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Anyone ever use this radiator set up?? Looks great

if the fans are mounted to the radiator itself, why would you need a shroud. i thought you needed a shroud when the fan was not attached to the radiator to direct the flow of air onto the radiator?
 
It comes down to surface area. The fan(s) directly attached to the radiator will only pull/push air thru the area its directly over. Where as a shrould will provide a standoff distance for the fan but also allow it to push/pull air over a larger area of the radiator's surface.
 
if the fans are mounted to the radiator itself, why would you need a shroud. i thought you needed a shroud when the fan was not attached to the radiator to direct the flow of air onto the radiator?

Because the fans are only pulling air from in front of those fans in that 10" circle. This creates many hot spots where air is not being pulled through the radiator when not moving.

With a shroud and setting the fans back a little the air is forced across the entire coil eliminating hot spots.
 
well for some reason my computer wont bring up pictures of the ebay url. But i am pretty sure that it is the FF Dynamics set up and they do make shrouds i believe, talk to jeeperjohn he has the triple threat set up on his jeep and he likes his. or you can go with a 14 inch fan from FF Dynamics like what i am going to do and just replace the mech. fan with one 14 inch fan. and that fan will pull 2600 CFM by it self plus you would still have the AC fan with i belive is another 1000 or so or maybe a little less CFM
 
The FFDynamics kit is a high quality kit that works well. It does have room for improvement though. The shroud kit is required if you are gonna be in high ambient temps or towing. Also you will need to use a much larger relay to switch the fans. If I had it to do again I would probably get the CSF radiator (I had one before and it worked very well) and the dirtbound fan/shroud kit and piece together my own fan control setup.
 
I run the CSF 3 row and just finished installing the Dirt Bound set up with controller. In my opinion you can't beat his set up. Clean and functional.
 
It comes down to surface area. The fan(s) directly attached to the radiator will only pull/push air thru the area its directly over. Where as a shrould will provide a standoff distance for the fan but also allow it to push/pull air over a larger area of the radiator's surface.


makes perfect sense. guess the sun fried my brain the other day.
 
I run the CSF 3 row and just finished installing the Dirt Bound set up with controller. In my opinion you can't beat his set up. Clean and functional.

Any hick-ups with your setup? I am thinking about doing the same here shorty. Did you use dirtbounds controller? How is strong is their fan shroud? Flimsy?
 
I just finished installing the dirtbound triple fan kit and the adjustable controller he once offered.

Installation was actually pretty easy. You have to cut the radiator support to fit the kit. I did not replace the radiator when I did the upgrade I felt no need to. I had to massage the AC lines for a little clearance but other than that no problems. I only installed the fans with 4 self tappers and it is not going any where.

These fans pull a ton of air. I am more than happy with this set up I will take some pictures if you guys want tomorrow.
 
Without a shroud around the fans it would be very inefficient. I would look at the electric conversion kit from Dirtbound Offroad.
http://www.dirtboundoffroad.com/featured/xj-–-electric-fan-conversion-kit/
I have it and works great. Add that with a CSF radiator from radiatorbarn.com and you have a better setup for the same price.

I wouldn't say very inefficient. Less efficient than the dirt bound set up yes. But the link the OP posted would be sufficient cooling.

if the fans are mounted to the radiator itself, why would you need a shroud. i thought you needed a shroud when the fan was not attached to the radiator to direct the flow of air onto the radiator?

Yes, sort of. There are different electric fans, some have shrouds on them already (like the fans the OP posted) and some don't. If the fan has a shroud it just needs to be attached dirrectly to the radiator. A quick tip, try to avoid using those through radiator ties to secure electric fans, I've had them destroy radiator before :flamemad:

Because the fans are only pulling air from in front of those fans in that 10" circle. This creates many hot spots where air is not being pulled through the radiator when not moving.

With a shroud and setting the fans back a little the air is forced across the entire coil eliminating hot spots.


Hot spots pretty much become a mute point if you have enough cfm traveling through the area where the fan(s) cover, the radiator disipates the heat over the entire surface of the radiator. Yes a shroud is more efficient, like the dirt bound set up but imho it's over kill, nice, but over kill. What the OP posted would be more than efficient for our XJs imo.

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On a side note I have a single electric fan mounted dirrectly to a stock replacement radiator on a 450 HP mopar big block and I have absolutely no cooling deficiencys. The fan is the style the OP posted, just a single fan on a thermostatic switch, I don't remember the size but it's the largest I coud fit on the radiator.
 
Subscribing and anxious for pics.
 
Thank you very much for the info guys, deff helped me out a lot in making my decision. I have looked at the CSF radiators, and was sold on them before I saw this kit. I really like the way you can set the controller, and seems like a good system all in all. I just bought a new XJ and I need a radiator to start driving the thing, so I'm going to go ahead and give this kit a shot. I'll deff post some pics once the instal is done and let everyone know how it works out for me.

Once again thanks for the input!!
 
Yes a shroud is more efficient, like the dirt bound set up but imho it's over kill, nice, but over kill. What the OP posted would be more than efficient for our XJs imo.
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Having been through a whole lot of work getting my cooling system to work it's best I can assure you (at least in my environment here in socal) the shrouds are needed for adequate cooling in our vehicles. When the fans are mounted directly to the fins of the radiator the air is only being pulled through a circle of air around the fan blades and there is a big round dead spot behind each fan. Shrouds allow the fans to pull air through the entire cooling surface of the radiator.
 
I haven't done it but I would think since you would remove the stock mechanical fan there'd be plenty of room

I have the same set up with a three row Rad and the dirt bound shroud kit, it fits but just barely. I took out the airconditioning condensor and ground down the studs that held the mechanical fan on to make a bit more clearance. I had to cut a small section out from the top of the shroud in order for the hoodlatch to close, but it all went together.

The only problem with the set up is that one of the fans failed on the dirt bound offroad shroud kit after around a week of use and dirtbound offroad doesn't seem to want to replace it because they don't respond to emails. It is a little iffy running on two fans in the summer heat...if there another place to get the fans from I would do that and then just make a shroud, its just a bent piece of sheet metal.
 
I haven't done it but I would think since you would remove the stock mechanical fan there'd be plenty of room

I have the same set up with a three row Rad and the dirt bound shroud kit, it fits but just barely. I took out the airconditioning condensor and ground down the studs that held the mechanical fan on to make a bit more clearance. I had to cut a small section out from the top of the shroud in order for the hoodlatch to close, but it all went together.

The only problem with the set up is that one of the fans failed on the dirt bound offroad shroud kit after around a week of use and dirtbound offroad doesn't seem to want to replace it because they don't respond to emails. It is a little iffy running on two fans in the summer heat...if there another place to get the fans from I would do that and then just make a shroud, its just a bent piece of sheet metal.
 
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