Cooling fan upgrade comparison: Explorer 11-blade fan and HD clutch versus SPAL 19" 850-watt electric brushless fan

You shouldn't need any fan at all above 40 mph. When I put a new radiator in my S10 w/ a built 350 I drove it for a few weeks with no fan while I decided what I wanted to do. This was summertime in Arkansas. I'd get nervous watching the temp climb while waiting at stoplights, but never had a problem.

If you're overheating at 60 mph the fan isn't the issue.

I've heard that said before but also know that with the 8274 while it not causing me overheating issues on my YJ on the TJ with the Magnum & the Hemi I seem to need a fan.

I think pretty much all of the photos I have are in this thread. @MikeE024 and @The_walrus might also have some.

You can straight up unbolt the fan from the OEM shroud and print or rig up any custom mounting solution you want. I just found it easier to go to town with a jigsaw and a Dremel.

RockAuto also has a decent number of photos of it before it gets trimmed.

My advice on the fan is that if you are having that kind of problems with a 300-watt fan, you're still going to be borderline with the 500-watt. Better to buy something you know works, and maybe you can sell the SPAL sensor. Someone posted a cheaper controller than the Lingenfelter here somewhere that looked fairly good.

Also worth noting we care way more about the fan diameter rather than the fan wattage. Increasing fan wattage by a factor of X only gives a X^(1/3) increase in airflow. Meanwhile, increasing fan diameter by a factor of X (with zero change in wattage) increases airflow by X^(4/3). Add some additional wattage in there and you end up with a very large difference in airflow. The larger fan also provides a huge benefit by distributing the airflow more evenly across the entire radiator.

Thanks for the input. Hadn't thought about the size making that much of a difference. Without having one of the fans sitting in front of me it's hard to visualize about how I'd mount it. But before I do anything more with a fan I need to find out why I'm overheating...
My hope is it's going to be simple and just the thermostat. Up until a few weeks ago the Hemi had been running @ 195* and the highest I'd seen it get to was 210*.
If it turns out not to be the thermostat my next thought is it's a blown head gasket... Hoping not but again won't know until I can do some more testing and diagnostic work. But I'm laid up for a few days while I wait for my leg to heal up. So won't be able to do anything until the weekend I'd guess.
 
I've heard that said before but also know that with the 8274 while it not causing me overheating issues on my YJ on the TJ with the Magnum & the Hemi I seem to need a fan.



Thanks for the input. Hadn't thought about the size making that much of a difference. Without having one of the fans sitting in front of me it's hard to visualize about how I'd mount it. But before I do anything more with a fan I need to find out why I'm overheating...
My hope is it's going to be simple and just the thermostat. Up until a few weeks ago the Hemi had been running @ 195* and the highest I'd seen it get to was 210*.
If it turns out not to be the thermostat my next thought is it's a blown head gasket... Hoping not but again won't know until I can do some more testing and diagnostic work. But I'm laid up for a few days while I wait for my leg to heal up. So won't be able to do anything until the weekend I'd guess.

Suckered myself into browsing the Irate4x4 thread I linked.
There's a cool custom mount on Page 5 by Bebop.

But check out YJ-6 Unlimited's post on Page 17:
Screenshot_20250826-195507.png


Now THAT is an awesome way to mount it...
 
I'm in the middle of reading it right now too & YES thought he'd done a nice job mounting it...

Delta PAG offers an 18" brushless fan.

View attachment 639128

https://deltapag.com/products/18-brushless-fan-kit?variant=32780854951998

I can't recall 100% but I think that fan had similar free-air cfm specifications to the Camaro fan, but fell flat in terms of airflow at higher static pressures. The SPAL fan probably has a significantly higher air-watt rating than that fan. Might work for a thin radiator with no AC condenser and no auxiliary coolers, but more than one unit and it will probably under-perform.

The Irate4x4 thread has a lot more posts since I last looked. Even a few from today. I'd be interested to see how that 1 kW BMW fan compares to the 850-watt SPAL
 
You shouldn't need any fan at all above 40 mph. When I put a new radiator in my S10 w/ a built 350 I drove it for a few weeks with no fan while I decided what I wanted to do. This was summertime in Arkansas. I'd get nervous watching the temp climb while waiting at stoplights, but never had a problem.

If you're overheating at 60 mph the fan isn't the issue.

In my case, I have the ability to shut off my fan - for creek crossings and such - at will from the driver’s seat. I’ve actually tested running down the highway without a fan, and on my rig at least if I shut off the fan at 70 it heats up very quickly. It cools back down when I turn it back on. I described this in some detail over on my build thread.

Now my rig is far from stock, and generates a crazy amount of heat, so I may be a sample of one, but it is a solid sample of one. I do run an A/C condenser, a power steering cooler, and a large tranny cooler. It is definitely a case of the fan having to pull enough air through all of that to keep everything cool - and running down the highway at 50, 60 or 70 does not create enough airflow across all of that to do so. Even with all the venting I have on my hood.
 
