It's a mechanical Fan question! lol! There will be no mention of electrical fans in this post/topic! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

Ok! please correct me if my line of thinking is wrong!

a) we replace your OEM fans with electric for 2 reasons, 1) blades crack and shred our rad's 2) to gain a few HP!

b) if gaining HP is not a big issue, why not replace the plastic OEM fan with a metal one?

c) If replacing the OEM fan with a metal one, what type?
From what I can see there are two types of replacements, a Clutch Fan and a NON Clutch Fan (flex-a-lite used only as an example)

So how would NON Clutch Fan work on our Sporty's? Take the old OEM fan and clutch off and the non clutched fan bolts up to the pully? What benifits over the OEM fan would this offer, and what down sides? (spacers etc! may be required)

I'm trying to get my head around why NOT to put in a metal fan instead of an electric, and other than gaining a few HP's which is not a large concern for me, I can't see why NOT to put in a metal NON clutched fan or even a metal clutched fan?!

So in a nut shell! What would the up and down sides be of a metal clutched or no clutched fan? Besides being $200 cheaper than a electric and $100 cheaper than a plastic OEM one?

Please enlighten me!

you may still gain a few hp as the metal non clutch fan is super light. (i was playing with them at mopac today) it would give better cooling, mechanical of same size will move more cfm from what i have read. the only down side is that it is always running, not sure if thats a bad thing for water crossings with a metal fan or not.

only downfall i do see is with our winters up here, the fan will cool to much and heating will be effected.

the good- cool highway running

the bad- maybe too cool

the good- won't break as easily

the bad- robs hp, because it is always engaged

the better choice- metal clutch fan, is too heavy, will still rob more hp than the lastic fan- is it noticeable? i don't know. test it and come back and let us know.

I don't know how anyone cannot notice, but when my clutch fan kicks in, there is a substantial and very noticable drop in horsepower - takes away alot of power. Also, my clutch on my fan went bonkers this winter, and locked up. It ran all the the time. Before I sprayed it with penetrating oil, and moved it around by hand to free it up, I had went through 3/4 of a tank of gas. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> I usually use about a 1/4 tank when I make the same trip! I can't quantify this, in terms of mpg difference, but is was obviously a bunch. I don't know why replacing a plastic clutch fan, with a metal non-clutch fan would offer anyone any benefit.

with a metal clutch fan.
I was looking at some junkyard stuff to try to make something work, and found that some metal fans are lop-sided. they are made with the blades not evenly spaced! what the hey is that about?
I was afraid that might mess with my water pump...but I dont know. I wont chance it.

It's suppposed to make them quiet quiet Fan

the fan he is looking at, as far as the non clutch fan, is much much lighter than the stock plastic fan, so i assume being lighter it would take much less power to spin, therefore an improvement over the stock fan assembly.