Nowadays, most people want to have all of the modern amenities possible engineered into their classic cruiser, and trucks are no exception. Once only thought of for their strictly utilitarian purpose, trucks can now be found as plush as a Cadillac and even cost more. Air conditioning is commonplace in older vehicles, but even the older factory-type A/C systems were big and bulky, not to mention unsightly. Often, cars with A/C have plenty of other accessories cluttering up the engine bay even more and needing a slew of belts to run all of this mayhem. The car manufactures fixed this problem in production cars with a serpentine beltdrive system, and aftermarket companies have been trying to get one to work well for a few years now for hobby vehicles.
Vintage Air has stepped up and hung the competition with all those old V-belts lying around by introducing their FrontRunner Serpentine Drive System. This totally engineered package solves the most critical shortcomings of conventional aftermarket accessory brackets, like premature belt failures caused by mechanical tensioning, excessive belt length runs, awkward component placement, and cylinder head mount-bolt variations. The FrontRunner Drive System was engineered to convert any small-block Chevrolet and also Ford to the popular and more dependable serpentine belt design. It is the only design on the market that utilizes a spring-loaded tensioning system for a no-nonsense, trouble-free operation. The modular design based on the latest CAD/CAM architecture places all driven components in the tightest possible configuration which is evident when you see it installed.
Jerry Sievers over at Paint 'n' Place in Placentia, California, is building this hot '68 C10 (that you're sure to see more of) and I shot over there to check out the FrontRunner Drive System install onto the blown 383 small-block that'll be motivating Jerry down the road PDQ. To coincide with the FrontRunner install, they were also utilizing a complete A/C kit from Vintage Air, as well. Follow along and see for yourself why the FrontRunner Serpentine Drive System is so cool that you'll think twice about doin' some hoodless cruising in your classic truck.