Replacement radio dial belts and tuning belts for antique tube radios. A dial belt is the rubber or rubberized fabric loop that links the tuning knob to the tuning capacitor and dial on many 1930s and 1940s radios. When it dries out, stretches or snaps, the knob turns but the station and the dial pointer don't move. Zenith consoles are the most common radios that need one, along with many Fairbanks Morse, Westinghouse, RCA and Airline sets.

Find the belt for your radio

Our belts are listed by radio brand. Open your brand, then choose your model or chassis number from the options. The model number is usually stamped on the chassis or printed on a paper label inside the cabinet.

Zenith: our Zenith radio dial belt fits more than 120 Zenith models, including the 6S229, 7S240, 9S262, 10S669, 12S471 and 15U273, plus Zenith chassis 1204, 1502 and 12A1.

Philco, Motorola and other brands not listed: use our universal cut-to-fit dial belt, which you can trim and re-glue to the length your radio needs.

Model-specific belts: Admiral, Airline (Montgomery Ward), Airmaster, Arvin, Belmont, Bosch, Capehart, Case, Coronado, Crowe, DeJur Amsco, Detrola, DeWald, Emerson, Fada, Fairbanks Morse, General Electric, Goodyear, Grunow, Howard, Kingston, Knight, McMurdo Silver, North Electric, Radio Products, RCA, Scott, Silver Marshall, Silvertone (Sears), Simplex, Sonora, Sparton, Stromberg Carlson, Truetone, Ultramar, Wells Gardner, Westinghouse, Wilcox-Gay and Zephyr.

Can't find your model? Email sales@bigriverhardware.com with the brand and model or chassis number, and we'll help you find the right belt.

Dial belt or dial cord?

Not every radio uses a belt. Many radios built from the late 1930s on use a thin dial cord wound around pulleys instead. If your radio has a flat or round rubber loop between the knob shaft and the tuning capacitor, you need a dial belt. If it has a string wrapped around the tuning shaft and pulleys, you need dial cord.

Installation tips

• Clean the pulleys and tuning shaft before fitting a new belt so it doesn't slip.
• On Zenith consoles, clean and lightly oil the tuning mechanism pivots before installing the belt.
• Many Zenith tuning shafts have a rubber insert that the belt rides on. If it has dried out, the new belt may slip until it is replaced or built up.

Also restoring a turntable or tape deck? See our turntable and record player belts and cassette and tape deck belts.