Flat Leather Fan Belts

Flat leather fan belts turned radiators up until about 1928 after being used to power most factory machinery of the industrial revolution. As cars became more complex, with belts turning generators and pumps, mass-produced moulded rubber belts replaced hand-made leather belts. In flat belt systems, the leather belt runs with its rough side down against pulleys, which are called, “drums”. Flat belts are not supposed to be very tight, just tight enough to move the fan. Studies have shown that flat belts were the first fan clutches – they moved air through the radiators when the car was idling and would slip at higher speeds, allowing the fan to create less turbulence and interference with the air being forced through the radiator (Not too shabby for 1800’s technology!).