91 ranger drive belt tensioner bolt

[fjc]

young kid and brand new to this so forgive my ignorance just looking for someone to point me in the right direction

i'm replacing the front drive belt on my 2wd 91 ranger 3.0 L no a/c, tension is not controlled with a spring loaded pulley rather its controlled by a bolt on the alternator pulley. when loosening the tension bolt to release the belt it got stubborn and i snapped the bolt clean in half. obvioulsy this did the job of releasing the tension and i was able to replace the belt but now i can't tense it back up without removing the snapped bolt and finding a replacement bolt, would rather find a replacement for the whole three piece set though

the whole set looks something like this and the long bolt is the one i snapped: https://www.autozone.com/external-engine/drive-belt-idler-pull-adj-bolt-kit/dorman-drive-belt-idler-pull-adjuster-bolt-kit-917-148/785950_0_0

went to three different auto parts chain stores near me and none of them had a proper replacement, doesnt look like most drive belt systems are designed like this anymore and cant find it online. any help is greatly appreciated again im a complete newbie, are there online markets for old parts like this? one guy recommended going to a local junkyard

 

[franklin2]

You can go to www.car-part.com. Junkyards participate in this site and list their stuff. You have to be a little bit of a detective though. Usually it's the girls that work up front that list all their parts, and they are only going to submit the more common big selling parts. So go to the site, plug in your year and truck and were you live, and look for the engine or a front fender. If they have a engine, they usually won't sell small parts off of it, but sometimes they list core engines. Or if you see a certain yard that has a lot of parts for your year or a front fender, they may have some junkers around that will have the part you need. All you have to do is call them. And most of them will ship also if you pay the freight.

 

[franklin2]

P.S. If you take it all apart and get the broken piece out, then you can determine the thread size. It's probably metric. You could then get some metric all-thread and make your own bolt with two nuts locked together to make the head of the bolt. It's going to be difficult to find a long bolt like that in the store that is threaded all the way.

I bet McMaster Carr may also have the bolt you need if you can figure out the thread size and the length you need. In this link, I am guessing it's a 8mm coarse thread bolt. The longest bolt they sell that is fully threaded is 100mm which is about 4 inches.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[ericbphoto]

junk yard or all-thread.

Or, if you have a lathe and some ambition, make the whole thing from a piece of steel rod.