electric fan question....

My fan clutch needs to be replaced and the guy at the local auto parts store suggested that I could put an electric fan in front of the radiator to help the stock one out.. now I know just the stock one will do fine but could I do what he suggested wired to a switch that I can turn on manually .. kinda as a backup.. has anyone ever done that? Also, the size of the electric fan is the size of the actual opening? Thank y'all in advance for any advice, much appreciated.

i don't think there would be room in front of the radiator for another fan, but i like the idea, but a lot of dudes are getting rid of the belt driven fan and going electric anyways, some say its the biggest hp increase u can do cheaply. you couldn't go wrong with just fully replacing the belt fan with an electric one. i kinda been wanting to do that myself.

Our radiators measure 21 x14, could I put dual 10s or would that be overkill?

That might be overkill. 16" 2500 cfm fan.

No such thing as overkill when it comes to cooling. Especially with all the headgasket problems these trucks have

I have a 12" fan mounted in front of my radiator, I upgraded to a 2" thick aluminium radiator and ditched the manual fan altogether, cut the top hose in half and fitted a temperature probe adapter in there, then a electric fan controller takes care of the rest.
The fan switches on if I'm stuck in traffic or sitting at the lights for a few minutes, don't forget, fans only do their job while the vehicle is stationary, when driving forwards the manual far will slow right down to almost stopping, that's why they have a clutch.

Oh, and with my fan mounted to the front I still had enough room to fit a oil cooler next to it.

Wow !!! Bet that keeps that washin' machine running cool !!!

The trick is where you put the thermo switch. DON'T put it in the intake manifold because it stays cooler than the rest of the engine even though coolant is flowing through it. Also, I'd use a cooler thermo switch (175 on), remember the old fan system is constantly running so when the thermostat opens a huge rush of cold water enters the engine. If you wait until it's 195 in the intake it's too late, your engine will be hotter than that.

Speaking from a position of been there done that, I had an electric fan and it didn't save me anything, it gave me headaches and not much else especially performance increase (HP)... I went back to the stock set up and it works perfectly. My engine runs cool, I get 23MPG on the highway and 20.5 in town.

My suggestion, buy a new clutch, install it and move on. Just my two cents. Oh, and the clutch is cheaper than the E-fan set up so it's a win win.

Dan

Fresh fan clutch, fresh 2-row slushbox rad - my 5-speeed truck has no cooling issues.

Los Angeles traffic and heat, and the needle barely kisses the wiggly lines below the thermometer icon.

Also, as my stereo consumes all available power, and then some - I don't want to add another load (electric fan) to the charging system.