Flex Fan Install
- Thread starter Tynan918
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Thats a good question. Maybe due to the way they come apart. Instead of a standard flex fan you might want to check out an 18" steel fan. I used these on both of my cars. Do you have a serpentine setup ? If you do you'll need a reverse fan.
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I have used flex fans in the past with no issues but I always bought the ones with stainless steel blades I had a buddy that used one with the aluminum blades and the aluminum fatigues one of his blades cracked off and went through his steel hood
They can fail (come apart). And if/when it happens, they need a metal shroud to contain them. Read up about flex-fan failures & recommendations.
Do they all fail? No. But knowing it's possible & not having the correct shroud provides the right environment for an accident. Just ask any guy that drag raced a stick car w/an aluminum bell-housing vs. a safety approved scatter-shield & had their clutch grenade. It may not be all of them, but @ least one or two will be walking w/a limp or prosthetic because when things are spinning @ engine rpm & come apart, they come apart w/force.
Don't all engines run a serpentine belt ?
What I have is stock, nothing aftermarket...
SS thin enough to be used as a fan blade can also metal fatigue & can fail eventually. If they can 'flex' & are thin enough to be light-weight, they can fail.
I work in the food manufacturing industry. We have/use SS fans & impellors that are thicker but can still fail from metal fatigue.
Inspections & replacements are done @ regular maint intervals. The fans are always caged in a steel housing for safety.
No. Serpentine set-ups didn't start until around 1987. Before then it was clock-wise rotation v-belts vs reverse-rotation serpentine belts.
Lots of '87's used a standard-rotation set-up w/a mix of v-belt & a serpentine appearing belt.
Sure .... An '84 car/engine with an accessory set-up from a later model. As someone who's mentioned working under many hoods in their posts, you should know you can swap parts from a '95 sbc onto/into a sbc from 1955. There are limitations for compatibility, but parts swap over; especially accessory brackets, pulleys, & water pumps.
Obviously any metal that flexes can fatigue and fail but since he was going to run a flex fan regardless of input my suggestion is in my opinion run the one least likely to fail
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