Electric fans installed - pics within

Bruce03Silverado · July 25, 2006

Finally installed my Flex-A-Lite dual electric fans on Sat! Worth while investment

ssimps0n · July 25, 2006

Nice clean install...sweet truck.

Did it take long and how tough was it to accomplish? Looking at something like this for my 03' Yukon.

Bruce03Silverado · July 25, 2006

Nice clean install...sweet truck.

Did it take long and how tough was it to accomplish? Looking at something like this for my 03' Yukon.

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It took several hours. The longest part was the wiring then we took our time in cleaning up the wires and combining them with the fog light wires in wire looms. It wasn't a difficult install at all it just took a little bit of time. Then it took some time to set the temp and then test. They give you a nice troubleshooting guide to use for your testing. That really helped us. The part number was 292 - it's dual 13.5" fans.

C & A s Dad · July 25, 2006

I gotta know, can you feel any difference in the seat of your pants by moving those ponnies from the mech fan to the rear wheels?

Also, did you use a temp probe stuck into the rad fins or did you tie it into a temp sensor?

I have really considered this for my 02 Yukon XL but the towing community recommends staying away from them. I I tow a 6500lb camper some and am really cautious about doing this. I have read arguments both ways but many say the mech fan pulls very little HP 90% of the time. It only pulls hard when the temp rises and early in the morning when it is first started. Be sure and watch that alternator, I have read where some real problems have come in from the additional load put on it by the e fans.

I would really like to know how you like the set up down the road and if you tow with your truck, will it maintain cool temps?

BTW, you did a nice job with the install, it looks great.

Bruce03Silverado · July 25, 2006

I gotta know, can you feel any difference in the seat of your pants by moving those ponnies from the mech fan to the rear wheels?

Also, did you use a temp probe stuck into the rad fins or did you tie it into a temp sensor?

I have really considered this for my 02 Yukon XL but the towing community recommends staying away from them. I I tow a 6500lb camper some and am really cautious about doing this. I have read arguments both ways but many say the mech fan pulls very little HP 90% of the time. It only pulls hard when the temp rises and early in the morning when it is first started. Be sure and watch that alternator, I have read where some real problems have come in from the additional load put on it by the e fans.

I would really like to know how you like the set up down the road and if you tow with your truck, will it maintain cool temps?

BTW, you did a nice job with the install, it looks great.

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Thanks! I do feel a seat of the pants difference. I don't do any towing. This is a new fan for Flex-A-Lite and to avoid the load on the alternator the fan only comes on at 60% then eventually 100% as the temp rises 10 degrees. Mine is set at 185 so between 185 and 195 it's running at 60% - after 195 it jumps to 100%. Flex-A-Lite did this to minimize the load on the alternator. This is their most recent fan so they had that in mind in designing it. The temp probe is stuck in the radiator as close to the radiator hose as we could get it. The fan puts out 4500 cfm and once it hits 100% it's putting out some serious air. They are dual 13.5" fans. The part number is 292 in case you want to do some research on it. It's for the 27" radiators. Hope this helps, but so far so good - I like it.

I am curious though that if the electric fans are in question why did the 05's and up come with them from the factory? Even my 2002 Firehawk has them.

crazymjb · July 25, 2006

How much does that set run price wise?

Mike

Bruce03Silverado · July 25, 2006

How much does that set run price wise?

Mike

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Not sure yet - a good buddy of mine owns a performance shop and he got it for me - I'll be paying what he paid for it but from what I've seen elsewhere they run around $400 or so.

dewfpo · July 25, 2006

I think most of the questions about towing capacity and electric fans are not about the 1/2 ton rigs, but the 3/4 and 1 ton rigs towing 10K or above. They may be just fine for the 1/2 tons even towing max. load. Time will tell.

The 1/2 ton rigs are now coming with dual electric fans from the factory, the HD's are not.

With the radiator shroud out of the way, it makes you wonder what type of air tube somebody could really design now with that limitation removed.

DEWFPO

C & A s Dad · July 26, 2006

I have asked several people about the 05 & 06 1/2 tons with the e fans and so far I have heard of no issues. I have a customer who also owns a GM Dealership and his svc mgr said they have never had one back with an issue to his knowledge. I would be curious to know what amp rating the alt is on the 05 and 06?

Two things have kept me from doing this. 1) I am not towing at max load for my Yuk but I do live in a very hot climate and simply am not ready to take the chance. That big mech fan is pulling some serious air accross my rad, A/C cond and trans cooler when I am easing around a campground or backing into a camping pad. 2) Our reman alternator supplier told me that at idle your alt is producing maybe 40% to 60% of it's capacity. So a 130 amp alt would be producing maybe 70 amps when moving slowly. A set of fans running, an AC blower, wipers, headlights etc. would come very close to melting it down.

I cannot promise this 40% to 60% rating is accurate but it is what I was told. If I was not towing, I would already have the flex a lites on my truck.

Bruce, you may want to use a good handheld ampmeter on your charging system and load it up at idle with the fans running. Hopefully you are in safe territory.

99blackz · July 26, 2006

Looks good, I recently installed the exact kit by flex-a-lite on my 99 z71. I was greatly impressed. They cool better and I could tell a noticeable difference in Horsepower. The kit cost me $425 and I say It is worth every penny of It!

pastorscott · July 6, 2007

Brad

read this old post. notice you have a airraid throttle body spacer. Did you feel any change when you installed it.

thanks Scott

Looks good, I recently installed the exact kit by flex-a-lite on my 99 z71. I was greatly impressed. They cool better and I could tell a noticeable difference in Horsepower. The kit cost me $425 and I say It is worth every penny of It!