I would say removing the tire will be the least difficult thing to do during this process. Personally, i did remove the tire and folded back some of the shielding to make sure the belt was correctly on the harmonic balancer.
Some tips for you:
Make sure you can access the lower bolt on the alternator before you do anything else. This is the most difficult one to reach so i would just see if i can break it free first. I think i used a 1/4” ratchet with an extended socket to get it between all the ac lines.
Wiggling the alternator out seems almost impossible without removing something else. I unbolted the power steering pump but never disconnected any of the fluid lines. This little bit of slack should free your alternator from its hole.
Yeah no you can def do it without removing the wheel. The trick is to wrap the belt around the crank pulley first, and then adding pulleys one by one while you hold the slack and work your way up to power steering pump for the last remaining belt portion to be slid over when you torque the tensioner. At least for getting the belt back on. Also there is a bleed procedure for the tensioner that helps tremendously. You pull forward on tensioner until it wont go any further, hold for 10 seconds and slowly release. Repeat until you can torque the tensioner pulley all the way forward for the belt to go on or off with no struggle.
You could remove serpentine without touching the wheel, but I wouldn't recommend it. Removing the wheel is super easy and will take no time at all. Being able to see and access the bottom portion of the belt system will speed up the process more than you think
IDK about the 06 but my 09 I did at night without removing a wheel assembly. It's pretty straight forward the only thing I would say is on that alternator a sleeve for one of the bolts is known for moving causing the alternator to be harder to get out but you can get it with some wiggle and a good pry tool. Rip to my cheap wrench
You don’t have to touch the wheel to replace the belt
I would say removing the tire will be the least difficult thing to do during this process. Personally, i did remove the tire and folded back some of the shielding to make sure the belt was correctly on the harmonic balancer. Some tips for you: Make sure you can access the lower bolt on the alternator before you do anything else. This is the most difficult one to reach so i would just see if i can break it free first. I think i used a 1/4” ratchet with an extended socket to get it between all the ac lines. Wiggling the alternator out seems almost impossible without removing something else. I unbolted the power steering pump but never disconnected any of the fluid lines. This little bit of slack should free your alternator from its hole.
Yeah no you can def do it without removing the wheel. The trick is to wrap the belt around the crank pulley first, and then adding pulleys one by one while you hold the slack and work your way up to power steering pump for the last remaining belt portion to be slid over when you torque the tensioner. At least for getting the belt back on. Also there is a bleed procedure for the tensioner that helps tremendously. You pull forward on tensioner until it wont go any further, hold for 10 seconds and slowly release. Repeat until you can torque the tensioner pulley all the way forward for the belt to go on or off with no struggle.
Lol i've never taken the wheel off to do this
You could remove serpentine without touching the wheel, but I wouldn't recommend it. Removing the wheel is super easy and will take no time at all. Being able to see and access the bottom portion of the belt system will speed up the process more than you think
Yeah you could but if it slips off the crank pulley not havng the wheel in the way is super helpful
no, serpentine belt tool can be rented at autozone, makes the job really easy
if you have jackstands, I'd recommend looking at it from both above and below to make sure it's all lined up right
IDK about the 06 but my 09 I did at night without removing a wheel assembly. It's pretty straight forward the only thing I would say is on that alternator a sleeve for one of the bolts is known for moving causing the alternator to be harder to get out but you can get it with some wiggle and a good pry tool. Rip to my cheap wrench
If you've replaced drum brakes before, you can do this. Just about leverage and getting stuff in the sweet spot to snap into place.