Radiator Fans, Mech. Or Eletric?

[Blanco]

What have most of you found to be the most reliable set ups...
I dont race, But am trying to build up my Pre-runner to run these Big Baja Course's & such & dont want an eletric giving up on me out there...:o

But considering how my Pre-runner also at times is used as Daily driver I'd like to get a big Bad ass eletric fan to push enough air through me radiator to keep the A/C pumping out cold air during the summer while being stuck in L.A. traffic.

I just fear it going out on me while pre-running deep into a course...

I do have an awsome eletrical guy.... but he is only resposible for the quality of his wiring...

[chuck]

It is hard to beat a mech. fan for reliability or cooling. That said I went to a double Derale fan on a T-stat with the radiator in the back on my racer. The reason I did is at night in Baja my engine water temp. would get down to 135 degrees and I had no way to control it except stop and put something in front of the radiator or slow down. Neither seemed like good choices in a race.

[straightaxle]

For a pre runner, I would stick with the mechanical setup. The factory setup with a clutch fan and shroud is very hard to beat if all the components are in perfect condition. An aux electric fan out in front of the air conditioning exchanger might help when you're stuck in traffic. Just make sure it is mounted in some other way than those zip ties through the fins.

[AngerIssues]

We have never made the switch over to electrical, but then again we melted down two motors last year. I'm very sure that this was more related to fuel and jetting, and a partially collapsed radiator. We'd never had any major overheating problems before, and had raced some pretty hot BITD races.

If I went electrical, I guess I might consider doing it with rear-mount radiators, but I don't care for the thought of running coolant hoses that far back. I know a lot of guys do it, but "it it aint broke, don't fix it".

My 85 Bronco, with AC, never gave me issues in LA traffic, nor has my 84 F-150 with AC. I think a properly working mechanical fan with a good water pump, good radiator, and good fan are very reliable. You might need a bigger alternator and dual batteries with electrical fan(s) too... but probalby have that covered, eh?

If the car is overheating, you may have other issues. My two were great (in their time).

[Blanco]

The Bronco has never run Hot in city driving.

But while Pre-running the temp does go up & the trans got hot too...
The Broncos working harder yet moving slower with less air flowing through the radiator...
So I'm considering This BIG dual electric fan set up that is the size of my radiator..
It cost about $500.00 for this fan
& it would be adjustable from in the cab...

Not to mention I like to Run in comfort...
& If I could pre-Run a whole course with the windows up, staying clean with the A/C cranking out some cold air in the middle of summer, I be a very Happy man. http://thewebwheeler.com/forums/images/smilies/7.gif

I can imagine you guys probably look like this guy :rolleyes: right about now.
But its not a race truck.
Its my street drivin pre-runner...http://thewebwheeler.com/forums/images/smilies/shrug.gif

Like I said before my big worry is its reliability...

I would'nt mind so much in town .... but to have it go out in the middle of no where would SUCK! :o

[chupakabras]

"it it aint broke, don't fix it". God words.. right?, we switch from mech,, to elec.. fan, with mech.. fan we never had problems, just one time that one engine mount broke and the engine fall, so the fan got stuck, we didn't realize that until the engine overheated, we didn't had a drop of water, not even to drink, and we were just getting down at the simpson hill, and not just that, with that broken engine mount, the vacum hose that goes into the brakes booster, broke too, so, the engine overheated and we ran out of breakes, everything at the same time, will tell later how we were able to take our chupakabras out of there, we ran short on time to the next checkpoint..

back to business. now our tempertures have rise to 215 last time, i believe we fix that already, to not let the temperture drop minues 180, we install a low temperture thermostat, you know, those sensors works at high tempertures, well, some of them, the stock therm.. rounds about 195, i think.

we carry on our racer the mech fan, just in case, haha..

[Blanco]

"it it aint broke, don't fix it".

Well as I stated it does get hot while Pre-running.
we carry on our racer the mech fan, just in case, haha..

Thats actually a great idea. http://www.thewebwheeler.com/forums/images/smilies/m2c.gif

[shaner17]

In my 84 bronco I have never had any overheating problems running thru the
desert or towing our trailer, but that was in its stock form. im sure your running alot harder while pre-running.

I decided to go with the "it it aint broke, don't fix it". method but pulled the stock radiator and installing a Ron David Dual pass 31x19x3 w/ a pass for the tranny. If we have any issues im sure we will get the electric fans for it, but I have heard of alot of guys having issues with there fans and switching back to mech.

[AngerIssues]

My cousin Andy has been driving with me for quite some time, but bought Adam Wiks old 2x pre-runner F-150 and has started racing sportsman with the hopes of maybe racing class 8 someday.

It has no mech fan, but two electric ones. I'm not throwing stones, but the setup originally was CRAP. One fan pushed, one pulled, and both went through a single breaker with nowhere near enough amps. They constantly shut-down.

Now he has two fans that actually go the same direction (pull), and each are fused separately.

Stay tuned to see how this works, and/or check it out in San Felipe - 1405 I think... Andy Leavitt. I'm sticking to mechanical, and if anything changes, it might be to pull my tranny cooler out of the front and move it to the rear. I don't think it is going to be a problem moving forward.