how I spent my day

So I spent 2.5 hrs is morning loosening the blower, so I could put new belts on.
Pics are sideways. Rotate 1/4 turn clockwise.
**Bottom pic-after the silencer. Loosen bolts so it can slide. That succor is bonded tighter than a frogs butt.
*with that metal plate not moving, it only allows the blower to move slightly.
**Mid pic-bolts to blower, thru frame. So blower will move, allowing pulleys to come closer together. No problem on that one.
Top pic-to get to some bolts, you have to have skinny forearms! I don't. Might be some brising..
2.5 hrs just to loosen things.
Another hour to get 2 belts on the pulleys. Had to pry just a little. Hope I didn't tourq anything out of place.
1.5 hrs- tightening, aligning blower. Checking, rechecking...
Go from cab to cargo and back dozen+ times.
The key is to make sure the pulleys are aligned. I know you already know that.
Started up, ran at idle. Visual check alignment. Let it run for 5 min. Upped the RpMs abit. Then more... Sounds and looks OK!

So the reason I replaced; had 1 belt(ribbed) on for a year. When I start up it would give this little chirp/squelch sound. Lately, when cold I would set to 1 tool setting and it would screach like a loose fan belt. It would do that 2 maybe 3 times; then it was OK. When warmed up it was fine. And it would do it always in HI setting. A Job the other day, it took almost 30 min to warm up and not screach. Its a horrendous sound, 3x worse that the car you hear driving down the road with a loose fan belt.
Now- no squeel when start up OR on HI setting.
That was a PITA undoing bolts, and aligning:(

I feel your pain Matt, I spent almost 3 hours trying to replace the power steering lines on my Isuzu NPR. Talk about a pita design trying to thread a steel line that has like 24 factory bends and about 6 feet long into position. I had to remove a lot of brackets and other hoses to allow room to get it under and around objects.

I almost had it done, but it was dark out and I just couldn't get the flare fitting to thread into the steering box. You know how that goes, get a slight angle wrong and you can never get it to catch the threads. I quit after 10 minutes to save my sanity and will finish it up in the morning.

I would never want to this kind of work for a living. It isn't like working on the old muscle cars and jeeps that I grew up wrenching, there is just so many more issues with modern gear.

Yup, I wish the manufacturers think of us ( or the mechanics for all they care ) when they design these things.
I had my mechanic changed my blower belts last time because I don't want to spend 3 hours or more on it like you did, he changed the blower belts and pump belts at the same time ( the hp 650, because when the blower belt snapped, it hits the pump belts which is positioned under the blower and busted the pump belts too ), he did them in 1.5 hour, $ 75 plus belts, I'd rather spend 1.5 hours talking to potential customers rather than wrenching truck mount and ended up frustrating myself and affecting the way I talk to potential customers.
However I tip my hats to you, you did it ! I know how it feels when you get something like that done by yourself ! If I don't feel like driving 60 miles, I usually try to get things done myself too. Even though I end up bitching so much at the end of the day, lol.