Toothed or smooth fan belts

[Soterik]

It appears there are two types of fan belts in the market place, toothed and smooth. Our cars originally came with a 9.5 x 710 smooth belt (which is still available). There's is also a 10 x 710 toothed belt available.

Any input from those who own shops or perhaps there's a fan belt police that can give me input on the toothed vs. smooth belts?

thks,
Eric

[Chuck Miller]

E,

I believe my tool kit still had/has the smooth belt in it, however toothed belts are all that I've put on my car since I've owned it.

Cheers

[Flieger]

I am not the fan police or an expert, but I use the toothed belts. I have been told that the tooths allow relieve some of the shear stress on the belt as it goes around the pulley so that it last longer, but if I think about it more then it seems that there is less material to transfer torque so unless it is reinforced with Kevlar or something, maybe it is not as strong?

[kenikh]

I am still looking for a "meth mouth" belt...the best combo of toothless and toothed,