It really aint much worse than the stock one(the front plate is only like 26in across). Its actually smaller than the stock bumper with all the plastic.....The main thing that kills my MPG is 4.10 gears running stock 33in tires. I can pull anything I want downt the road but I do pay for it!

 

yea 4.10's will screw ya on that aspect.

 

ok so i've been wondering, will these fans be sufficient for my truck, http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1∂=HDA-3690&N=700+4294924755+4294908110+4294907804+429492 4500+4294839058+4294838842+115&autoview=sku
i live in VA and it gets kinda hot and humid here sitting in traffic on I-95 lol, just curious if it will suffice, cuz they're pretty cheap and with a adjustable thermostat with manual override they have, it would be a pretty decent set up i think

 

All the reading I have done on this says we need like 3,300 or 3,500 cfm. I forget which one it is but its one of those. Even with 2 of them fans your not at that cfm

 

While it's stated on here repeatedly that we need somewhere around 3300-3500 cfm for our trucks, that info is dead wrong. I suspect it's because that's the kit Flex-a-lite sells, I'll personally never buy from flex-a-lite because they are the one manufacturer that won't send me fan curves or performance charts. The Flex-a-lite 3000+ fan is measured at 0 restriction, in other words, with no radiator in front of it, so the performance is grossly over rated. Other sites recommend around "2200 to 2600" cfm for our trucks. That number is based off the "0" restriction fans so guessing the real number is closer to 2000-2200 'actual' flow.

My career field is testing and recording fan performance, it's the only thing I consider myself an 'expert' on, so hope this doesn't come across as preachy, just tired of seeing guys getting ripped off.

I've recorded the airflow of our factory clutch fan at under 1000 cfm at idle, which is when you are most likely to over heat. Using fan laws, That would put us around 2000 cfm under 2,000 rpm w/o the truck moving. Once the truck is moving, the cooling is more from the airflow coming through the grill on its own.

WJ, 2 of those fans will work. Hayden rates those fans at 1250 each with 0 restriction, and 1000 cfm with a 'typical' radiator. Hayden's own web site lists that as their recommendation for our trucks, so no doubt in my mind it will be fine.

My gut feeling is we can get away with less, but I haven't finished my testing yet. I don't want to make further recommendations until I've tried it on my own truck first.

 

i appreciate your expertise hutch...i guess we'll just have to see if it works. its not gonna be for a while, cuz i don't have money(especially now). plus its not like a $600 fan setup or anything...so i wont be out that much if it doesnt work...

 

i want to do this but i want to know exactly what im getting into before i do. We are taking out our fan clutch and putting electric fans in place of it? Then manually switching them on and off? I think someone that knows what they are doing should write up sort of a DIY and or a fairly deep explanation on why and how one should do this. I usually like to read the instructions to know what im getting into before i do it.

 

I will be doing something, but unfortunately, not until sometime in August. I can say without a doubt you can use two fans rated at around '1300' and not have any issues, but what I'm going to be experimenting with is a single fan rated around 1600 cfm mounted away from the radiator, within the factory shroud. I believe this will work fine based on what I know about fan design, and it will be recreating the '0' restriction most fans are rated at.

You can go with the "3000"+ fans, and yes they will work, but it's more of a load on the electrical system. Pay attention to the overall amp draw ratings, and keep in mind that's the amp draw when the fans are up to speed. Starting the fans creates a spike in amps as the motor works to speed the fan up, usually at least 2-3 times the rated amp draw. While I can't say how bad this is long term, common sense says you'd want to minimize that. (any industry I know that works with fans tries to minimize that) Oversizing fans will cause them to short cycle, (turn on, make temp quickly, shut off) and they'll be turning on/off more then they need too.

 

I will be removing my mechanical fan and installing one 16" electric fan mounted flush with the edge of the plastic shroud closest to the engine. This will cool better than mounting it against the radiator. I will be using the flexalite VSC because it soft starts the fan and then ramps up the speed based on temperature. I believe this is the best setup.
http://www.flex-a-lite.com/auto/html/vsc.html

 

vmann, there are many fan controlleres that you can buy, mine was like $17 at autozone, you stick a probe in your upper rad hose and that goes to a switch under the hood that has a dial to fine tune the kickon speed....im using a mark 8 fan, i have pics in one of the other fan threads