Horizon treadmill remains to be one of the most popular fitness equipment, whether used in the gym or at home.
Like any other complicated machines, Horizon products require some maintenance, and different parts may need replacement from time to time.
Today’s guide on how to replace belt on Horizon treadmill, we are helping you go through this maintenance process to ensure the safety for you and other users for years to come.
Without further ado, let’s get right into it!
Signs a Horizon Treadmill Belt Needs Replacement
Symptoms like fraying edges, excessive smoothness, sluggish belt movement, or slippage can all be signs that your treadmill belt requires maintenance. But to determine whether you are replacing the belt or not, you need to know exactly what to look for and what tests to perform.
First off, turn on Horizon treadmill and start running it at the slowest speed possible. Pay close attention to the edges of the belt and make sure they aren’t curling or frayed.
Fraying or curling can be an obvious sign that you should be replacing the treadmill belt.
Next, loosen your treadmill belt using a screwdriver in order to be able to visually inspect and feel the interior and exterior belt surfaces.
Avoid loosening the bolts too much, you want them just loose enough to be able to slide your hand inside the belt and visually inspect the underside of the belt.
After the tension bolts are loose, run your hand along the underside and top to check for signs of excessive wear. This may come in the form of discoloration or extreme smoothness.
Discoloration for most treadmill belts will seem dark, almost black.
Also if you feel excessive smoothness in the areas where you walk, your belt needs to be replaced.
Next, you want to inspect the seam of the belt. This is a particularly vulnerable area of the belt and can easily be the source of many problems.
Identify the seam where the belt has been connected, and make certain that it isn’t coming undone.
Run your hand along the seam on the underside of the belt, check for any signs of wear and tear on the top of the belt seam.
If the belt seam edges are fraying or coming apart, you need to replace the tread belt.
Horizon Treadmill Running Belt Replacement Toolkit
For Horizon treadmill belt replacement process, tools you will need are:
- Treadmill belt.
- Allen wrench.
- Phillips head screw driver.
- A marker.
Horizon Treadmill Belt Replacement – Step By Step Guide
Horizon Treadmills may vary in model style, but the procedure demonstrated here is very similar to all Horizon products.
Make sure to unplug and turn off Horizon treadmill before committing the below steps so that there’s no risk of an electrical shock.
Here is the step-by-step guide on how to replace belt on Horizon treadmill:
STEP 1: Remove the motor hood cover
Lift off the motor hood cover from the machine and place the walking deck into the storage position.
STEP 2: Remove the end caps
Go to the back of your Horizon unit and unscrew then remove the end caps.
STEP 3: Remove side foot rails
First, remove the screws attached to the underside of the running platform. Next, lower the walking deck back down, then pry off the side rails.
STEP 4: Remove the deck bolts
Remove the deck bolts and rail locks that attach the deck to the treadmill frame.
STEP 5: Mark the rollers position
Use a marker or a piece of tape to mark out where the idle rollers are on the front and back of the machine.
STEP 6: Remove the rear roller
Start by loosening the left and right tension screws on the idle roller at the front of the roller and remove them.
Next, lift and slide the roller out of the running belt.
STEP 7: Remove front roller
With the belt loosened, While turning the drive roller by hand, pull on the inside of the drive belt in order to walk it off the drive roller pulley.
Now remove the drive roller.
STEP 8: Remove the RPM sensor
STEP 9: Remove belt
Using an Allen wrench, remove the deck bolts found on the walking board.
With two people, lift the deck and slide the running belt off the treadmill deck.
STEP 10: Reinstall the new belt
After you’ve removed the old belt, Carefully install the new walking belt around the walking board.
STEP 11: Reassemble the walking board
Replace the bolts and locks on the walking board.
STEP 12: Reattach the RPM sensor
STEP 13: Reassemble the front roller
Slide the drive roller into place. Walk the motor belt belt by hand onto the pulley just as it was taken off.
STEP 14: Reassemble the rear roller
Replace the idler roller. Screw the idler bolts back in.
STEP 15: Reassemble the side foot rails
Reinstall and screw the side rails back on. Then fully engage the screws on the underside of the deck.
STEP 16: Test the belt
After you successfully replace the Horizon walking belt, lift the running belt in the middle to make sure it’s an appropriate tightness.
It should lift between 2 and 3 inches away from the treadmill, but no more.
You also want to make sure the gap on both side of the walking belt are equal.
Get on how to adjust Horizon treadmill belt if the belt is not properly aligned and tensioned and needs adjustment.
STEP 17: Reinstall the end caps
Replace and screw the end caps at the back of the unit.
STEP 18: Put the motor hood back on
Once you are done with replacing and adjusting your Horizon walking as called for, put the motor hood and screws back on.
Final Thoughts
A Horizon treadmill belt is the most important part of the treadmill, and unfortunately at some point, you probably will have to replace it at some point.
Today’s guide has given you a lot of useful information to help you understand when you need to replace your Horizon treadmill belt and how to do it all by yourself.
After successfully replacing the belt, you have to make sure the running deck if it is well oiled. If not, get on how to lubricate Horizon treadmill belt guide in order to keep the new belt under good conditions.
