F3T Belt Tensioner failure - anyone else?

[Clopez68]

So i was just checking on my belt tensioner earlier today and by the pics is what i found. I did get my f3t belt realigned by a local BRP dealer. Has anyone had this happen?? Another question is does the vibration on the belt make it wear faster or does it damage wear it out faster?? The belt still travels back and forth on the back pulley because i was on a ride Saturday and i noticed it closer to the saddle bag rather than the tire.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

So i was just checking on my belt tensioner earlier today and by the pics is what i found. I did get my f3t belt realigned by a local BRP dealer. Has anyone had this happen?? Another question is does the vibration on the belt make it wear faster or does it damage wear it out faster?? The belt still travels back and forth on the back pulley because i was on a ride Saturday and i noticed it closer to the saddle bag rather than the tire. View attachment 191637View attachment 191638View attachment 191639

You are not the first member here to report " belt tensioner " failure. .... It's been my opinion for years, that any of the tensioner devices are a Failure waiting to happen. The after-market ones using a larger wheel are better, but they also break. A new Belt ( dealer installed is approx. $500.00 ) .... After I bought my 14 RT, I immed. lowered the drive belt tension by quite a bit .... I have no vibes AND no worries ..... jmho .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[RICZ]

I lowered the factory belt tension to 140 with the rear wheel off the floor - 160 on the floor, using a Krikit II. Virtually no vibes, just a small one at 72mph and I can ride around that easily. No belt damper for me.

 

[Mikey]

So i was just checking on my belt tensioner earlier today and by the pics is what i found. I did get my f3t belt realigned by a local BRP dealer. Has anyone had this happen?? Another question is does the vibration on the belt make it wear faster or does it damage wear it out faster?? The belt still travels back and forth on the back pulley because i was on a ride Saturday and i noticed it closer to the saddle bag rather than the tire. View attachment 191637View attachment 191638View attachment 191639

How's the belt look now??Do yourself a favor, get yourself a Krikit II, lower your belt tension and call it a day!!! So many people like to jump into things just because the other guy has one, before they even know they have a problem! Did you install that dampener, or did it come on the bike? Try riding it with out one, you may find that having to worry about a little vibration at 75 miles an hour is better than being stuck beside the road with no belt! JMO:2thumbs:

 

[Clopez68]

How's the belt look now??Do yourself a favor, get yourself a Krikit II, lower your belt tension and call it a day!!! So many people like to jump into things just because the other guy has one, before they even know they have a problem! Did you install that dampener, or did it come on the bike? Try riding it with out one, you may find that having to worry about a little vibration at 75 miles an hour is better than being stuck beside the road with no belt! JMO:2thumbs:

I have driven the F3T without the tensioner and do feel the vibration. The bike did come with one installed but the spring broke so I did replace it with the BRP tensioner. While buying it I did ask my local dealer about the life of the belt without the tensioner and he told me that the vibration does not hurt the belt. I’ll look for the krikitt tool and see what happens. Thanks all for your reply’s.

 

[JP58]

I have the lamonsters damper and replace every 15-20 k miles. It's a wear item and it still looks good but I replace anyway. It's only 85 bucks. I've tried all different belt tension adjustments and still will vibrate. I also think the belt vibs are causing the front pully fails. I have 24k vib free miles and front pully is good. I have pulled it at 20k and moly paste it. No wear.

 

[troop]

I recently installed the Spyder Extras billet aluminum damper/roller. Much beefier than the OEM. While the roller itself isn't as large as the Lamonster piece, it is quite a bit stouter than the OEM roller..

 

[Flamewinger]

I installed the BRP tensioner with LaMonster bearing and wheel on my 2021 F3 Ltd. Only 3000 miles and its still good. I did have a pretty good vibration and just couldn't find a sweet spot in the traffic I ride in.

Will be taking it in for service soon.

 

[Trevor G]

So i was just checking on my belt tensioner earlier today and by the pics is what i found. I did get my f3t belt realigned by a local BRP dealer. Has anyone had this happen?? Another question is does the vibration on the belt make it wear faster or does it damage wear it out faster?? The belt still travels back and forth on the back pulley because i was on a ride Saturday and i noticed it closer to the saddle bag rather than the tire. View attachment 191637View attachment 191638View attachment 191639

Did you fit that yourself?

How long ago (miles) was it fitted?

It is obvious (to me, anyway) that the tensioner has skewed sideways because with a correctly installed tensioner the tensioner arm could never contact the belt, as it obviously has from your photos.

I can tell you what most probably happened.

The person who fitted the tensioner did not fully tighten the two mounting bolts and it cocked sideways.

The bolts are tricky because of the blue thread lock that is applied beforehand. You have to be really careful to tighten the bolts until they bottom on the head, rather than until they just feel tight. I left one bolt slightly loose when I replaced the OEM roller recently and the tensioner started to cock sideways. I found it because the belt was making a funny nose as I pushed it back into the garage - I looked along the belt and could see the tensioner was sitting a little off to one side.

 

[Rattlebars]

By the wear pattern, it is "obvious" that the idler was left loose after your recent service. The idler was moving and dragged into the belt which melted the arm and destroyed the roller. I would take it back to the dealer and demand a new replacement and a belt inspection to check for damage.

 

[Whiz11]

I traded a 2015 f3s that I had installed the belt tensioner on, the upgraded model from lamonster if I remember correctly, for a new 2019 f3t an ask to have the belt tensioner removed an reinstalled on the new bike. Lord oh mercy, there wasn't much to install, it looked just like yours. So without hesitation I told them no more BELT TENSIONER for me..