Dayco Belts - manufacturing moved out of USA

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Mattax

Just the facts, ma'am
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Just got a couple of Dayco replacement belts.
Up until recently they were made in the US.
Now they're made in P.R.C.
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Are they the same as before? Maybe. Maybe Not.
But I'll be looking at the Gates cross reference list next time I buy.
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I always liked Gates. Sold them at the parts store.
 
P.R.C.= Peoples Republic of China?
Has to be.
My guess is the marketing folks know there's a segment of buyers that China would catch their attention.

For belts it should be pretty easy to cross reference to other brands.
If they've moved hoses to a different plant, I'm going to be a little bummed. I've found different companies hoses are often a little different even though they cross reference as the same. Its been good to have a choice when trying for the best fit.

Dayco Belt Numbering
Dayco part number for v-belts consists of nominal top width followed by effective length.
For example. 15480 is 15/32 wide, 48.0 inches effective length.
(If we measured the outside, the book shows 48.6" overall length.)

For LA engines with the later water pump and pulleys:
Non-a/c, non-p/s LA engine Dayco lists a 15475.
Chrysler books show a belt listed as 47.76" O.S.

For the pre 1970 LA water pump and pulleys Dayco lists the 15470 belt.
The shop manuals show the belt length as 46.50" O.S.

I'm not sure what Chrysler meant by O.S. maybe Overall Size ?
 
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Has to be.
My guess is the marketing folks know there's a segment of buyers that China would catch their attention.

For belts it should be pretty easy to cross reference to other brands.
If they've moved hoses to a different plant, I'm going to be a little bummed. I've found different companies hoses are often a little different even though they cross reference as the same. Its been good to have a choice when trying for the best fit.
PRC and they smell like the inside of a Harbor Freight store LOL
 
Well it is simple economics, can’t manufacture something for 40.00 an hour and sell it to a 15.00 an hour consumer...
Not that we are all at those numbers but the American worker with all of the taxes and benefits is a pretty expensive commodity..
 
No politics! Bring it up in the N&P forum if you must. Thanks.
 
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It is almost certain they will cost less to manufacture, but the retail price will be the same.
 
No politics! I deleted the video because I don't have over an hour to watch it to see how political it is. Bring it up in the N&P forum if you must. Thanks.


It's not politics, it's fact. produced years ago. Just information on how we got to where we are now... whatever.
 
Problem with Chinese is that belt could break in two at any given time and under any given service life.
 
If anyone want's the link, PM me. It's pretty interesting...
I will trust you're judgement that it's not political and put it back up. I can't guarantee it doesn't get taken down by someone else though.
 
I will trust you're judgement that it's not political and put it back up. I can't guarantee it doesn't get taken down by someone else though.

That's your call. "I" don't view it as political, but that's my opinion. it outlines the things that happened that resulted in over 53,000 US factories being closed at the time of production since China entered into the WTO.
 
That's your call. "I" don't view it as political, but that's my opinion. it outlines the things that happened that resulted in over 53,000 US factories being closed at the time of production since China entered into the WTO.
After I get my #2 Covid shot and errands ran I would like to watch the vid. There are a lot of reasons why it happened.
 
Back to belts. I like Gates. Always have. I don't like the top cog look.
 
Back to belts. I like Gates. Always have. I don't like the top cog look.
The idea behind 'cogging' a V belt is efficiency. Its something covered in machine design and nothing exotic. Doing it on the outside has some slight advantages over the inside.
I started using the "top cog" belts the first few years I had put the v-8 into the Barracuda. It was tossing the belt at the track and I was looking for any improvement. (Other than the hp gained by tossing the belt
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Not at all concerned about the PRC made belt breaking. If any quality concerns, it will be with how evenly it runs, twisting, etc.
 
Well it is simple economics, can’t manufacture something for 40.00 an hour and sell it to a 15.00 an hour consumer...
Not that we are all at those numbers but the American worker with all of the taxes and benefits is a pretty expensive commodity..
It's not the workers it's the greedy top heavy management .
 
As I've said before, the belts numbers starting with a 15 are not really the correct belts for our Mopars. They are supposed to have a 13 series belt, which sits down in the pulley like it is supposed to. All the belt manufacturers phased the 13 series belts in the early 90's I believe. So we are stuck using belts that really don't fit correctly.
 
As I've said before, the belts numbers starting with a 15 are not really the correct belts for our Mopars. They are supposed to have a 13 series belt, which sits down in the pulley like it is supposed to. All the belt manufacturers phased the 13 series belts in the early 90's I believe. So we are stuck using belts that really don't fit correctly.
Now that is interesting.
13 for Dayco is 13/32 (nominal top)
Gate's listing by application starts with a 7. I haven't checked into what that represents.
Maybe tommorrow I'll have a chance to dig into the industry sizings vs design.

If someone has any old Chrysler belts it would be great to get some measurements.
Or some belt catalogs from the late 60s and 70s that would be interesting too.
 
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