Gates 91107 Krikit V-Belt Tension Gauge

This tool is short and sweet. It just works like it is advertised. It takes a moment to get the hang of it, but once you do it is the simplest thing in the world to use. You just stick your finger on the tool and press on the belt until it "clicks" (thus, the name cricket!). It gives you a fairly accurate reading of what your belt tension is. It's invaluable for both new and used belt installations. Improper belt tension not only risks damaging or throwing a belt, shortening its lifespan and possible stranding you out in the middle of nowhere -but an over-tightened belt can significantly lower the lifespan of belt-driven accessories on your car or truck. Over-tensioning a belt for fear of loosing it or it slipping prematurely can cost you hundreds or more if you ruin the bearings in an expensive alternator or A/C compressor. Even if the bearing you ruin is an idler pulley it still means a possible breakdown or an annoying squealing item that needs to be replaced thousands of miles or years before it is due to be serviced again. It's REALLY embarrassing if it a vehicle you are working on for someone else. For a few bucks, this thing tells you almost exactly the tension you are putting on your belts as you install and tension them for the first time. Some mechanics do this by "feel" but how do you learn this feel? -by making mistakes. Use this tool for a while and maybe you won't need to eventually -but at least you are learning something and aren't feeling around in the dark for what the proper tension should feel like. For as cheap as it is, it should be in every shadetree mechanics toolbox.

Works great

Alright - I am not sure how accurate this is but it certainly gives me a better feeling than just testing tension with my thumb. What I thought was properly tensioned was well under-tensioned. Unfortunately it took a bit of wrestling to get it to measure the tension of my Miata belt. Once I got the hang of it though, it was easy enough.

Until I purchased this tool my Miata (AC, ALT)belt tensions always gave me trouble getting the setting to the right tension. I took a chance and bought the Krikit V-Belt. I chose this model for it's size to my belts and the tension measurement readings on the Krikit. You stick your finger into the loop holder, this makes one hand measurement easy. Place the Krikit on the belt, press, hear the click then read the measurement. Continue adjusting your belt using the Krikit until you get the setting you need. It took me 1 minute to make the adjustment. No more belt squeaks and I don't have to worry about over tightening the belts. Krikit V-Belt (measures small belts as on my Miata) measures tension from 30 to 160 lbs., and 15 to 75 kg. I used this one due to the lower lbs. measurement rating as compaired to the Kirkit II. There is also Krikit II Micro V, and is calibrated to measure tension from 100 to 320 lbs., and 50 to 150 kg. Measure belts up to 8 ribs in width. AAA+++ This tool is so cheap in price and works so well you can't afford not to own one.

This simple tool is easy to use and works well. I sent for it after buying a high-end bicycle that uses a Gates belt drive system for my wife. When the bike was delivered the manual explained how to do the set up to get the bike ready to use, and one of the steps was to check the tension on the belt. The manufacturer (Montague Bicycles) recommended the Gates 91107 Tension Tester. It was easy to check the tension with this tool, and as it turned out the manufacturing plant (in Taiwan) over-tensioned the belt by 20 lbs. I understand the belt could take it, but not the bearings in the bottom bracket, and these kinds of parts are very expensive. The relatively inexpensive cost of the Gates Tension tester paid for itself many times over. Highly recommended.

How is this even possible? This thing is terrible. I don't know how others get perfect readings. And no, my IQ is not lower than 139. Know that I had a timing belt job just done at a Toyota dealership and to replace the timing belt, the dealeship needs to remove all belts including the alternator, then put it back or replace with new with the proper tension on all my betls at their factory recommended setting. That's my starting point. Front that factory setting belt tension, I tested this tool before I even started to take the belt off (I was replacing the alternator myself) and to my shock, this thing did not even hit ~50lbf. It actually read before the minimum 50 setting of this tool. It was about ~46lbf of tension. Of course I tried it several times and on different belts. All came back with the same result. How can this thing read less than ~50lbf on a betl that is fresh out of a dealership service with the proper ~100lbf of tension? Complete garbage at least to me. Before I bought this I read another reviewer describe the same issue but I gave it a shot and tried it. Nope. A damaged crankshaft resulted from incorrect belt tension would cost me thousands. I'll pay the $180 for an OTC tool glady. Now, there is another version of this tool with a different part number that starts readings at ~100lbf, but because the recommended range for what I needed to do is between ~85 lbf and ~120 lbf I chose this one that goes as low as 50. It may be the wrong tool but I'm giving it a very low score because a tool that is supposed to measure between ~50 lbf and ~150 lbf, reads ~100 lbf as ~46 lbf, does not have a place in my toolbox.

Used this to adjust belt tension on my 2000 Toyota 4Runner. It worked perfectly , I would suggest buying this before eyeballing tension on your belts. My belts were all either too tight or too loose just trying to eyeball it based on methods I had read. Everything runs way smoother now after checking and adjusting tension.

My 2003 Toyota Tacoma V6 (5VZFE) had squealing belts on start up, so I picked up this gauge to see where I was at. It indicated my belts were around 50-60lbs and they needed to be between 80-120lbs. I'm not 100% sure of the accuracy of this device, but the reading is pretty consistent between multiple tests. I tensioned my belts between 80 and 90lbs to be on the safe side, since I have nothing else to verify the accuracy of the Krikit with. The belt squeal is gone, and all the belts don't feel overly tight, but noticeably tighter than they were previously. One concern I have is the accuracy across very short spans, but I'm hoping by keeping my adjustments on the low side of my manual's tolerances, it won't reduce the life of my pulley bearings. Overall I think this is a good value, and hopefully far more accurate than guessing the tension by feel.

Perfecta y facil de usar, para medir la tensión y aprovechar para alinear la correa de tu moto eléctrica. Me he ahorrado tener que ir a menudo al concesionario oficial, tener que dejar la moto durante dias para una operación simple de 15-20 minutos donde alineas y tensas correctamente la correa. Muy buena inversión

Alles i.O ! Artikel wie beschrieben ! Seriöser Verkäufer ! Preis-Leistung stimmt ! Gerne wieder !

parfait pour regler la tension de ma courroie c'est tres facile d'utilisation

zeer nauwkeurig, en altijd bij de hand

So simple but yet precise. I used it for a belt driven e-bike with Enviolo. Work like a charm click click 😉