So me and the truck had a LONG weekend. I got off work at 6:30 saturday morning with plans to do early 150k mile maintenance (I'm right at 140k now). I replaced front and rear differential fluid, t-case fluid, engine coolant, power steering fluid, and transmission exchange. I was going to go ahead and replace the serpentine belt as well, but when I looked at it I could see no signs of wear at all. Now I work as a mechanic at a national coffee company in kansas city, working with primarily servo motors, but just about every piece of equipment is run by multiple belts. I know what to look for and this belt looked perfect. I bought the truck with 103k on it and the belt looked great then, so its possible the previous owner changed it at 100k. My only question is how long did yours last? I'm surprised at how well this looks at a minimum of 40k on it.

 

I've got just shy of 200,000 miles, bought the truck used with about 22k on it and mine's original. Still looks good but I'm thinking about getting a new one at least to carry.

 

Thats good to hear. I just thought it was kind of strange that I couldn't even find any little cracks in it, let alone any sign of it needing replaced. But thats what I'm gonna do, I figure I already paid for the new belt so I'll just keep it in the truck just in case.

 

Mine still looks good at 155k miles "no cracks". I really should carry a spare with me though at this point.

 

Sold my 2005 at 135,000 and belt still looked perfect.

 

My 08 has 105k and I just changed it because I had to replace a pulley and figured I'd just do it while it was off. I thought I saw some very, very small cracks on the ribs only. The new belt was only $25 I think. After I got it all back together and before I threw the old one away I checked it again, and really couldn't find any cracks. Part of me thinks I wasted $25, but it will be the best $25 I ever spent if would have went unexpectedly on the side of the road!

 

Thats good to know guys thanks. Not that it matters much but I was trying to figure out if the previous owner replaced it or not. I guess I'll never know! Haha

 

I'd just do it every few years for peace of mind. Already done my once with 73k on her

 

had mine replaced at 131k

 

Gonna be replacing mine pretty soon here as well.

 

The reason you don't see the cracking and wear is that a few years ago the belt manufacturers switched from neoprene to EPDM which wears better. Since the belts don't show the wear like they used to wear is now checked with a depth gauge that measures the depth of the grooves.