Curious about side radiator fans

August 27, 2025, 11:02:17 pm

Side radiators are great and have lots of benefits that are thoroughly discussed in many threads on this forum. The side radiator fans on our coaches also have some problems such as leaky seals in the fan motors, high horsepower consumption, unreliable fan speed controllers, etc. I know that the old Prevosts had a belt drive to a 90 degree gear that drove the fans and that seems very reliable. The new ones have electric fans which have also been discussed in various threads. I have previous experience with old MCI 8's and they had the radiator high up on the back of the bus with a super long fan belt that drove a 90 degree gear to a pair of squirrel cage blowers mounted up high. This got me thinking, does anyone know what type of fan drive is used in the newest Foretravel coaches such as the Realm and what about the models in between? I assume that the hydraulic fans were used in the Phenix and Nimbus, but what about the IH? Anyone have any knowledge of the other high end coaches, ie: Newell, Newmar etc.

Re: Curious about side radiator fans

Reply #1 – August 28, 2025, 08:33:58 am

Spartan chassis' (used in Realm & most 2018 and newer IH) have a belt that runs a gear box that then runs the side fan. If the slip clutch goes bad, it is made where you can install a pin in it so you can keep going until you get it replaced.

IH was built on both Spartan and Foretravel made chassis. The Foretravel chassis has a hydraulic pump that is mounted to the engine and runs a hyd. fan motor. I think this was has been used since 2010, maybe before that.

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