Hello,
I had the same problem with my Simpson Maxidry 457. After many hours of frustration, I nearly gave up. Finally I worked it out with a little help from this site. Here are the steps I took to get the belt and tension pulley and spring attached properly.
1. Remove the drum from the dryer housing
2. Fit the belt around the drum, secure the belt to the drum (grooved side towards the drum, flat side away from the drum) with small strips of masking tape. Leave a loop of about 10-15 cm's free to fit around the motor. (This was Hurdle #1, it was next to impossible to hold the belt on with one hand and attempt to work out the tension pulley thing at the same time)
3. Place the drum back in to the dryer housing and rotate it so that your belt loop is facing the motor.
4. (Hurdle #2) Attach the tension pulley to the motor assembly bracket. (There should be slots in the bracket for the pulley bracket to insert into. The pulley faces away from the motor, about a 45 degree angle.
5. (Hurdle #3) Feed the belt through (under) the pulley and then over the motor's drive wheel or nub, whatever it's called.
6. (Finaly Hurdle) Attach the spring to the pulley assembly. In the centre of the dryer housing floor, there should be a seam, in the centre of this seam there is a small hole where the other end of the spring attaches too. Stretch and insert the other end of the spring into this hole.
7. Remove the masking tape that's holding the belt down.
8. Re-assemble dryer and your done.
Summay.
The belt feeds through the pulley, the end result should have the pulley pulling down on the belt creating tension.
Thomas Heron, April 2006
