Aftermarket Mechanical Fans???

Let me start this thread by making it known that I'm aware of the fact that the electric fans are by far better than the mechanical set up we were blessed with in our jeeps. With that said, because I go to school for automotive and sold my soul to snapon so I can fix everyone elses vehicles instead of my own, and have other financial ties. Spending the amount of money for the electric fan conversion I want is way to much... $275.00 to be close to exact. I was wondering if anyone has had any luck with aftermarket mechanical fans. I've heard and can see why the flex a lite was not the greatest fan due to it basically cutting out at higher revs. Sorry for how long this is. Thanks for your input!

my 1996 4.0 kept over heating, and i couldnt figure it out. first new waterpump and lower thermostat, then new radiator. finally i took a old school timing gun and first pointed it at the pulle the clutch fan turns on and took a reading, then point it at the front of the fan if it is not moving significantly greater then you have a bad fan clutch. i replaced mine with a STOCK replacment from advance for the 32 bucks i think. and WOW what a differenct problem solved!!

i would recommend replacing the mechanical clutch fan to anyone!!!!!

I hear ya with the tight money because of snap-on xjfanatic87. I've got a flex-a-lite fan in my 96 XJ. Its nothing crazy just a single auxilary fan I have hooked up to a toggle switch. I heard summit makes generic electrical auxilary fans, not too sure though. But deffinitaly look into that fan clutch because that may solve your problem.
Does anyone know how the auxilary fans handle going through deep mud/slop/water? Havent done it yet, If its spinning does it bind up and break?
Thanks

Other than the flexfans Im really not sure that there are any mechanical upgrades.

What was included in the $275 kit? I bought a $60 fan $15 relay kit and a $7 fan control switch. I havent had any reliability problems. I even wired it in to come on w/ the a/c.

Rumor has it that the e-fan can cut into the core. the toggle switch is a good idea. just shut it off. I put one into mine.

The kit is on ebay, type in cherokee electric fan and they will pop up. The first one with shipping is around $250.00. And the one that I "WANT" is $275.00 shipped. I know how to fabricate my own fan setup, I acutally prefer making something myself i.e. my roof rack i'm making and my air intake. But the problem I've had was even finding a 10" fan that can make anything that will amount to over 2000 cfm. And they claim that these fans combined would produce a whopping 3000 something cfm.:looney:

I'm having a complete mindfart at the moment but I think you can go up to 14" (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Heck I can't even tell you the exact size of the electric one in my XJ but I think it's 14". You obviously have the skills to make your own shroud so go that route. Mine is a Zirgo, works really good.

xjfanatic87 said:

The kit is on ebay, type in cherokee electric fan and they will pop up. The first one with shipping is around $250.00. And the one that I "WANT" is $275.00 shipped. I know how to fabricate my own fan setup, I acutally prefer making something myself i.e. my roof rack i'm making and my air intake. But the problem I've had was even finding a 10" fan that can make anything that will amount to over 2000 cfm. And they claim that these fans combined would produce a whopping 3000 something cfm.:looney:

Click to expand...

Using a 14" aftermarket fan in the neighborhood of 2000 cfm will work well IF you do a good job mounting it into a stock fan shroud. Your fan can't be anymore than 3.75" thick and you will have to trim down the studs that line-up your stock fan-clutch. Not a whole lotta room for error here unless you remove the bearing or move the radiator forward.

I ran a setup like this a couple of summers around PHX and LV often above 105* in rush-hour traffic with the a/c on and NEVER once over-heated. I climbed a fairly steep trail over a mile long @ 110* and the temp guage never climbed above 225*.

I switched both fans on/off simultaneously through the existing auxilliary fan circuit and/or a temperature probe in the radiator. No problems either way, although through the existing fan circuit allowed the cooling system to heat up a little more before the fans switched on. I solved this problem by installing a small resistor in parallel with the coolant temperature sensing auxilliary fan switch to fool the sensor into triggering the switch 5-10 degrees early.

Good luck, and remember... the key is in how well your electrical replacement is mounted and shrouded.

(Edited to add: Going this route should cost you less than half what that kit on ebay will)