Tensioner Pulley Replacement

Will be hitting 100K miles soon. So while I'm doing the oil change, I'm planning on doing the serpentine belt. Looking at some videos, it seems like every time someone has a bad tensioner pulley, they replace the entire tensioner vs just the pulley. Is there a reason for this?

Normally I would just swap the pulley.

 

I’m so old school, I don't even replace the pulleys , I replace the bearings in the pulleys. Only if the pulley is damaged or exceedingly rusted, will I replace the pulley.

 

Because thats how it comes as a part.

 

The pulley can also be purchased seperately,

$23 Dayco 89016 Dayco Accessory Drive Belt Tensioner Pulley - 89016

Dayco 89016. About $100 less than the tensioner assy. Just not from Toyota. So is there a concern that the tensioner itself has a limited lifespan and should be changed when a pulley bearing goes bad?

 

The tensioner has a spring that sees many heating and cooling cycles plus is always flexing when the truck is running. Can you just replace the pulley? Yes
Should you? Kinda depends on how long you intend to keep the truck and how old the current assembly is. Not really a one size fits all!

 

It’s enough of a PITA to replace, that I did the entire unit. Didn’t want to have to do it again.

 

Much easier to just replace the pulley. I just did this. Replaced the tensioner pulley, idler pulley and belt. Dont have to mess around with the stupid hex key on the tensioner assembly...