Hey everyone. Has anyone been able to get a Goodyear Gatorback belt anywhere in a store and not online? After hearing good things about them and having problems with Dayco and Carquest belts with a very noisy accessory drive (with a new alternator, water pump, idler pulley and tensioner) until well after it warms up, I would like to try a much better belt. I am tired of dealing with this bull**** with loud belts.

 

I've gotten them from Napa in the past. They might not carry them on the shelf, but they should be able to get them.

What's with the reluctance to get them online?

 

Not really a reluctance. Just that with car parts (unless a part is so much cheaper than in a store) I would rather would not pay the high shipping costs and I will be away from my college apartment and home over the next few days before the semester starts again, so I don't want any packages sitting outside my door where they can get stolen.

Plus I would just rather buy the part in a store so I can get it, put it in and be done with it. Plus if it is defective, it is alot easier to exchange instead of dealing with shipping. Consumable parts like belts, hoses, oil, filters, fluids, etc I would get in a store. Nonconsumable, expensive parts that don't get replaced as part of regular maintenance I would order.

 

I looked for them in all the auto parts stores around me, but ended up ordering from amazon. I think it ended up about the same price as if I bought it at a store.

 

I just got off the phone with Goodyear who told me which retailers in my area would carry their belt. They gave me 7 different names/numbers. I called them all ( NAPA was one ) and none of them carried it or could speculate who would. Every last one of them said they carried Dayco which I find to be garbage. Like many who have posted here about squeaky belts I too have spent the last week replacing the idler pulley, tensioner pulley, alternator, water pump, the soap trick on both sides of two brand new belts, etc.

What I want is to walk into a store and buy a Gatorback. I don't see what the big problem is but so far none of us seem to be able to do this. Someone please post if they ever find these in any walk-in store.

 

I purchased mine from Advanced auto parts but it has been a few years.

 

I found a Goodyear store nearby, it looked to be larger than the average tire place, like some kind of Goodyear superstore. I asked the manager if they sold Gatorback belts and he said he'd never heard of them. He suggested I try <named off every major parts chain in town> and I told him I already had. It's a Goodyear product only that no one but Goodyear seems to carry. He shrugged and just didn't care.

I hate it when someone is in business and doesn't even know their own product line.

 

LOL! That is pretty bad. Maybe the guy has never heard of a serpentine belt at all?

 

Got mine from Rock Auto.

 

thankfully my boss is a mechanic and has a parts place that delivers and they carry just about everything. but if i had to try and get one, i would probably have to have a store order it. most people dont like to buy quality parts so most stores dont carry them. i guess they figure if people are doing the work themselves, they dont have the money for good stuff....
just my .02