Listen To Your Truck
Listen to Your Truck
There are those annoying sounds in life that
send people over the edge, like nails on a chalkboard, metal on teeth. Truckers could easily add to that list squealing belts or worse yet ones that turn loose at the worst possible moment. Ever since the first engine for a vehicle was invented, the need for accessories like alternators, cooling fans for radiators, and air conditioning compressors has been growing. A few items on truck engines like air compressors and power steering pumps are now mounted directly to the gear case and gear-driven, but belts are still needed to power other parts. Belts have evolved from the basic flat design, which was around more than 100 years ago, to the traditional V-belts we
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saw on just about every vehicle for many years. In the late 1980s we started seeing serpentine belts show up on our newer personal vehicles and eventually that technology found its way onto heavy trucks. While the new serpentine belts have proved to be more reliable and need less attention than the V-belts, you should pay close attention to them, their pulleys and spring-loaded tensioners.
Squealin' away
We hear the squeal of loose belts on other trucks often enough to get annoyed by the sound. Unfortunately, too many people find it easier to ignore the sound by cranking up the stereo and not worrying about it until they notice that their cab air conditioner isn't cooling,
Spring 2010