Aux drive belt: Dayco vs Land Rover branded Dayco
May 13, 2007
Here we see 2 belts: upper one is brand new genuine Land Rover part (made by Dayco) and lower one is used Dayco OEM part—both have Dayco 7PK 1580 part code in-print that makes you think these are the same parts (both where bought in 2005). Why pay more for genuine Land Rover one if these are the same?
Despite the same part code, actual construction between Land Rover branded part and OEM part seems different. Here you see 3 belts (from left): Dayco OEM with about 47000 km/2 years (bought in 2005), genuine Land Rover branded Dayco with about 74000 km/7 years and brand new genuine Land Rover branded Dayco belt (bought in 2005).
If you look closely you’ll notice that both Land Rover belts have different “coating” as the first OEM one—they have additional strong cloth-like topmost layer that is not present on OEM variant.
And here we see what happens when you don’t have this strong cloth-like layer—belt just breaks and delaminates more easily. This is Dayco OEM belt and actually it was already slightly cracked when new! I used it regardless to see how long it goes. Here it is 2 years old and 47000 km on the clock. Actually there are more small cracks on it, as without strong top layer it cracks much more easily.
Yes, Land Rover part is more robust and has different design, despite having the same product code as Dayco OEM part.