The serpentine belt in my X is in need of changing. I can tell this by the cracks starting to form in the belt. Ive heard terrible stories of the belt going and then engine damage following. I am going to get this fixed asap of course but im wondering if these stories are true. Any info would be great!

the engine may not go persay if the belt fails... however, it will result in a chain of events that could lead to possible break down.... without the water pump spinning, it may overheat, overheating may warp something and blow or crack an engine component... the powersteering pump wont work, and will be very hard to steer, the alternator wont be spinning, and the truck may just die out becuase the battery ran out of juice trying to power the running truck, the a/c wont cycle.....

You will have plenty of time to pull over when your sperpentine belt breaks. You'll know it broke by the "Slam" sound under your hood, harder steering and your battery light coming on, all within a few seconds of your belt breaking. Damage won't occur unless you ignore it and keep driving in which case your engine will overheat due to the lack of cooling but that will take probably 10-15 minutes minimum.

It is normal for a serpentine belt to develop cracks in it, right after installing it. The specs listed in my Ford Service manual say if two parallel ribs are missing a chunk right next to each other or if any single rib is missing a piece longer than 7/8" it is time to replace the belt. It is added insurance to go ahead and replace the belt every 50K miles though since there is seldom a more convenient place to change it than in your driveway.

I had my serpentine belt snap going about 60 - 70 mph. You will definately know when it happens. I pulled over immediately and there was no damage to anything.

I just stick the old one in the access panel over the rear wheel.