okay im debating on what to use here. ive always been an electric fan guy. have never used a flex fan mainly cuz ive been working on mustangs for the last 4 yrs and there is not to much room in that engine bay. but now i got a g body with a huge engine bay and space is not an issue here. it had one of those ss blade supposedly high performance one but i threw it away cuz it a few blades were kinked. and i like how the flex fan runs off the engine so it could pull alot more air i assume. so which is better the metal one or plastic? and i always know there is a chance it can break and cause alot of damage but im not to worried about that, they have been using them for years and still do so they are doing somethin right to keep using them. and i believe in murpheys law, if anything can go wrong it will. so who is to say my balancer wont fly off and do the same damage. plus i work at a shop and if i buy a flex fan from auto parts store and it flys off and destroys my radiator and hood and whatever else i can make a claim on it. but what are u guys running? what works better for mainly street use, im in tx and it gets real hot in tx traffic. does plastic pull less air than the metal one? i have a friend with a bu he runs the plastic fan with a 15" electric cuz his car heats in traffic. not to sure if its cuz the fan is to small or cuz the are just made for racin. but he says on the highway its good just in traffic it heats. and he doesnt use a fan shroud so im sure that has a lil sumthin to do with it..
flex fan vs plastic flex fan vs electric
- Thread starter bjohn07
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I run an aluminum one right now. Have no problems at all with it. I used to run one of those plastic ones. In in my opinion that was my favorite one. They pull an amazing amount of air. But they do make A LOT of noise. But after about two years (I think), it broke. Twp of the blades came off as I was driving it. I was lucky that the only damage was a small chunk taken from my fan shroud. Now here are a couple thing I'd like to add. First, I didn't use a torque wrench, so it's very possible that I over tightened the bolts. And it was installed on two different cars, both daily drivers. And I live in Canada, at the time it broke the temperature was -35 Celsius (-31 Fahrenheit). I'm pretty sure the cold temperature played a factor on there.
But honestly, electric is the way to go. If you can afford it, go that route.
But honestly, electric is the way to go. If you can afford it, go that route.
They sell nice wiring kits for electric fans that will turn them on at preset temperatures. I live in NC and my temperature starts climbing in traffic as well. I run the 16" nylon flex-a-lite fan. I have been thinking about adding an electric fan that I can flip on while sitting in traffic to help out.
yeah thats what my friend did, he still runs his flex fan and just flips on the electric when he is hitting stop lights or in traffic. and i will just do my own wiring. for less than 10 bucks i can set sumthin up. i got the wiring, solder connections, and i got an adjustable temp controller with a probe i got off jegs a while back. didnt use it cuz i decided to use a switch on that car. the f250 radiator i put in it dont even need a fan to keep that engine cool.RITTER said:
In my car I run an aluminum radiator with a heavy duty clutch fan..........no heating issues at all....Then again I don't live down south or southwest for that matter.....That being said, I live in New York just south of Rochester and it gets pretty hot here as well, in the summer that is,......either way, if you have a good alum.radiator and a decent fan you should not have an issue. BTW, Good luck in Boot Camp 😀
Well after seeing what my buddy's flex fan did to his hood..... It went threw his newly painted hood on his Malibu. I am going with electric fan's. I would rather use a thermostatic fan clutch than risk the fan fan constantly working.....I would use electric fan's. The plus with the electric fan's are able to be "told" when to be on and extra Hp.Just my opinion. 😀
On my car I'm running a fat aluminum rad and two electric fans, one in front of the rad and one behind. I'm no wiring genious, but we wired them up witht he kit to come on at a predetermined temp and a manual override so you can switch them on anytime. The problem isn't overheating, it's adjusting the fans to stay off long enough to warm up. I'm using generic knock off made in china fans not flex a lites, I won't use another clutch or flex fan again, they don't look nearly as good either.
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