Shorter Belt Misery

[nomo]

I have been reading about the shorter belts giving a little more low end power, so I decided to give it a try. From what I have read on BGW, and researched on the Dayco web site, the HP 3004 was the correct choice for my old '87 EZGO. The HP 3004 is just under an inch shorter and almost the exact same width. I installed it last Thursday night, it rolled on by hand without much difficulty. Friday evening, we took the cart for a drive down to the lake. About a mile later, the belt disintegrated! Just before it broke the cart was having trouble at top speed. It was kind of like something was loading it down. I could let off the gas and then press it again, and it would speed back up. It did this a couple of times, and then it locked up. I think I was feeling the threads breaking and wrapping around the clutches. Once I got all the pieces off, I put the old belt back on, and haven't had a problem since. Anyone ever experience this?

[AirJunky]

Wowowowow! Bet that got your heart rate up a bit!

I asked my local shop about running a smaller belt. He said it wasn't a good idea & started going on about how the clutches work & stuff I didn't understand. So I decided to go with CPP's clutch springs. The install was pretty easy. And the result was good. Lost like 1 mph on top but it definitely pulls better now. It's a little quirky taking off compared to stock..... the RPMs are higher when it grabs, so it takes off faster.

[Saltysteele]

i've got a shorter belt on my 97, and it works perfectly.

just looking at the picture, the thickness of the belt doesn't seem right. seems kind of flat and wide. mine, the belt is pretty thick, too, which would prevent it from rolling over on itself, which it seems to me that yours did.

i'm not an expert, and am usually quite the idiot, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

[nomo]

I think what you are seeing is the outer skin that has seperated from the body of the belt. It's like it seperated in three parts: the cover, several threads, and then the actual belt.

[TCruz]

I also like Saltysteele have a 97 and have been running a shorter belt for 2 years now without any issue at all. Just a couple of weeks ago I put the stock belt back on to see how well it ran without it and immediately put it back on. I lost most of my steep hill climbing ability with the stock belt. What the shorter belt does is stay lower in the drive clutch longer giving you a lower gear ratio. Think about where the shorter belt rides in the drive clutch when it engages verses the standard belt. That’s where the difference comes in.

[ez go go]

The only thing I can think of is you got a defective belt or maybe somehow that width issue jacked the whole thing up.. Dunno.. Hard to pinpoint but maybe find a belt for an alternate model ez go that is close to the length you need and try that. I have a belt that is a full inch shorter on my 98 txt and have never had a prob...

[crash12888]

Just throwing this out there but any chance the Dayco belt has a different angle on the sides of the belt?
Looking at the pics it looks like the failure is at the top of the belt.
Is that Dayco belt a CVT application belt?

[TCruz]

The number on my belt is CP22337-G1 and I got it from a local EZGO dealer. Not sure if yours can use the same one or not.

[nomo]

You guys with the newer carts apparently have it figured out. I used the belt number recommended from the shorter belt thread on this forum. The details are: Original belt for the ’87 is 14153-G1 or Dayco HP 2011. This belt is 1.187 wide, 45 inches in circumference. The shorter belt is the Dayco HP 3004. It is 1.188 wide, 44.125 circumference. Yes it is a CVT belt for snowmobile application. Can’t find the bevel angle, but it looks the same. Hard to believe it was a bad belt, but can’t explain otherwise. I also can’t believe the 0.001 difference in width would have much to do with it, and the belt is only 7/8 inches shorter. Just not ready to shell out another $40 to try this again.

[DOOmsman]

If you have your reciept dayco has a warrantee.