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Message: <blockquote data-quote="__roger__" data-source="post: 28422" data-attributes="member: 13338">Worked on my truck (SUV) today, and I am happy about it. I'm not a mechanic, but over the years I have been slowly building up my skills and experience. Everything went well, but I do have a question about belt sizing, see below.There has been a loud (intermittent) high pitched whining/growling noise coming from under the hood. At, first I thought it was my transmission since it has hard shifts and leaks fluid. I'm not a mechanic so I assumed it was the transmission since I know it has been acting up lately. The transmission fluid was low so I filled it, and afterward the noise seemed to go away, but then it came back not too long. A friend told me it could be the serpentine belt pulleys. So I got both serpentine kits from Rockauto (the upper that contains a tensioner pulley, and idler pulley with a bet, and the AC tensioner pulley and belt). From what I read the Gates brands was supposed to be a pretty solid choice.I was surprised how easy it was to change the components. The old pulleys did seem to be worn. One of the pulleys spun fast and made a hollow sound, and the other pulleys did not want to spin at all. I started the vehicle up after the maintenance and the engine engine sounded smooth. I will drive it to work tomorrow morning and hopefully the noise doesn't come back.One issue I ran into was that I could not get the upper belt installed. It was too tight. I slacked the tensioner pulley all the way and still could not get it to go. I ended up having to use the old belt, and luckily it still looked pretty new. I read that there are at least two different sized of alternators, so maybe I have the larger one? I looked at the alternator before I bought the kit, and thought I identified it properly. I'll take another look, unfortunately, I don't remember if I thought it was the larger one or smaller one.Question: is the new belt that goes around the crank shaft and alternator super hard to install when new? I think if I somehow would have gotten the new belt on it would have been way too tight, but idk.</blockquote>