Opportunities ahead

6 October 2014  

Over the last decade, sales of timing belt kits have increased and individual belt sales have declined as repairers take the wise decision to replace the belt alongside associated components. The next opportunity for workshops, according to Dayco, concerns the front-end auxiliary drive (FEAD) system which is subject to similar mileage to the timing drive system, so similar service principles should be applied to the auxiliary belt and its components. Some VMs have introduced a service interval for the auxiliary belt which will lead to extra revenue for independents. The firm supplies more than 700 tensioners and idlers to complement its 800 plus range of auxiliary belts. In addition, a belt in oil replacement cartridge for the Ford ‘Lynx’ 1.8-litre diesel unit has just been announced. As Ford’s power transmission supply partner, it developed the world’s first belt-in-oil drive system in 2008 which has been widely used across its portfolio of cars. This substitutes the chain driven system and includes the cartridge with the corresponding belt pulleys