Replacing a Treadmill Belt

Last year we were looking into getting a treadmill, preferable a good-quality used one. After missing the opportunity to get an older LifeFitness model for free (it was a huge beast of a machine), my father found one from a friend that was going to throw it out. It was pretty cheap model, but we gave it a shot. After trying to run on it for just 1 minute, and nearly tripping when it stuttered, it went to the curb.

A couple weeks later, a neighbor rolled out a Proform 995 SEL treadmill for a local donation pickup. I had told my wife about it earlier in the day and said they probably wouldn’t be able to take it because it was too big. Of course, it was too big for them to take, so it stayed on the curb with a FREE sign. My son went to look at it and the owner saw him and told him that it worked great, but might need a belt soon. So, my son dragged it home and we plugged it in. Yup, it worked great, but after about 1 month of use, we realized that it really did need a belt, and it should have been replaced a long time ago.

I searched in the internet and found The Treadmill Doctor. They have lots of replacement parts for many different brands of treadmill. On their page you can search by manufacture and model number. The replacement belt was about $100 delivered. It tool about 2 hours to install. The total time was actually longer because I have a fix a few things damaged by the bad belt (no cost) and had already disassembled the treadmill beforehand. Before you decide to replace the belt or any other part, be sure it is something you are comfortable doing yourself. Otherwise, you could end up with an even more useless treadmill...or end up damaging something. If in doubt, contact a qualified repair-person.

With the summer quickly approaching, the temperature can easily get into the 90s or higher in my neighborhood. Having a good working treadmill will now give us the choice of either braving the heat or running at home, as well the option to run at night without having to worry about cars or other obstacles that are difficult to see in the dark. But, for those of you that either like to run at night or have no other choice, please read these tips for running at night.