Anyone using the Napa Gates brand serpentine belts on their engines? Wondering if they are good belts or should I pay twice the price for the OE Quicksilver belt?

I have always used Gates or Napa belts. They are about 1/4-1/2 of the price Merc wants and more easily obtainable at automotive stores. More than likely Gates makes the Merc belts.

Thanks Griff, do you get 2 or 3 years out of them?

I use gates also good luck so far

gates as well good luck

It depends on the belt. I used to go through a 10 rib supercharger belt nearly every season. Napa was $40. Merc was over $150. V belts would last 3-4 years and were less than half the price of Merc.

Gates it is. Thanks guys.

gates, depending on how many hours and how long it sits, i get a new one each year and use the old one as an emergency spare...it's cheap insurance, i hear stories that over time as they sit under tension over the winter that they "learn" that position, then can fray quickly when heated up.

anyone know a gates part # for a 496ho or do you just take it off and try to match one up?

I use gates as well, on my boat and all my customers boats.