Gates Serpentine belt from China

[K.Aoi]

Got a couple Duralast belts (the cheap ones) from Autozone and they were all Made in Italy

 

[PandaBear]

Would you run the Chinese Gates belt or send it back and get OEM?

I would normally run it, but the 4 month old one cracked on the back side across the width. This crack in the 4 month old belt leaves a bad feeling about quality. Not a hard belt to change, just annoying!

If the Chinese Gates come from a factory that also does OEM for the cars they make there, yes. If it is a generic Chinese rebadge no. I once had an engine top end rebuild job and the mechanic provided a made in USA or is it EU Continental AC belt, it snap before I arrived home. I end up towing it back and the guy threw a Mexican Gate on it and it is still fine after 30k and 6 years.

I personally don't believe belts are all that different between US Mexico Europe China Japan Thailand etc. I think the quality control and how much they pay for the quality (and whether they try to get the OEM or whether they found a cheap local guy who has another belt that is 0.25" shorter, otherwise good enough) matters more.

#1 rule in all things IMO is to find the brand that rebadge OEM, regardless of origin. #2 is to find a company that cares about their long term reputation instead of this quarter's earning report and stock price.

 

[PandaBear]

You can go to the Bando website and they will give you the part number you need for your car. You can then take that part number and purchase on Amazon, will ship with prime and should be around $13. Bando makes the Honda/Acura belts. My oem belt last 100,000 miles and still looks new.

Belt life typically has to do with the amount of length and bend per rev (how many pulley it loop through, how sharp the bend is it 90 deg or 180 deg, etc). The same kind of material belt on an SOHC Corolla can be 60k yet a DOHC Integra can be 90k, both from OEM both likely Mitsuboshi / Bando.

 

[PandaBear]

Got a couple Duralast belts (the cheap ones) from Autozone and they were all Made in Italy

I also got a set of Walmart only General Ultimate that was Made in France yet cheaper than the other non Walmart only name brand Chinese tires.

 

[Gebo]

Make a swing by the dealer and get their belt. Some belts make more noise than others as I learned
trying to save money around 25 years ago.

Bando, Mitsuboshi are good as well. If you you just can't pay the extra from the dealer, go with one of them.

 

[1000MPH]

The pics I’ve seen of the OEM Bando belts on the 4Runner/FJ are definitely different than the US made Bando replacement that I bought and installed. My OEM was a no name and different yet again.
So far I’ve put 25k miles on the Bando replacement and I’m happy with it, especially for $12 vs. the $85 Toyota wants.
OEM Bando

US made Bando replacement:

No name OEM