Had to pick between a new dryer belt or a whole pulley kit last Tuesday

My customer's dryer was squealing like crazy, so I pulled it apart and saw the belt was cracked but the pulley felt a bit rough too. I stood there in their laundry room debating if I should just swap the belt and save them $30 or go for the full pulley kit for $55. I went with the kit because I figured I'd rather fix it once and not get a callback in 3 months. It worked out fine, took me 45 minutes total. Do you guys usually just do the belt or replace everything that spins when you're already in there?

2 comments

2 Comments

danieljenkins1d ago

That $30 belt probably would've lasted another 5 years.

the_viola1d ago

oh man you had me until that last line then you lost me lol. i get wanting to be thorough but a pulley kit when the belt is the only obvious problem is throwing money at a maybe. ive seen belts on their last leg make all kinds of racket and a new belt fixes it quiet as a mouse. if the pulley feels smooth when you spin it by hand and theres no wobble you are literally just replacing parts for fun at that point. the customer didnt ask for a full rebuild they asked for a fix and you marked up their repair by almost double for something that might not even go bad for years. sometimes the simplest fix is the best fix and that extra $25 is gas money or lunch they didnt want to spend.