Advice needed: flex fan vs fan clutch?

[The_Handier_Man1]

From: waylonsway53  (Original Message)
Sent: 8/9/2005 3:51 AM

A gentlleman who has worked on RV's for nearly 25 years told me to forget the fan clitch and install a good rated Flex Fan.Any opinions.I have a 440-3 been thru 2 rads so fat and both seem to get hot like on the r or on the m in the word normal on the indicator.Also has anyone seen a 440-3 radiator with a temperature or other kind of gizmo installed on the topo of the radiator.Mine has one.



From: west coast redneck
Sent: 8/14/2005 12:19 PM

Not sure about the flex fan.I have a 440-3 to & i really do some heavy haulling with my boat up steep grade logging roads with a fan clutch system with no problems so my guess there's some other problems.Some advise I got from the previous owners is if you nead to put in a new fan clutch you have to go to the dealer.They went through many aftermarket ones with nothing but problems.Just one of those thing that the dealer does best I guess.Good luck



From: Liv42dayOK
Sent: 8/14/2005 12:50 PM

Summit has a fan clutch which will fit the 440-3.  However, the OEM one has certainly proven adequate, to say the least.  OEM replacements made of aluminum might be the only upgrade I'd consider, but likely I will go OEM when I replace it.

- Sob



From: Slantsixness
Sent: 1/25/2006 1:01 PM

I'd have to say that for 34 years, my winnie, and all my other mopars have run properly with clutch fans. Some Slant Six trucks I've had, just had a steel fixed fan, and seemed to run hotter than the other trucks that had the clutch fans.

Flex fans? well, they work. But do you need all that extra noise in an already noisy winnie? When I was in High School, Flex fans (Flex-a-lite) were the cool thing to have, came in neato colors and sounded like blower whine. I used one, and found out the real truth... it's a gimmick, not an improvement. My old 340 dart ran cooler and had a better ET's without the flex-a-lite flex fan, using the original mopar clutch fan and proper shroud.

Just my opinion...

Tom