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#22 ·
ADakotaRTGuy said:
Stock radiator, GC fan ($55), Brackets ($125), shroud($150), so overall not to expensive.
Click to expand...
When i did mine it was stock shroud (free), jeep Cherokee e fan (free), Derale controller ( $120 i think was awhile ago now might have been cheaper), couple of home made brackets from scrap aluminum.
Took about an hour to figure out how to mount the e fan in the stock shroud and get it centered and even. 5 mins to put back into the truck. 15 to wire it up. Works like a charm for 2 yrs now never a problem


The controller is behind my BEEP BEEP horn in the picture
 

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#23 ·
ADakotaRTGuy said:
Just do this...

Image
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That is very nice looking. Unfortunatly the radiator Isn't going to do it's job as much as it can. The reason for the shroud is to center all the air and vacum out with the fan pulling it. If you notice a stock shroud, It goes far back from the radiator so the air can flow through the radiator blades and angle out. As for yours, the air cant pass through and angle out. Instead it goes through the blades and hits the wall/shroud, with any air flow it will act more like matter and air will go around the radiator completley except where the fan is cause your shroud is only working for where the fan is. That is why when you buy a fan like that, they have no shroud and the rest of the radiator can continue to work.

My advise to you, remove that shroud you made. You will have much better cooling.
 
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#24 ·
Rebel13 said:
That is very nice looking. Unfortunatly the radiator Isn't going to do it's job as much as it can. The reason for the shroud is to center all the air and vacum out with the fan pulling it. If you notice a stock shroud, It goes far back from the radiator so the air can flow through the radiator blades and angle out. As for yours, the air cant pass through and angle out. Instead it goes through the blades and hits the wall/shroud, with any air flow it will act more like matter and air will go around the radiator completley except where the fan is cause your shroud is only working for where the fan is. That is why when you buy a fan like that, they have no shroud and the rest of the radiator can continue to work.

My advise to you, remove that shroud you made. You will have much better cooling.
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I know what you mean, if I need to I will add flaps vents, but I am going to run E85 so it should not be an issue. Additionally the fan covers about 75 percent of the radiator area, so not much is left, the shroud was more for looks than anything else.
 
#25 ·
Well shit I thought I had pics on my comp of my setup but I don't, I'll take some. I have a $25 junkyard Thunderbird e-fan, $100 FAL controller, maybe $20 worth of aluminum flat stock and about 6 hours of my time.
 
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#26 ·
Forget the hand switch.....when you see it, it's to late

go to Hayden and look up a nice controller in your budget. Mine was $35.
http://www.haydenauto.com/ROOT-Home/Content.aspx
Mine is tucked between the battery and front crossbar. You can see a little aluminum piece, that's the bracket and the cotrol is under it. The capillary goes in the front of the radiator right by the hot water inlet. I piggybacked my controller on my stock relay so it doesn't throw a code and runs at temperatures I want. I installed a 180 thermostat, and the fan comes on at 195 and off about 185. Runs constant when tha A/C is on. Temperature guage sits just above the bottom line, seldom moves and the A/C is good. As to the added HP claimes...it takes HP to run an alternator under a load.
 
#27 ·
On the GC fan, is it possible to mount it staright to the rad usine those locking tabs? You'd prolly have to use washers for spacer to get it away from the fins. I'm just wondering if the fan has enough tabs on it to hold it securely if it was mounted this way.
 
#30 ·
94dakV8 said:
Hell, might be able to use factory GC shroud also. Just cut it down some to make it thinner. Ill be bringing a shroud home from work to check on this.
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nice, i look forward to finding out
 
#31 ·
Just gotta figure out any differance in the 01? N up with cap on upper hose vs like a 97 w/ cap on rad. The older ones didn't have e-fans from factory so there won't be the mounts. The fan will work being mounted as I said but gota check on shroud. Hell the factory dakota shroud may work too. Gotta research.
 
#32 · (Edited)
DrPepper said:
go to Hayden and look up a nice controller in your budget. Mine was $35.
http://www.haydenauto.com/ROOT-Home/Content.aspx
Mine is tucked between the battery and front crossbar. You can see a little aluminum piece, that's the bracket and the cotrol is under it. The capillary goes in the front of the radiator right by the hot water inlet. I piggybacked my controller on my stock relay so it doesn't throw a code and runs at temperatures I want. I installed a 180 thermostat, and the fan comes on at 195 and off about 185. Runs constant when tha A/C is on. Temperature guage sits just above the bottom line, seldom moves and the A/C is good. As to the added HP claimes...it takes HP to run an alternator under a load.
Click to expand...
Are you not running the alternator regardless? All you are doing is getting rid of one pulley, shorter belt, less drag....frees up power. People do the short belt trick at the track and pick up a tenth.
 
#34 ·
Hi guys......

DakRTGuy, sure I'm running an alternator, but the alternator resistance (HP requirement) varies as the load varies, I can hear my engine pull a bit as my electric fan starts (not when I turn on the A/C, that is the compressor and the fan) to cool things off.
Hahns nailed it, no arguement that it is a great improvement over the clutch monster, but I doubt if it's good for a huge improvement at the track. Also, the electric is controllable, when I ran my truck I unplugged the compressor and before my run I turned on the A/C (which turned on the fan) and cooled my engine down so there was no call for fan and no alternator drag. Worked well, plugged in the A/C and went home in comfort.:mullet: With the clutch monster the engine does what it does and not much to control it.
 
#35 ·
DrPepper said:
DakRTGuy, sure I'm running an alternator, but the alternator resistance (HP requirement) varies as the load varies, I can hear my engine pull a bit as my electric fan starts (not when I turn on the A/C, that is the compressor and the fan) to cool things off.
Hahns nailed it, no arguement that it is a great improvement over the clutch monster, but I doubt if it's good for a huge improvement at the track. Also, the electric is controllable, when I ran my truck I unplugged the compressor and before my run I turned on the A/C (which turned on the fan) and cooled my engine down so there was no call for fan and no alternator drag. Worked well, plugged in the A/C and went home in comfort.:mullet: With the clutch monster the engine does what it does and not much to control it.
Click to expand...
The alternator reads voltage, when something electrical turns on and the alternator needs to keep a steady voltage it will increase resistance, so how are you not increasing drag? I am not saying it does not require power to increase load on the alternator, I am saying it does not take as much as a clutch fan.
 
#36 ·
We are sayint the same thing in a different way....

"...Hahns nailed it, no arguement that it is a great improvement over the clutch monster,..."

I agree with you, honest, the electric is a big improvement...but, there is some HP required to move the fan when it's running. There can also be an argument made that the clutch fan doesn't use much HP when the radiator temp is down and the clutch is disengaged...?? At that time (theoretically) the fan is free wheeling and not a drag on the engine. At what temp does the clutch engage...:huh: I have no idea and I don't care because I have an electric fan that I can adjust my fan on and off points.

[ I gotta figure out how to do the quote in a box thing... :jester:...it's cool]
DrPepper
 
#38 ·
A year or so ago I asked something about the physics on how it's possible the efan could save fuel. My thinking went that since there's no such thing as free energy both the clutch fan and efans are driven by the engine, and that since the clutch fan is a much more direct route it would have to be more efficient than the efan (at least when it came to fuel consumption). I was told that this was true, but since the alternator generates a lot more electricity than is actually used the efan ends up using power that would have been thrown away anyway and this is what makes the efan more efficient.

I'd like confirmation that that's true.

Also, I now have 2 amps drawing power so if I increase the electrical demands on the system with an efan will I see any problems? You know like dimming lights, dead batteries, things like that.
 
#39 ·
Shackleford said:
A year or so ago I asked something about the physics on how it's possible the efan could save fuel. My thinking went that since there's no such thing as free energy both the clutch fan and efans are driven by the engine, and that since the clutch fan is a much more direct route it would have to be more efficient than the efan (at least when it came to fuel consumption). I was told that this was true, but since the alternator generates a lot more electricity than is actually used the efan ends up using power that would have been thrown away anyway and this is what makes the efan more efficient.

I'd like confirmation that that's true.
Click to expand...
The alternator only produces the power that it needs. Turn something on that needs power, the alternator has to generate that power and places more load on the engine.

You will not find an electric fan that draws the kind of power that a mechanical fan will. A mechanical fan is typically much heavier. An E-fan typically draws much more air than a mechanical fan does at idle, which is where you really need the airflow, a mechanical fan can typically move more air at higher RPMs but that air isn't really needed there as the vehicle should be moving. A properly working clutch fan shouldn't suck much power at all when the clutch is unlocked, but when it gets hot and locks up, I know mine would suck a significant amount. The GC fan I'm using requires like a 1/2hp to operate. And most of the time an e-fan isn't running so it isn't drawing any power. The main reason i went with an E-fan is for a really hot days when the clutch fan would be locked up and sucking power., that's where the big gain is.

All that said, don't really expect an MPG increase.
 
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#40 ·
Yeah, you pull something off of your engine that produces that much drag and resistance, of course you're gonna free up hp, I saw a slight mpg increase but like hahns said it wasn't anything spectacular. Throttle response and low end rpm's are much better, I have 125 in my swap, its in my Sig
 
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