All Aluminum Radiator+Electric Fan

I'd like to make this my next project.

Can you guys steer me to what's good all aluminum radiator and electric fan that comes with controller and shroud that fits the radiator?

Thank you.

 

What is your reason for wanting to go this route?

 

I put an electric fan on my Chevy S10 back in the day. It was a nice upgrade. Made it quieter, especially when you first start up. I don't recall the brand but it came with a temp sensor to kick it on and off. Lots of electric fans out there... the only real challenge with this is finding one that fits directly or a kit that has adapters... or you have to fab something up. But I have not done this on my Tacoma and I don't plan to.

 

Flex a lite is a popular brand and has a Tacoma kit.

Curious why you want to do this as well.

Using in conjunction with the oem fan for low range off-road?

There’s not a lot of positive feedback on here for going all electric and ditching the stock setup. Here’s one thread if you haven’t read it yet.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/who-is-running-an-electric-fan.524325/

 

Electric fans are a nice upgrade. Did that for alot of my past on road vehicles.

For a vehicle that sees any off-road excursions, the electric fan is much more prone to failure that the OEM clutch fan.

I don't think the trade off for mechanically decreased load on engine is any better than the additional power requirement for running an electric fan.

Now if you run a secondary cooling system than electric fan would work fantastic.

 

IIRC another benefit to these is that you lose the OEM fan and the huge OEM shroud which allows easier access to the front of the motor. Hmmm... I may have to rethink not doing this. Damn you guys.

Yes, the kit I used on my S10 was a Flex-a-lite. Very good quality. IIRC they are also kind of universal and don't really come with specific vehicle adapters. Would be good to find someone here who has done it to learn how to approach it.

 

Thank you all who chimed in. But, I have done 2 conversions so far and both are still going, the first one is an 11th gen F150 and an E39 bimmer 530I. Both vehicles still with me and driven on a daily basis.
What do I like about it is to mitigate the stupid roaring loud on cold start and the power robbing in the summer when ambient temp is above 90F, with the viscous fan delete I can feel the engine responses are much faster.

With said it has been almost 10 years and counting. Knock on wood!
When you do electric conversion, make sure the fan has enough flow (Big Amperage 50 A is not unheard of) and the shroud has to cover as much fins as possible.
I'm afraid Flexilite has enough ump for the job.

 

On our rigs, the coolant reservoir is built into the fan shroud; thus, you either have to keep the shroud and cut off material around the reservoir, or rig a reservoir some other way. I'm considering this as well since I soon hitting 200K and want to replace all my cooling parts as preventive maintenance and instead of paying $100 for a new Aisin fan clutch, I can put that towards a fan. I already have a high output alternator and dual battery setup; so, my charging system can handle the extra power needs.

 

I wonder why the Tacoma even came with a clutch-driven fan that seems to run all the time, on a very weak ~220hp v6

other brands have been using electric fans (2 of them) since before this Tacoma was released, without issue
in drivetrains that have higher temperatures (turbo, V8, twin turbo, supercharged, etc.)

 

The S/C folks have started putting Electric fans on to help combat the heating issues with the S/C DEO has a setup they made to adapt to the stock shroud. A few of us have thought of different ways. I have to dig into the archives. I have a CSF Aluminum radiator and the DEO E Fan setup need to install) It uses a factor Camaro fan adapted with a controller to run at certain temps with an option for override with is nice if you need it for slow crawling, traffic, etc. Ever since I put the CSF and S/C on the truck gets super hot at idle. So far the folks that have installed it are big fans. I was thinking of coming up with a custom shroud instead of adapting to the stock setup along with a new reservoir but may still go back and just adapt using the existing setup.

If you are boosted or toying with a turbo consider it. If not sure you would notice much unless you have overheating issues doing some very slow crawling or other heavier activities.

 

Now I remember what I did to my old S10. I used a Ford Taurus fan I got from the salvage yard along with a Flex-a-Lite control kit. Ran it with a 50 amp fuse right off the battery. That fan fit the S10 nicely IIRC but no idea if it could be adapted to a Tacoma. Looks like Flex-a-Lite has some fans that will also be plenty strong enough. Too bad the Tacoma coolant reservoir is integrated with the shroud. That will make this conversion more of a PITA than I think I want to deal with. At least for now.

 

This is what I have in mind. Below picture is mine from F150, this thing is like a hurricane!
The controller can be pricy, especially if you want variable speeds plus programable car's velocity cut off point.
I spent about $600 for the conversion and that was 8 years ago.

 

If we could find a direct swap it would be awesome. i haven't installed mine as I wanted to reduce the shroud the fan came with or make a new one.

 

Might be easier to get a shroud from a salvage yard and trim it back and fab up a way to attach the fan to it off the truck. Then just swap shrouds. Not sure what to expect to pay for one but with so many Tacomas out there they are sure to have them.

 

yah i have a way to modify a current one. I wanted to go say with a more solid aluminum rather then mess with the stock one.

 

Aluminum radiator: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/csf-7092
Electric fan and controller: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/deo-electric-fan-kit-15-spots.692897/

If you expect to encounter water crossings to the level of the fan blades off-road, wire an off switch in the cab to avoid destroying the fan.

 

Thank you. That's very helpful, thank you very much.