Hey guys,

I recently befriended with a very nice guy that has few Napa stores, and I asked him to find me an idler pulley for the timing belt. He couldn't find an exact one but he found a very, very close match. It is Napa 38023 pulley. Few pics:







This is the visible difference in thickness (2mm), Napa one is thicker:



This is how I measured the outer diameter, over the molding, since I didn't want to crush the pulley:





Measurements:
Napa bearing
45mm outer diameter of the bearing, measured over the molding
34mm plastic ring thickness

Original bearing
52mm outer diameter of the bearing, measured over the molding
32 mm plastic ring thickness

Inner diameter is the same, bearing thicknesses is the same.

I wonder if there would be some clearance issues due to those 2mm difference. I didn't try it on the jeep, I hope it won't rub on the washer the goes over it. Correction, I made a confusion with idler pulleys for the serpentine, there is no washer for those pulleys, the only issue that I see could be rubbing on the sides, due to being 2mm thicker:





Also, the Napa bearing is a little smaller in outer diameter, I think this won't be an issue with reliability though. I'll have to replace one of my idler pulleys anyways in the next weeks due to some squeaky noises, I'll post some pics.

What do you guys think about this Napa bearing?

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2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.

The amount of surface area inside of the bearing, the number of balls, and the size of the balls would make a difference.

This is from McMaster-Carr, the outer size of the bearing makes a difference in the load rating, but I am unsure how it will effect lighter loads for longer periods.

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Phil
2005 131k 3.7 Gasser (Lifted-CRD Springs, 4.10 Gears, F+R DTT, Teraflex 2wd Low, Skidrow/Mopar Skids, Rock Lizard Super Skinks, Goodyear Wrangler Authority 31x10.5-15)
2012 Triumph Tiger (TKC 80 Front Tire Heidnau K60 Rear, Crash Bars, Skid Plate, Bark Busters, Pelican Case Top Box)

Per past posts the alternatives are NAPA 36101 (just lose the big washer) or Precision Parts EP101

NEVER MIND as others so kindly pointed out the discussion part I overlooked is that the pulley discussion related to timing belt idlers and the alternatives I posted above are for the serpentine belt and the idler on the serp belt tensioner. My duh.

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Thanks for sharing, I'm not concerned regarding the load to be honest, can't be a lot of load from the timing belt, I'm more concerned with the reliability on long term, as you said. I'm very tempted to try it, even though I have new OEM on the shelf.

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2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.

I believe those are the serpentine belt pulleys, for which camo's fix with a 203ss bearing for about 10 bucks works very well, I was interested in opinions regarding the timing belt idler pulleys, I don't remember seeing any posts about them, but maybe you remember more .

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2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.

I believe those are the serpentine belt pulleys, for which camo's fix with a 203ss bearing for about 10 bucks works very well, I was interested in opinions regarding the timing belt idler pulleys, I don't remember seeing any posts about them, but maybe you remember more .

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2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.