Just waiting on the bigger belts to get here in the mail.
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I am super-confused. Everyone keeps saying “slack side” but they are all referring to the side under the most tension when braking – because during hard braking is when belts skip. So the “slack side” when accelerating is actually the side that takes the most force [during a hard brake].
TL;DR: the slack-side switches sides constantly
I’m confuse.
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I am building the exact same setup. What size belts did you order?
What gearing and belt size do you run?
16/40t 360mm-htd5-15mm
That original picture was a 320mm belt which was to short and left my motors to low. So I moved to a 360mm belt to raise the mounts and extend the motor to the end of the slide.
If you run a 36t instead of 40t just take 20mm off (4t * 5mm) so a 340mm belt for fully extended on the reverse mount
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Some interesting options
https://www.amazon.com/Track-Runner-Bearings/b?ie=UTF8&node=16411321 That link is wierd, it works if you copy and paste Here’s an item you can browse from
https://www.amazon.com/McGill-Follower-Standard-Slotted-Diameter/dp/B0071APBLK/
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Nice dude! Belt looks super “relaxed”. Do you get any skipping at that tension?
Actually I’ll be using a smaller belt, was just testing.
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I love this subject but I haven’t had time to dive into it yet. Just a quick drive by question for you with some experience, Is there a good rule of thumb or placement guidelines yet? have you guys come to a standard of where it exactly needs to be for best results?
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As close to the motor pulley as possible IMO. The idea is extra guidance without extra stress
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Ive just copied what cars manufacturers seem to do, pulley on the slack side. Id not worry too much about it. Just use at least one pulley, and bare in mind the more the belt is deflected and warped the lower its life expectancy. So go for as large of a pulley as you can and use as little deflection as needed.
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Keep in mind that needs to be slack side during most stress, which is during hard braking. So, the slack side when you are braking, not accelerating!
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dang, ok, that fixed me, had that wrong, lol thanks and makes perfect sense, like duh…
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I do more accelerating and cruising than breaking,
Have you been using this setup much yet? It appears as the idler-bolts are on the motor? How is it holding?
When the motor drives the wheel (accelerating): the little motor-pulley generates the belt tension, pulling the wheel into rotation. In this situation, there is very little chance of the belt skipping.
When the wheel drives the motor(braking): the wheel pulley acts against the resistive Force of the motor by pulling the belt around the little motor pulley at a highly increased likelihood to allow the belt to skip.
Ergo, whether the majority of usage of a belt driven mechanical system is used for acceleration or deceleration does not matter. A belt is more likely to skip around the smaller pulley when it is the larger pulley generating the force.
So even if you spend 90% of your time riding downhill, using the motor as a braking Force, the most ideal location of a single idler pulley is going to be on the braking side of the belt drive.
It’s why @Nowind and @lowGuido @JuniorPotato93 and myself do it this way!!
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It doesn’t matter. If the belt skips, it’s going to happen during braking. And I hope you don’t do any breaking! Wear a helmet just in case 
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Lol 10 char