Best HD fan clutch

I want to replace my stock fan clutch on my '97 3.4L 4WD with a HD fan clutch for towing. What do you guys recommend?

 

I just replaced my fan clutch and the guy I trust at advanceauto said that there was only one type of fan clutch for my taco. I believe the brand I got was"Imperial" and cost 120$. It was stamped "made in U.S.A." which is nice. Im not sure if anyone else has found any other clutch that works. If you have an automatic, I would suggest an aftermarket transmission cooler to help with towing.

I've been tinkering with the idea of a transmission cooler with an electric fan mounted somewhere besides in front of the truck to keep the heat from transferring back into the condenser and radiator. I don't think anyone has done that yet.

 

Thanks for the input. I do have an auto trans and I am going to be getting a trans cooler for it, as well for towing.

 

Just my two cents...my OEM cooling setup (including the clutch fan) has worked flawlessly in every situation I've had it in. Towing my boat in heat, up long hills, off-road in heat, stop and go traffic in extreme heat, you name it. The stock temperature gauge never moves past 9 o'clock.

Of course I have a manual transmission, but the cooling system on our Tacomas seems to have plenty of reserve cooling and I don't plan to do anything with mine unless something fails.

It is fun to tinker though...

 

If you have the green banded clutch you could upgrade to the oem orange one that's supposed to be for towing.

 

Mine's green, but I won't upgrade until/if it fails. I'm cheap.

 

Your coolant temps aren't going to drop just because you have a HD clutch. All it means is the fan stays engaged longer. If you want to lower your coolant temps 13-15 degrees take the factory thermostat and turn the jiggle valve to the 6 o'clock position. I do have the HD clutch on mine and before the touching the thermostat the temps were 203. Now it's 188-190 degrees.

 

Thanks I have towed with mine, even during the summer and haven't had any issues with it, either. It's just a precautionary, I am going to be changing out my radiator and figured I will change out the fan clutch at the same time.

 

That's my understanding, but I haven't looked at mine, yet. But I'm pretty sure it has the green. I will double check it just in case. Is the OEM the only HD fan clutch available?

 

I am not concerned with my coolant temp dropping. I am happy where it's at.

 

Not a bad 'preventative maintenance' move if the part isn't too expensive.

 

GREEN hub is OEM heavy duty. It came with the towing package and several other packages/trim levels. Most Tacos have the green hub.

ORANGE hub is "standard".

Yes, I am positive.

 

Good to know!

 

That is exactly the reason why I want to get a HD clutch.

 

Thanks for the correction

 

btt to see if anyone else has anymore info.

 

I haven't verified the band color on my fan clutch, yet. But, I think I am going to swap it out regardless, because as far as I know, it's the original clutch and my truck has almost 300,000 miles on it.

I went to the dealership to check on the price on the HD fan clutch option and they had only one fan clutch listed for my truck. The lady who helped me couldn't tell me anything about it, so right now, I am guessing that it's the standard duty clutch. Does anyone have the part number for the HD fan clutch?

 

Just an update. I bought the oem fan clutch from the dealer and the band is green!