Performance mechanical fan

[jaed_43725]

I am doing the water pump replacement due to it leaking. And noticed the factory fan (not Clutch) reminded me of a car I had. I replaced the fan with a flex-a-lite mechanical. So I am wondering if there are any high performance mechanical fans for our trucks. I can tell that the factory ones pose some efficiency problems. I do not want to do an electric conversion. So any help would be appreciated.

 

[79jasper]

I would think as long as you found one the same diameter, it would work. I never really researched it, but I thought those flex-a-lite fans are supposed to be used as direct drive(no clutch)????

 

[NO_SPRK]

i want a electro-viscous fan clutch. best of both worlds. fuel savings and unmatched CFM

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

what about a stock fan from a 6.0L psd. i know they are bolt up for the 7.3L psd's, and i thought i read they are bolt on for the idi as well. less weight since it is plastic and more cfm.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

PSD fans spin opposite of IDI fans.

 

[NO_SPRK]

PSD fans spin opposite of IDI fans.

unbolt the fan and turn it around? lol

 

[justinray]

unbolt the fan and turn it around? lol

Nope.

 

[icanfixall]

Thats correct about the psd fans ans water pumps rotating the opposite direction that we do. I tried to make this switch long ago till I found out what you are finding out now...

 

[franklin2]

I did a quick look at this before I bolted my stock fan solid, and I could not find anyone who made a aftermarket fan larger than 19 inches. If I remember correctly, I measured the stock fan and it was 23 inches in diameter.

 

[racin460]

i would think twice about the flex fans out there iv seen the blades fly off the fan and go thu the hood .look on you tube and iv seen video of a guy working on a car and it flew past hid head. (LUCKY)

 

[Jake_IN]

i would think twice about the flex fans out there iv seen the blades fly off the fan and go thu the hood .look on you tube and iv seen video of a guy working on a car and it flew past hid head. (LUCKY)

X2

Flex fans scare the crap out of me.

 

[turbo elk]

I had a flex fan loose a blade on my '64 nova once... vibrated like crazy, whole car shook.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

I've never seen a flex fan move any air. My buddy put one on a big block chevy with a shroud, and the temp guage acted like there was no fan on the car at all. The stock clutch fan moves LOTS of air, but sucks some crank power.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Reviving this back from the dead, but flex fans are only scary if you don't pay attention to what you're buying. For instance some have aluminum blades - avoid those like the plague, they will fatigue and crack around the rivets holding them to the hub. Then there is the hub itself - some fans have just one piece of steel, what you want instead is for the blades to be sandwiched between two hub plates and riveted w/ as many rivts as possible, IIRC the flex fan I put on an old hotrod of mine had 6 per blade w/ the massive ninja-throwing-star-shaped hub plates (that one also saw over 5k rpms literally on daily basis). But good luck finding such a fan in the size needed for our trucks, largest I've seen is 19" which was actually smaller than that - there are 21" fans but they are not high-revv suitable, even says so in their description. 23" flex fan, of any kind, not sure if it even exists...

 

[NO_SPRK]

I don't think 3k is high revving for anything but a big ol diesel. I doubt a flex fan cannot pass 3k rpm

Reviving this back from the dead, but flex fans are only scary if you don't pay attention to what you're buying. For instance some have aluminum blades - avoid those like the plague, they will fatigue and crack around the rivets holding them to the hub. Then there is the hub itself - some fans have just one piece of steel, what you want instead is for the blades to be sandwiched between two hub plates and riveted w/ as many rivts as possible, IIRC the flex fan I put on an old hotrod of mine had 6 per blade w/ the massive ninja-throwing-star-shaped hub plates (that one also saw over 5k rpms literally on daily basis). But good luck finding such a fan in the size needed for our trucks, largest I've seen is 19" which was actually smaller than that - there are 21" fans but they are not high-revv suitable, even says so in their description. 23" flex fan, of any kind, not sure if it even exists...