Balmar Belt Buddy with Offset Adjustment Arm

The Balmar Belt Buddy with Universal Offset Adjustment Arm is a belt-tensioning kit for installations needing a 1/2-inch offset.

Belt tension on a high-output alternator has a narrow correct range, and both errors cost something different. Too loose and the belt slips, which cuts charging output and wears the belt away quickly. Too tight and the load falls on the alternator bearings and the engine's own bearings behind them.

A proper adjustment arm makes tension something set deliberately rather than achieved by leaning on the alternator with a bar. That improvised method is how most belts get tensioned, and it is why so many end up at one extreme or the other.

The half-inch offset suits installations where the alternator sits out of plane with its adjustment point. Getting the offset right also keeps the pulley aligned, and a misaligned serpentine belt destroys itself rather than merely wearing. Explore more alternator mounts and pulleys.

• Both tension errors cost something different
• Loose slips and wears; tight loads the bearings
• Leaning on the alternator with a bar is not adjustment
• The offset also keeps the pulley aligned