Electrical, Mechanical or both: cooling fans

[dyogim]

Which do your prefer or have?

Here's my current project:

Vehicle: 00 tundra V8, 4x4 auto with some mods.

Along with the mechanical fan set-up, I plan on incorporating two 9" electrical fans (12V, 80watts, 8 amp draw). Each are rated at 1000 CFMs. Other than the radiator, I also have a tranny cooler and will also be installing either a single or dual oil cooler set-up. One for the engine oil and the other for the PS fluid. I'll have one fan directly in front of the tranny cooler and the other in front of the dual/single cooler. I'll either use a single or dual switch to control the fans at will or maybe a switch that regulates the power to control the CFMs output. The purpose of this is to help cool things down when traveling slow or at low RPMS during warm days. Which means either on the trail or sitting in traffic.

I went with two Procomp 9" fans bought on ebay. This is not something I wanted to break the bank and completely a budget build. Each fan cost about $17 and I should be receiving them within a week or so. I'll post up once I recieve the fan start the install with pics.

What's your set-up, thoughts and/or pics?

 

[EXP-T100]

well if you did not buy the fans i would say go with a Ford taurus 2speed fan (i have bought 2 off ebay for $35 each) on low it like 3500cfm and high is something like 4500 to 5000 cfm, these fans suck like crazy. that fan is all i have on my 4runner and i can run every thing all day in 90*+ in LoLo (244:1 37's bla bla) and stay around 180* to 195* and i dont even use the high setting (not hooked up). But you should be fine with the two 9's and you stock fan.

 

[dyogim]

What size are the ford taurus fans? Who knows, if these fans work with the tranny and oil/PS fluids as I'm hoping, I may pursue the ford taurus idea...

Thanks for the info!

 

[Pskhaat]

You can always boost your stock fan and increase efficiency. That said I still have an OEM pusher on my LC.

 

[Pskhaat]

What are the Taurus fan dimensions and amp draw on low/high?

 

[EXP-T100]

i am leaving work right now and will let you two know the size and draw in a bit:victory:

 

[EXP-T100]

ok amp on low are 7.78 and high is ... 18.88 amps lol but like i said i have never even hooked up the high side. The guy that i have seen hook it up they use a ford starter rely because of the Initial draw. the size is 21 to 22" wide x 16" to 18" tall x 4 3/4" deep (i trimed it to fit my rad). I will be putting one on my t100 soon.

 

[corax]

regardless of what the ad said, those 9" fans are not 1k CFM a piece, probably 1k CFM combined . . .

check out SPAL for the fan controller. The slick one references your factory coolant temp sensor for fan control (look around a bit, they can be found for much less than factory prices). Don't use the type of controller that has a probe stuck in the cooling fins (at most every parts store) - they're unreliable and inaccurate

 

[EXP-T100]

regardless of what the ad said, those 9" fans are not 1k CFM a piece, probably 1k CFM combined . . .

check out SPAL for the fan controller. The slick one references your factory coolant temp sensor for fan control (look around a bit, they can be found for much less than factory prices). Don't use the type of controller that has a probe stuck in the cooling fins (at most every parts store) - they're unreliable and inaccurate

X2 and before i got my taurus fan i bought a cheap fan off ebay that sucked, maybe 400cfm was suppose to be 800 but you might get lucky also and it only lasted 2 months

 

[ntsqd]

I've read great reviews of this fan control, but I've yet to have a need for one.
http://www.dccontrol.com/0820.htm
For off road use I'd rather have a mechanical clutch fan as the primary cooling fan.

 

[corax]

Previously I was using a 14" fan on my single core Griffin radiator. I could fit one 12" or 2x 9" fans with the new setup (not enough room between the radiator and the front cross member for the 14"). I did some math on how much coverage the fans would give on the radiator:
1x14" fan = 153 sq.in.
1x12" fan = 113 sq.in.
2x9" fans = 127 sq.in
Both 9" fans pull 22 amps when they first start spinning, but settle down to 10 amps at full speed. Even though I'm stepping down in fan size I should be golden since the overall cooling capacity is increasing (Ron Davis 2 core dual pass radiator).

 

[dyogim]

Decided to add two 9" electric fans to help cool things down a bit during those hot days. For now, I've installed only one fan. Second is awaiting for the dual cooler set-up to be installed. In anycase, I hooked everything up to a relay, switch and 12V power source. The fan currently installed is to help keep the tranny cooler temps down. For now I've zipped tied the fan to the tranny cooler, ran the lines to the Blue Sea Fuse block and then to the relay and so on. I was able to use the dome light as the 12V source and install the swtich into the sunglass holder. I'm hoping this helps a bunch in the longevity of the tranny. Fan only cost about $20. Here's the pics of the install:

Fan installed:

​

More switches will be migrated to the sun glass holder...

 

[OldSven]

I have the Perma-Cool 18" electric fan on mine. Works awsome! Have to keep an eye on it just because it is electrical so if it some goes wrong you got no cooling power but much lighter and the motor doesn't have to spin that big 10lb weight around anymore

 

[dyogim]

I have the Perma-Cool 18" electric fan on mine. Works awsome! Have to keep an eye on it just because it is electrical so if it some goes wrong you got no cooling power but much lighter and the motor doesn't have to spin that big 10lb weight around anymore

For now, I'm keeping the mechanical fan. If I feel the need to or run out of other projects (doubt it), I may swap out the mechanical and do the Ford Taurus swap.

 

[Bugetexpedition]

I am running a mechanical flex fan which I consider my constant/ fail-safe. Then I have an electrical fan that I have switched in the cab to turn on manually when it gets really hot under load.