General Belt question

[jsvice]

Just wondering... Do you guys use Gunk belt conditioner on the torque converter belt? Is it a good idea? Bad idea?

[KID4LIFE]

i personally never has a reason to use anything like that. is your CVT open to the elements or under a cover?

[jsvice]

Originally Posted by KID4LIFE

i personally never has a reason to use anything like that. is your CVT open to the elements or under a cover?

I have a cover on it, but gunk is supposed to prolong the life of a belt and reduce slippage. It goes on in aerosol form.

[metalstudman1]

Belt dressing is designed for belts that are exposed to dry rot (early tractors) and belts that would squeal in a car from glazing/over heating. Haven't ever even thought of using it on a kart or buggy since the belts and adhesives bonding the bias plies are made so much better than the ones we had back when. I can't see where it would hurt. Don't know if significant longevity would be achieved, since wear is on the sides and the belt just becomes too narrow to grip properly then over heats causing delamination,then breakage.

[COLDSTEEL]

I am also asking being I have done research on go kart forums. I need a tie breaker. I hear a lot of legit logic of why u should or shouldn't. I look at function being the belt "pulls" but also the clutch grabs the walls of the bell housing. That is not belt.so to get better "grip" on hill clubs what is best to use?

[plee911]

IMO

I would personally not use belt dressing of any type.

First its sticky which will catch and collect dust and dirt items, these are very bad for your belt and your pulleys.

Second they do help the pulley grab the belt better.
Your pulley is designed to allow the belt to slip when the drive load becomes too much. This is a safety feature.

The pulley should slip before the belt breaks, by making it grab harder than designed you potentially overload the belt increasing the chance of the belt breaking instead of slipping.

This also has the potential to do damage to other components since the belt didn't slip if it doesn't break then the next weakest part becomes the victim.


Belts are cheap compared to other parts I would rather replace a belt.
Also if your belt is slipping then it means your asking to much from that set up and you need to look at other options to achieve your goal.

Im far from an expert on these buggies but have seen this stuff used many times and the only time I have seen it be a help was on conveyor belts.

Every other time it caused more issues than it helped.

The only time I would consider using it on a buggy was if you were stuck out somewhere with a glazed belt that wouldn't grab and you needed to get it back so you could replace the belt.

Just my opinion though.

[COLDSTEEL]

Yep, sounds logical. I may just keep a small can in the "toolbox". Thanks for the op and as well as reply to my post.