belt replacement help!

[HotTaco]

Ok, my '99 Taco is a few miles away from 60k, and I'm going to replace the accessory belts per the recommended maintenance.

It has a 2.7L (3RZ-FE) engine with 3 belts, I can see where each pully can be loosened to remove the belts (one idle pully on the top, one idle pully behind the skid plate, and the alternator can be moved as it were an idle pully), but the rad fan is obstructing the space where the belts should be pulled out and my Chilton manual doesn't say how to do it.

Any knowledge/recommendations for how to get the belts over the fan (fan removal, working it around the fan blades inside the fan housing, etc)?

Also, are the Nippondenso and Burroughs belt tension measurement tools necessary?

Thanks!

[Flash75]

I have not tried belt replacement on a Toyota but have replaced them on Nissan and Isuzu pickups. All had a fan shroud and I was able to work the belts out by shifting them around the fan blades. Toyota should come out the same way but it will be close. If that doesn't work I think it would be best to remove or loosen the fan shrouds.

My 2004 shop manual doesn't show a belt tension tool in the SST section. In fact for belt replacement it just says to reverse the removal steps.

[silvertaco4x4]

I did my belts on my 00 taco (2.7 also) about 6 months ago. I removed the fan shroud and the skid plate underneath the truck and was then able to access everything I needed to fairly easily. I had never replaced belts before this. Like Flash said, simply shift the belts around the fan, rotating it as you need to. You should not have to remove the fan. Also I did not use any belt tension tools, and everything seems to be fine so far. Good luck!