it eek! (real life experience here).

So either the belts were mislabeled or there is a manufacturing difference in the cars. The simplest explanation tends to be correct most of the time so there was probably a "shortcoming" in the gatorback belts like Scott suggested.

Definately something to watch out for.

Rick

 

[SolidState]

/Teg whispers the Rick...

did I miss something, or did he list the same part number for both the correct and incorrect belt in his first post?

 

[Mike Stitzer]

"/Teg whispers the Rick...
did I miss something, or did he list the same part number for both the correct and incorrect belt in his first post?"

You missed something! The difference is in the last two numbers.

Mike

 

[shojuan]

SolidState:
/Teg whispers the Rick...

did I miss something, or did he list the same part number for both the correct and incorrect belt in his first post?

Yeah, he had problems getting the correct, shorter belt to fit so he bought a belt 1" longer and says that one fit his 95 MTX.

Rick

 

[tomp]

I have a 4060445 that is too short as well. I also removed the adjuster pulley but still no joy.

 

[tomp]

I have a 4060445 that is too short as well. I also removed the adjuster pulley but still no joy. This belt on the car is a Dayco. I can make out a 5060... number on it. Anyone get the gatorback 4060445 to fit a late model gen2 (95)?

 

[SHOZ123]

I have a 4060445 that is too short as well. I also removed the adjuster pulley but still no joy.

Holy Necroposting ...

 

[zak]

Underdrive pullies (or absence of them) can change the belt length requirement, especially on 94/95 MTX's IIRC.

zak

 

[K-Dawg]

I have a 4060445 that is too short as well. I also removed the adjuster pulley but still no joy. This belt on the car is a Dayco. I can make out a 5060... number on it. Anyone get the gatorback 4060445 to fit a late model gen2 (95)?

I think this issue just started showing up around 2002 or so. The 94 and 95 MTX SHOs need a 45.5" belt due to the different alternator. The 44.5" belt won't work. Parts stores used to have the wrong belt listed, not sure if they've fixed it now.

 

[tomp]

Most sites Ive check with still list 4060445 for 89-95 sho mtx. there is no way the 4060445 will fit my 95 and I do remember reading the 94/95 has a larger alternator so this makes sense. Ill get a 4060455 this weekend and post results. Is there a good FAQ for this little detail?
-Tom P.

 

[tomp]

Most sites Ive check with still list 4060445 for 89-95 sho mtx. there is no way the 4060445 will fit my 95 and I do remember reading the 94/95 has a larger alternator so this makes sense. Ill get a 4060455 this weekend and post results. Is there a good FAQ for this little detail?
-Tom P.

 

[Howdy_Doody]

Most sites Ive check with still list 4060445 for 89-95 sho mtx. there is no way the 4060445 will fit my 95 and I do remember reading the 94/95 has a larger alternator so this makes sense. Ill get a 4060455 this weekend and post results. Is there a good FAQ for this little detail?
-Tom P.

I've never seen one and I brought this up about 5 years ago. As everyone has chimed in, the 94-95 MTX has a larger alternator and needs a longer belt. The cataloging is wrong by all the major belt manufacturers. I emailed them 5 years ago to no avail. There's just so few cars out there that they don't bother to change it.

Some have tried installing the shorter belt. The result is the idler pulley rubbing the battery, eating through it and spilling battery acid all over the engine and frame. Bad news!

Definitely would be a good FAQ or sticky.

 

[SHOGUN88]

Yeah the same thing happened to me, the part number is wrong I had to get one an inch longer.