Fan belt

sidevalve

sidevalve

Senior Member
I need a new fan belt for a model A. I tried to get one at the Mecungie meet this weekend but no one had it. I can get one from Napa but it is cogged. He can get me one that is not cogged also.
Any thoughts on witch would be better?
 
The cogged belt is the best choice if you are using an alternator, due to the smaller pulley size. Works good for the regular generator also for that matter. The cogged or notched belt, as it might be refered to as, is a lot easier on the water pump bearings. Less belt tension required.
 
I have a NOS IH (international harvester) on my truck, it is not cogged and seems to keep it cooler. I was going to put a NOS ford one on but I like this one better

John
 
I just got a Ford script belt from one of the parts suppliers and it works just fine with an alternator.
 
Either belt will work fine. Like Glenn C. said, the notched belt is the more modern style. The notches also allow for belt cooling to make them last longer. I prefer the solid belts simply because they look better in my opinion.
 
Glenn C. said:
The cogged belt is the best choice if you are using an alternator, due to the smaller pulley size. Works good for the regular generator also for that matter. The cogged or notched belt, as it might be refered to as, is a lot easier on the water pump bearings. Less belt tension required.
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A belt pulls on the sides. With a cogged belt lot of the side is missing. Makes since to me you would need more tension to make up for the smaller surface area in the sides. Am I looking at it wrong?
 
ldj1002 said:
A belt pulls on the sides. With a cogged belt lot of the side is missing. Makes since to me you would need more tension to make up for the smaller surface area in the sides. Am I looking at it wrong?
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Yep, when the belt curves around the pulley then the missing space mostly disappears, but as mentioned the belt can flex easier, as well as cool better. For practacality the cog belt is probably better, but for appearance the solid belt looks better and is what I use. I also don't need to worry much about the flex, because I have about 1 1/2" flex and my fan and generator operate without slippage.
 
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The good news is, regardless of your choice, the belt is easy to change on the side of the road, so if you carry a spare----no problem. I've always used a standard belt sold at my local Model A store and it works fine on the alternator. The only real negative I can think of might be if you use the cog belt on a fine point car.

Jack
 
I use a 5L440 (generic number) belt, should be available from most parts places. This belt is 44" long, 1" longer than the normal 43" belt and is easier to change.
 
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