Gilmore Drives on 351

[JGthirty3]

Hi, my first post...I am thinking of getting a set of Gilmore drives for my 351, I have heard alot of negative feedback about how they destroy Alternators and so on, are they worth the coin or just another expensive shiney thing, that will probably do more damage than good in the long run.
Any feedback would be appreciated.

[UTXR8]

isnt it gilmer?....

[Peter B - CV8]

Happy Gilmore drives ?? (a golfing pun...)

[Falcon SXR8]

I run one, I like the look but with my twin thermo fan setup I don't have much room.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by JGthirty3

Hi, my first post...I am thinking of getting a set of Gilmore drives for my 351, I have heard alot of negative feedback about how they destroy Alternators and so on, are they worth the coin or just another expensive shiney thing, that will probably do more damage than good in the long run.

They look cool, especially poking through the bonnet onto a supercharger, which I think is mostly the point. I you want to trick out your engine bay, then why not.

Toothed belts can transfer a lot more torque with greatly reduced slippage, and they can multiply this effect by running much wider that your typical v-belt.

As for claims of damage. If correctly balanced, and mounted, they shouldn't. In my experience, extraordinary damage to bearings is mostly caused by over-tensioning. Since toothed belts can run much less tension without slipping, that should not be an issue.
Naturally, if you do over-tension a wide belt, the damage to the bearing is increased.

I would suppose that it's also possible that if you mounted a disproportionately heavy toothed pulley on a lightweight bearing, then the simply effect of gravity could stress the bearing. But from what I have seen, they are mostly hollow alloy.

[JGthirty3]

Sorry it is GILMER Drive not Gilmore...That movie though.

[something wrong]

I ran a Gilmer belt on my clevo for 2yrs without incident and my alternator was at least 15yrs old.

The belt isn't tensioned any more tightly than the v Belt, so the strain on the bearing should not be much more.

I loved the sound and it did make the engine bay nicer to look at.

[Express]

I've had one on mine for near on ten years without any problems.

I do carry a couple of spare belts in the boot just in case but I've never needed them.





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[Pis-ton broke]

this guy has a double charger set up, at 3.30 he talks about the belt, and that heat in the belt results in better belt tension. he has a gates belt, i don,t know if this is true for different brands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2_oT56jVnM