Anyone use the TDR Belt tensioner bracket?
 

My friend just spent $200.00 on that bracket and it came today.

We've just wasted 5 1/2 hours attempting to install this piece of shit without ANY luck. Read the instructions word for work time and time again. Done everything from completely remove the bracket AND supercharger from the car and do everything over more than 6 times now. Every single time we attempt to start the car we get the exact same result. The belt walks off the back of the charger pulley, the left side idler pulley the belt rides in the center, the adjustable one it rides down to the front of the car. We shimmed, adjusted, bolted, unbolted, etc, blah blah blah... Still, same result time and time again.

WHAT THE FAWK!?:bang:

I don't know about the bracket, but if you can't get it to work I'm sure you could send it back and get the auto tensioner. I have the that and it works great...

If it ain't broke... don't fix it?

-meaty

Did you try and contact Gary at TDR about your problem?

I had one that I put on my old M45 SC set up. It worked perfectly. If it is walking off the back pulley then the SC is not aligned propely to the other pulleys. Verify that they are lined up with a straight edge. I am pretty sure you will find your problem there. Or, simply losen the blower bolts just enough to move it with a little effort. Then start the car and watch the belt track on the pulleys. While the car is running, use a soft mallet or a prybar and move the blower fore or aft to line the belt up. Once it tracks ok, then tighten the bolts.

elesjuan,

Maybe a dumb question but did you tighten the tensioner bolt enough? If you don't the belt certainly walks...

I use the TDR tensioner and I think is a great upgrade from the original tensioner.

Andreas

call gary. He'll help out.

I have the BRP one, which is basically a similar design. It's been installed since the blower was installed in May04. Other than replacing the plastic pullies with the TDR ones, it's been working wonderfully from day one. I remember there were people who were having alingment issues, but it required some custom shims, because the plane that the PS pump sat was a little off the others.

If you look around the old BRP board, you might be able to find some old 4-rib threads about it.

Also I remember there was an issue at one point where if the SC nose pulley was on backwards, that it would cause weird alignment issues. Are you using the stock pulley, or have you upgraded to a 62.5mm? Might be worth a check.

Dave,

what 96rdstr said, you may have the SC misalgned. Make sure you have the SC aligned according to the PS pulley.

If it isn't, you have to move the SC bracket forward or backwards. 1st, use the the bracket to move the SC assembly 1st. Using a 14mm(i think) wrench, use the rear bolt to loosen the assembly, then use the front bolt to move the assembly forward or rear. If you push the wrench towards the firewall, your moving the SC towards the firewall. If you pull the wrench towards the front of the car, your bringing the SC closer to the front of the car. Im assuming (may be wrong) that the SC needs to be further back since this is a common issue for TDR bracket runners. 1st use the method as described above. Now, if the SC bracket still isnt aligned you will have to use washers. Use 5/16 washers (get a pack, you'll need 9 tops) and place them in between the SC and the bracket on the fronmost SC bolt attached to the bracket. Now there are two bolts that need to be"washered", the front most one, and the other is under the nose of the SC. You may need 2-3 washers per bolt depending on how misalgned your SC is. Pull the front most bolt out and sanwhich washers in between the SC and the SC bracket, then slide the bolt back in. The bolt is a perfect fit for the 5/16 washer. You have to push the SC back while inserting the washers. Do this again to the bolt under the SC nose. If you have the TDR bracket on, remove it to do this one. After this is done, you should have 2 washers on the frontmost bolt and 2 washers under the SC nose bolt. then put everything back together, (TDR bracket, belt, etc..) start the car. If it still tracks you may have to add another washer per bolt. Hope this helps

I have no advice to give, but I did want to say that it does work once installed. The previous owner of my car had Gary install the supercharger/etc and I haven't had any problem with the belts at all.

I will add that I same issues at install...added a washer shim at the front SC mount to change SC angle and it worked liked magic. Been great ever since!

What setup are you running?

94 1.8 with M45...soon intercooled hopefully. Need to get my race car back together first.

I've worked on a few M45 and MP62 setups and haven't had to shim them. I'll talk to Gary to get his thoughts on why this might be the case. My guess would immediately be SC alignment.

When you decide to intercool, give TDR a call. I've installed a few of his I/C kits and I'm really impressed.

I'll probably do a TDR "like" intercooler setup(over radiator)...I'm not putting $1200 in intercooler on a $5-6k car. Call me practical. :) I do have a line on a used TDR setup...might do that if price is right.

I realize that the price is crucial. His kits are top notch. They look great, fitment is excellent, and he uses highly reputable companies to build the intercoolers, pipes and hoses. If you can get the used kit, jump on it.

/\ +1 I second that..... Have seen these in action and their efficiency is more than anyone can express. Absolutely top notch. ;)

I'm a cheap bastard...I wish I had bought the begi kit and bought the TDR intercooler. I can't give TDR enough of my money.

I spend my time pissing my money away on my race car(factory five cobra)...I bought the miata to appeal to my practical side...we'll see.

I really want the TDR intercooler set up, I just can't bring myself to pay that much. I have a nice home made setup, but it has a few places that are sort of weak, but not $900 weak.

I'm having the same issue, did you and your friend find the solution? I tried adjusting the fixed pulley on the TRD tensioner, but same results every time.

Put a shim on the front mount of the supercharger. I used a washer and cut a slot out of it so I could just slip one in at a time until the alignment was right.
You are basically rotating the front of the supercharger(and pulley) toward the drivers side of the car. Should provide for better alignment of SC.

LOL, the previous owner had the SC pulley on backward.

Mine only required a thick washer on the manifold...I didn't do anything ont he other axis.

I forgot about this thread until i got the email updates. When I was working at TDR, we found that the company machining the belt tensioners was making them too thick. Look at the back of the bracket where the thinner square is machined. If i remember correctly, it should be 250 thousandths thick. If it's bigger, grind it down and it should fix the problem. I grinded down a few locally and we never had any issues with them after correcting the thickness.

I'll be honest if your having problems with belt alignment and belt squeel the best solution is to sell your supercharger and purchase a nice Voodoo II kit with a GT2554R or GT2560R, problem solved.... Okay okay i'm kidding, but I have had three Jackson Racing superchargers, belt squeel was my problem, so I used the TDR tensioner and thought my problems would be solved, they weren't. No matter how square my equipment was, I never could solve the loss of boost and squeel at higher rpms.

I was skeptical when I installed my first supercharger I look and thought to myself, crank pulley, underdrive nose pulley, two idler pulleys, power steering pump pulley, and air conditioner pulley. Seems like a lot of loads to put on a 4-rib belt. Second, when those m45 blowers begin to wear, rotors may begin to rub on the rotor housing backing plates. Seems like I remember hearing someone where the Gen-III's had a big issue with rotor bearing wear...

Of course, i'm sure i'll get flamed for my response... I must not know what i'm talking about. I just know that I have had much better success with turbo application then the M45 supercharger. Someday, I would like to drive in a FFS M62 supercharged system as I hear alot of good things about them.

I had a JRSC for three years and never could get the belt alignment quite right, I tried all sorts of brackets and pulleys, the whole experience turned me off to boost altogether, however I think even a tiny turbo would have been much better...