This isn't exactly a new debate here, but it has been coming up more and more lately. Let's keep this FRIENDLY and civil. What, if any, are the pros and cons of going aftermarket (in this case, gates) vs. OEM for the timing belt. aaaaand Go!
I see my curiosity has sparked a thread.. lol. I have been told by multiple people @ AllPro and Mike from TopSpeed to avoid the Gates kit because they have had cars jump time with those belts. With that being said, it seems tons of people run those belts without a problem. I wonder if there's a specific cause to their failure?
My 2.5L hybrid was down on power when I first had it tuned.....came to find out the Gates Kevlar timing belt I had on it was a little too long and the timing was off by half a tooth. Swapped to OEM and bam it was making the power we were expecting.
I can't weigh in on both, but I bought the full Gates kit off Rock Auto. That was about 40K miles ago, no problems so far for what that's worth. Only Con I remember is that there's one pulley that's considerably smaller than everything else. The replacement in the Gates kit wasn't quite right - diameter was correct but either the length was wrong or the bolt was wrong. Seems to me I had to shim it. -Chris
Ive encountered the same things when I ran my shop. Ive had Gates belts jump on numerous Hondas, Toyotas, Subies & Nissans. OEM or go home. I've personally never had a problem with the HKS, Greddy & Tomei belts but I still would prefer the OEM over them.
Had this same problem using a Dayco timing belt. Marks were off as well (Not that I use them anyways)