Flex-a-lite or electric fan?

Tacoma747

Tacoma747

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Winston-Salem
I made a shroud to mount an electric fan, to replace the ones I had which were poorly mounted, but it turns ou the fan I was going to use is broken, so I would have to buy a new one.

I also got a flex-a-lite fan, one of the nice metal ones, we took it off a racecar at work, all I have to do to make it fit is get some longer metric bolts, I bought a spacer at Oriellys for $10 to make it clear the belts and pulleys.

I am thinking that since it is not clutch driven, it should never fail, plus, I don't have to worry about the electrionics for the electric fan, is there any reasons I should spend the extra money and get an electric one?

The only reason I can think is when going through water the fan won't throw up alot of water, but I would have to be in DEEP water for it to touch the fan, so I don't see that being a problem.

Thanks for any opinions.
 
That fan will probably be marginal for your truck.
 
Only problem i have with the Flex-Lite is that under higher RPMs the blades tend to straighten out and ive seem some blades come off and make an escape through the hood or if its close enough to the radiator it chews a nice round circle in it.
 
I like the electric fans because there is less chance of them chewing through the radiator. They also work no matter what rpm the motor is turning so at idle and low rpms they keep things cool. The electronics you speak of turns out to be a switch. You can do a temp controller if you want, but a simple $5 high current switch works great.
 
Well dang, not what I wanted to hear, but I am glad I asked.

I will be in a rush to get everything ready for next weekend anyways, so I am going to run the flex-a-lite for now, until I can order an electric fan and make brackets and such to mount it.

Thanks guys, info is definetly helpful, I would not want to get out on the trail in the middle of July and overheat because of the fan not doing it's job, or worse yet, have a blade come off.
 
oh, duh, i thought you were talking about a metal, electric fan.. LOL..

The high speed/high flow Ford fans are the only ones I'd use.. and you need to use relays on those.. a 20A switch isn't gonna cut it.

I'd get a junkyard fan for your truck... Tacos have good cooling systems when the radiator isn't plugged with mud.
 
Rich said:
oh, duh, i thought you were talking about a metal, electric fan.. LOL..
The high speed/high flow Ford fans are the only ones I'd use.. and you need to use relays on those.. a 20A switch isn't gonna cut it.
I'd get a junkyard fan for your truck... Tacos have good cooling systems when the radiator isn't plugged with mud.
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Yes they do have good cooling systems, my electric fans hardly ever cut on, and it never overheats (unless a wire comes undone like has happened once before).

I was looking at the Taurus fans, but they are 5" deep, which is more room than I have. I could probably cut the shroud some to make room. I saw some on ebay for about $65 + shipping, new I think.
 
There's some low profile ones I remember some guys posting about on the PBB.. Mitsubishi or something?

You can't cut much off the taurus shroud, the fan doesn't sit far from it. Also, they're ~$35 at the junkyard.
 
I took the two fans off of a 93 hyundai elantra and hooked them together and I swear if the truck (77 Blazer) wasn't in park, it would take flight.


James
 
Tacoma747 said:
Yes they do have good cooling systems, my electric fans hardly ever cut on, and it never overheats (unless a wire comes undone like has happened once before).
I was looking at the Taurus fans, but they are 5" deep, which is more room than I have. I could probably cut the shroud some to make room. I saw some on ebay for about $65 + shipping, new I think.
Click to expand...
I just finished putting one of these bad boys on my blazer. It made all the diffrence in the world. I cant give you a exact figure on the depth unless I went and measured but I will always have electric fans. There are so much nicer. oh yea best of all i only paid 35 bucks for my 2 speed fan
 
the deep water concern is also about the solid fan not being able to slip, so it flexes forward trying to drive the water out the back, which forces the blades to bend forward into contact with the radiator if the clearance is close.
 
The Moss has been sporting a flexfan for 5 years now with no issues (other than a crappy OEM rad. that was rodded early on... replaced with a NEW CJ 3 core and hasn't hit about 190* yet)... BUT, I want to go electric also.

Given the deepest water I've ever been in was only 6"-12" deep... losing a blade act as a prop has never been a concern... probably less of a concern for a taller rig...
 
i pulled a taurus fan from the junkyard for 25 bux. lemme go measure real quick to give you a real number of the shroud/fan assembly.........ok so between 4.5 and 4.75" so you were correct with the 5" measurement.

i have like a foot and a half of space when i pull my fan on the 4banger tho :flipoff2:
 
Electric fans

I can get ford taurus fans for really cheap if anybody wants one (name a year and motor).

For my jeep, I pulled a fan out of a late model lincoln with the dual overhead cam 4.6. It was the only fan in the vehicle. It definitely moves some air.
 
I had a perma cool on my truck for a few months then one day out of the blue one of the metal blades slices into my radiator giving me a nice huge leaking gash. I got a new radiator at 1800 radiators and put the stock fan back in. I never had any cooling problems from my stock yota fan. I guess I just got a case of bad luck, still dont know what caused the blade to bend
 
Yo,
I have used both fiberglass and aluminum types and if you get the right fan for the application, they are a great cost effective alternative to the over-priced OEM clutch fans that will eventually fail. If you are going to crawl thru water, get a metal one. I did shear a fiberlass unit crossing some high water but the aluminum one never failed me.
My $0.02

:beer:
 
Go to one of the used NASCAR parts places towards chalotte andget one there. Or at Hutchson and Pagen in Charlotte. Nascar parts are most of the time the best stuff out there. Electric fans are the only way to go. Ya got to free up all that power.
 
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