1996 ram 1500 2wd w/5.9 magnum 112,000 miles
I just bought the truck from my Uncle. he said a problem he has had with it was the truck overheating when towing up hills. I did alittle research on the internet and found something that said to replace the fan clutch. does this sound right to you guys?? anything else it could be???
thanks

 

From my experience with several different makes of trucks I would say that it could very easily be a fan clutch. I have had instances where towing heavy loads at a low rate of speed has caused overheating and replaced the fan clutch to correct it. I have had my truck operate normally on the highway and then overheat in traffic and the fan clutch replacement fixed it as well. I would also look at the water pump as a possibilty. Of course checking coolant level is a given.

 

did you put the same kind of fan clutch back in it or one that came on at a different temp?

 

I almost always use factory equipment, that being said if you think that the truck is going to be under a heavy load most of the time you might want to try something different. I use factory fan clutches mainly because it has always worked for me and I don't want the drop in fuel mileage from trying to turn the fan all the time. Just one mans opinion, I'm sure there are people here more qualified than I am to recommend a better clutch. What kind of load do you think you will put on the truck on a regular basis?

 

all i'll be towing really is a large pop-up camper, not sure how much weight though. I guess what your saying is the fan clutch is probably just worn out? my worry was that it just wasn't getting enough air from the fan.
have you heard anything about Hayden Fan Clutches? they say they are severe duty on their web site but they are only 67$. thats less then half what the factory clutch is, it seems too good to be true.

 

On my old Chevy trucks I bought clutches at Advance and never had a problem, seems like they were in the $40-50 range.

 

thanks!!