Last edited:
I can't recall 100% but I think that fan had similar free-air cfm specifications to the Camaro fan, but fell flat in terms of airflow at higher static pressures. The SPAL fan probably has a significantly higher air-watt rating than that fan. Might work for a thin radiator with no AC condenser and no auxiliary coolers, but more than one unit and it will probably under-perform.

The Irate4x4 thread has a lot more posts since I last looked. Even a few from today. I'd be interested to see how that 1 kW BMW fan compares to the 850-watt SPAL

That is more or less what has been said in the thread also except by the PAL spokes person in the thread.

In my case, I have the ability to shut off my fan - for creek crossings and such - at will from the driver’s seat. I’ve actually tested running down the highway without a fan, and on my rig at least if I shut off the fan at 70 it heats up very quickly. It cools back down when I turn it back on. I described this in some detail over on my build thread.

Now my rig is far from stock, and generates a crazy amount of heat, so I may be a sample of one, but it is a solid sample of one. I do run an A/C condenser, a power steering cooler, and a large tranny cooler. It is definitely a case of the fan having to pull enough air through all of that to keep everything cool - and running down the highway at 50, 60 or 70 does not create enough airflow across all of that to do so. Even with all the venting I have on my hood.

I don't have a switch to shut my fan off hooked up yet but this is pretty much my experience also...

Winches definitely hurt radiator air flow at speed.

I know on my YJ when I mounted my 8274 it didn't affect the engine temperature that I noticed and then the same when I mounted the 8274 on my 4 cylinder but I was still running a mechanical fan on them so never tried to see what would happen at speed.

Need Jeff to do a test both with and without the winch to see the difference.

Does a low profile winch affect it that much? I've had people swear the 8274 does but never a low profile...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steel City 06
Does a low profile winch affect it that much? I've had people swear the 8274 does but never a low profile...

No idea but you could roughly see the area blocked vs area available and see if there’s any significant effect.
 
Last edited:
That is more or less what has been said in the thread also except by the PAL spokes person in the thread.



I don't have a switch to shut my fan off hooked up yet but this is pretty much my experience also...



I know on my YJ when I mounted my 8274 it didn't affect the engine temperature that I noticed and then the same when I mounted the 8274 on my 4 cylinder but I was still running a mechanical fan on them so never tried to see what would happen at speed.



Does a low profile winch affect it that much? I've had people swear the 8274 does but never a low profile...

The day I installed my winch was the first day my jeep ran slightly over 210 on the highway and the day before that was the last day my jeep ran at 210 on the highway.

That was atleast 9 years ago
 
I actually have experimented with shutting the fan off at 70+ mph just to see what happens. There is a fairly noticeable ~5° or more spike in coolant temperature, but I've never had it come near overheating.

Hello everyone! Just to share my experience, at 115f ambiente, and driving at 70 miles per hours with the AC on, it will make a difference on the ECT temp and also the air coming out the AC. With the fan off on those conditions, the ect temp will probably go to 220 but the ac will be impacted. With the fan on it makes a difference. Keep in mind the extreme ambient temps.
 

Thank you... Those help out a lot.

No idea but you could roughly see the area blocked vs area available and see if there’s any significant affect.

I'm not going to pull my 8274 to test things.... Now if I have to pull it for other reasons then OK.

The day I installed my winch was the first day my jeep ran slightly over 210 on the highway and the day before that was the last day my jeep ran at 210 on the highway.

That was atleast 9 years ago

Low profile I'm guessing?
 
In my case, I have the ability to shut off my fan - for creek crossings and such - at will from the driver’s seat. I’ve actually tested running down the highway without a fan, and on my rig at least if I shut off the fan at 70 it heats up very quickly. It cools back down when I turn it back on. I described this in some detail over on my build thread.

Now my rig is far from stock, and generates a crazy amount of heat, so I may be a sample of one, but it is a solid sample of one. I do run an A/C condenser, a power steering cooler, and a large tranny cooler. It is definitely a case of the fan having to pull enough air through all of that to keep everything cool - and running down the highway at 50, 60 or 70 does not create enough airflow across all of that to do so. Even with all the venting I have on my hood.


I believe it. Jeeps aren't typically modified in ways that helps radiator aerodynamics. I heard that hood vents, while helping low-speed temps, can reduce radiator airflow at higher speeds. Skid plates can make a difference, too.

I only have a sample size of 2, and neither were TJs. Aside from the v8 s10, I changed the mechanical fan to electric in my XJ. Pretty sure the XJ has better aerodynamics :ROFLMAO:. Driving around on the street the fans only came on when stopped an low speeds. Worked great there. On the trail they ran almost all the time, and it was kinda annoying.
 
Last edited: