Serpentine belt question

Hey guys, I have a 2006 Tundra double cab that I bought new. My truck currently has 148k miles and has been virtually trouble free.
I replaced my timing belt at 90k miles with an Asian kit from Amazon. I also ordered a serpentine belt in addition to the timing belt kit. The timing belt installation was uneventful - I'm a mechanical engineer and lifelong car guy with tons of experience. I've probably done a hundred belt replacements over the years while working at my cousins garage or working at Brazos valley Toyota when I was a student at Texas A&M.
The serpentine belt installation didn't go so well. The Amazon belt, I believe it was a Gates, but I can't recall for certain, was too short. I zip tied my tensioner in the fully released (loosest) position and there was no way that belt was going on. I compared it to the oem belt, and it was noticeably shorter. The original belt still looked good, so I just put it back on and forgot about it.
I was at the dealer, picking up some brake pads for my wife's highlander, when I remembered the serpentine belt on my truck. I picked up a belt from the dealer, and it was like deja vu all over again. The damn thing is too short.
Apparently, at least two different belt lengths were used on '06 4.7l Tundra's. Has anyone else run into this issue? I reinstalled the original belt yet again, and thankfully it still looks fine, but after 19 years and nearly 150k miles, I would really like to replace it.

 

Current Toyota part number for the serpentine belt is 90916-02791 (which superseded 90916-A2003). Only one for the 4.7 V8 with A/C. The Gates part number is

$28 K060908 Micro V Serpentine Drive Belt

K060908.

Do either of these numbers match what you previously purchased?

The current Toyota belt is made by Bando. The previous part number and original belt were made by Dayco.

 

Here is the part number I got for my 06 double cab

90916-A2003 Serpentine Belt

I also had a gates brand one -

$45 K060908HD FleetRunner Micro-V Serpentine Drive Belt

K060908HD

 

I used this Bando on my 2004 DC:

$25 Bando USA 6PK2305 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CB0KMA. Fit like a champ. I usually buy OEM, but didn't seem to make sense when Bando makes the belt for Toyota anyhow. Made in USA to boot....

p.s. My DC has AC.

 

DON’T BUY TOYOTA PARTS ON SCAMAZON!

 

Is it just me or does anybody else cringe a little bit when a post starts out "I bought XX part on Amazon and..." Amazon is good for a lot of things, don't get me wrong. But auto parts aren't the things that should be bought on scAmazon. There's just too many counterfeits out there.

 

When sold by a third-party seller, I agree with the sentiment. When sold directly by Amazon I feel confident I'm receiving a legit part. If the belt snaps in 1000 miles, I'll fess up. Side note: The same belt is 1/3 cheaper on RA, but likely a wash after shipping.

Totally agree with this sentiment regarding eBay.

 

The problem with that is since there are multiple sellers selling the same part, they’re all stored together in the same bin Amazon is using to draw from so you have a mix of authentic and fake.

Amazon states they’re addressing this issue, but I haven’t seen them declare a solution since it’s not cost effective.

 

INTERESTING! That aspect had never occurred to me. You're basically saying that at the Amazon warehouse, the belts that were purchased by Amazon's purchasing department from Bando and those from "Joe's Belt Shack" are all pulled from the same inventory bin. That's a bit disconcerting.....Guess it applies to a ton of products. Do you know of a good documentary regarding this?

 

On rock auto looks like there are 2 belt lengths depending on if you have AC or not. Might have got the one for no AC but I would think that would be way shorter...
I used

$28 gates K060908 micro V serpentine drive belt

gates K060908 on my 05 with AC.
I used bando 6pk2240 on my 06 sequoia with AC

 

I can’t point you to a video news documentary but there are reputable published news stories about it. Here’s an example from Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadesh...angerous-fakes-on-amazon-this-holiday-season/

 

I haven't taken the time to research it, but it seems as though many products I purchase on Amazon ship directly from the manufacturer. I just bought a Tekton dead blow hammer and it sure looks like it shipped directly from Tekton. I don't purchase many parts from Amazon, so can't remember on those....

 

That’s a good thing they get drop shipped to you. Avoids counterfeits.

 

Is eBay worse about counterfeits? Seems like they would be. Wild West....

I'll probably get beat up for this one but, for me, it depends on the part. If I happen to get a counterfeit Denso air filter, do I really care? Nope. Needless to say, I would not purchase a carrier bearing from Amazon

 

I mean if your filter started shedding material that ended up in the combustion chamber then yes?

 

I've only been on the forum for a year or so. Any old horror stories regarding counterfeits / phony crap?

 

I don’t recall. That’s a @shifty’ question.

 

Oh, hell no. He'll crawl up my arse for buying the Denso air filter on Amazon Message received though: more RA and Summit, less Amazon. Cheers.

 

@bing5 Here’s a video posted from another thread:

https://youtu.be/aeqYIt1x7Jw?si=saQYqhpKEvML22S3

 

One on fake plugs…

https://www.tundras.com/threads/real-vs-fake-denso-plugs-w-pics.60880/

 

Thanks. I've had a poor opinion about eBay for at least a decade and never buy parts there, with the one exception of cup holder surround foam I've thought that it was a hive of phony shit and scams for years, especially with anything stamped as "Genuine Toyota." Pretty much, if it's OEM, you're gonna pay and you're fooling yourself if you think you can get a "deal." Caveat emptor.

However, until you brought it to my attention, I did not share the same opinion of Amazon. For 98% of the stuff I buy on Amazon, I always look for the shipper / seller as being Amazon.com and figured I was good. However, the "mixing" of inventory changes my thinking a bit. A good example is the Fel Pro gasket I just purchased for my Mom's old minivan. I just opened it up and took a look. Seems to be genuine Fel Pro, but......? Seems like any online retailer that "hosts" third-party sellers would suffer from this problem.......

Just remembered something interesting: the Fel Pro valve cover gaskets I purchased a couple of weeks ago from Amazon had an Amazon-embossed sticker/tape on them. The Fel Pro oil pan gasket I just received does not...

 

Seems like the Car Care Nut did a video about this a while back. The guy seems like a straight shooter to me. Will have to check it out....

Two things created this problem: online shopping and China.

This, of course, makes me think of Amayama. I've purchased a few things from them and most seemed fine. However, one of two were a little on the sketchy side....

 

I've seen a lot of people on another forum I'm on that's mainly based in Europe have a ton of problems with fake NGK spark plugs. I haven't received any fake parts off Amazon that I'm aware of, but it really is mainly junk at this point unless you're buying a name brand product. Ebay is mainly used parts for me and so far people aren't spending the time and effort to make knock off used parts.

 

Name brand product is the operative phrase to my mind. Agreed that the majority of it is junk. Here's what I bought. Exact same part on Rock Auto is $31.79, plus shipping.

I'm more than willing to pay more at a bricks and mortar store IF I get good customer service with it. I just don't see any reason to do so if the service is non-existent. More times than not, it is... NAPA is perhaps my one exception.

 

I use ebay for hard to find parts. A few years ago, I bought a pitman arm from a seller in the uae. Could it have been fake? Maybe, but I think its a low probability.
Also like upshot, I find discontinued used parts on ebay.
Most ebay sellers mail directly. Some ebay purchases have been packaged and delivered by Amazon. Occasionally they will be sent directly from the manufacturer.

 

Come to think of it, I like eBay for its original purpose - used gear. Agreed

 

This x 1,000

Yup.

Already covered above. Even if the seller/store pays extra to have their own bins, cross-contamination happens in a number of ways (returns, etc). Just don’t do it. If there’s a store on scAmazon beating Rock Auto’s price, knowing the volume pricing RA gets, it’s a scam.

And it also doesn’t matter if you go directly to the brand’s “store page”, scAmazon defaults to whoever is selling the cheapest, and you have to make two extra clicks to pick a different seller. In a way, it’s almost worse than fleaBay, at least in there you walk in knowing it’s probably counterfeit.

But yeah, never order parts on either. And avoid big box stores that allow 3rd party sellers, like HomeDespot, Sears, WallyMart, etc. for the same reason. Counterfeiting/grey market resale is HUGE criminal enterprise, criminal orgs make gaggles of money off it. They prey on you trusting the store’s brand reputation. It’s bad enough that the US Govt had been passing legislation to protect consumers from fraudulent products, which unfortunately stopped dead in its tracks in early 2025, I believe.

Sometimes it happens, but there is no guarantee. I will say though, Tekton (IIRC) started out as a no-name cheapo company like VIZIO did with TVs, kind of like what VEVOR is doing now, starting as a cheap brand on scAmazon, and has built up to make some pretty solid products. They’re essentially a China-based company that cared about making something that was at least close to the Taiwanese-level-of-quality products in the 1980s, back when major names like Miyata, Craftsman, and others were outsourcing overseas. Taiwanese products were substantially good. A lot of that was lost when things moved to mainland China, and hasn’t returned.

eBay is far worse. At least with scAmazon you have a chance of getting a genuine product. eBay is loaded with fakes, and sometimes on the stupidest stuff imaginable.

I don’t buy at brick and mortar stores often unless they take digital coupons so I can get the cost down. Except Summit Racing, whose to-the-door price after shipping usually very close to Rock Auto, and they’ll price match RA’s to-the-door price on parts. I have the luxury of having their brick and mortar 30-45mins south of me where I can get a customer service rep, order the part against my account with discount, and drive to the store for pickup.

But in general, don’t buy replacement parts on scAmazon/fleabay, for cars, appliances, small engines, power tools, etc. especially avoid batteries, spark plugs, and electronics. You will get burned.

 

Below from the Tekton site. Closest approximation I could find to made in USA Craftsman that I grew up with....

We are a family-owned hand tool company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We work hard, think precisely, and question convention to provide you the hand tools we would want to use ourselves.

Growing U.S. Manufacturing
In our facilities, we cut, engrave, and polish steel, mold plastic, and carry out a range of finishing and assembly operations. We are an industry leader in using agile manufacturing methods that support fast engineering improvements.
We also work with carefully selected outside partners in the U.S. and in other countries. When we say that a tool is made in the United States, we mean that all the manufacturing takes place in the United States. We also whenever possible make sure that the materials have a U.S. origin. For example, the steel for all our in-house production of wrenches, picks, hooks, and pry bars is U.S.-sourced.
About 81% of our current product lineup is made in Taiwan, 14.5% in the United States, 2% in Canada, 2% in Germany, and the remaining 0.5% consists of 9 items from Sweden and 2 items from Poland. You can find the country of origin for every tool on Tekton.com by referring to the “Specs” section at the bottom of each product page.

 

Bad wording on my part. "China-based manufacturing", not "China-based company". Although I didn't realize more than 80% of their manufacturing was being done in Taiwan, I thought it was happening on the mainland. Being made in Taiwan explains why their quality is higher than a lot of the stuff you'll find @ HF and Northern Tool comparitively. Taiwan is where Craftsman of our day (late 70s/early 80s for "my" day, a least) was being outsourced.

Mind you, TEKTON isn't the only tool company in the USA doing similar, though some (many?) like Astro Tools, make dubious claims of "Made in USA" and "family-owned/American-based company" without indicating how much is "made" in USA or what actually happens here, which is aggravating for me - personally, as someone very bitter to watch as we've allowed so-called "conservatives" systematically destroy American manufacturing, labor protections, and consumer protections. When TEKTON says, "When we say that a tool is made in the United States, we mean that all the manufacturing takes place in the United States", they could mean "manufacturing" is the assembly, and "assembly" can mean anything from "we have child labor putting the universal ball joint pieces cast in China into the blow-molded case made in China", to "we order all the parts for our splitbeam torque wrench from China, and assemble the wrench to spec on US soil".

I'd like it if we could behave more like countries that care more about their consumer protections, maybe more like Italy? They've made laws much more strict to prevent bullshittery like that, where you must conform to specific guidelines to use the phrasing "made in Italy", and there've been wild efforts to work around the law, like bringing in Asian labor from extremely poor area so they can work in sweatshops on Italian soil, which is just wild to me.

 

Interesting. My AC has DC also!














12v I believe...