Anyone experienced with flex fans?

[240260280z]

I just saw flexible fans in a Jeg's catalogue. They seem to deform at higher RPMS's as a mechanical compensation.

I was thinking that this would be a great solution to do away with the failure prone fan clutches ?

Has anyone tried these beasties?

http://www.jegs.com/c/Fans_Mechanical-Flex-Fans/10115/10002/-1

[FastWoman]

DON'T!!

They can be more flexible than you might think. I had one chew into the radiator on my '66 Mustang.

[Zforce]

Or chew into your fingers.

[palosfv3]

They should be banned for sale . Extremely dangerous especially when they start to fatigue crack and the blades go through things . This is the reason they were removed from cars in production in the mid 60's . Lots of stories of people and mechanics being severely injured or worse.

[240ZGL]

They make a lot of noise too. A good size radiator is the key. I have one of the MSA 4 core radiators brass and copper. I never get past the mid way point on the gauge, even on a hot day and standing still. I'm using a stock plastic fan.

[Willoughby Z]

Potentially damaging and possibly dangerous, given the high rev. nature of an L engine, IMO.

I've done this- rebuild an original (33 years/ 110k)-tedious but it lasted a few years.

http://www.hammondsplains.com/newtechtips/cooling/index.htm

And I've done this, Bap-Geon (HAYDEN) FAN CLUTCH 2560 / alt. for: 130-0086 (Beck-Arnley) $43.01

[sblake01]

Ran one on my 320 pickup for years. Never had a problem but a J16 engine doesn't rev like an L series. Fatigue crack? It was in as good a condition when I sold the truck 12 years after installing it......

[psdenno]

I had one on my Z for years. I installed it after my original fan went through the original radiator and i didn't have access to stock replacement parts. I upgraded the radiator and installed a flex fan and spacer. The only issue I had was that it slightly "ticked" the A/C hardware at a certain RPM range. I ignored it and had no problems - ran it for years. When I pulled the Z out of storage a few years ago, I pulled the flex fan off and replaced it with a stock plastic fan & clutch. There were no signs of fatigue or damage to the flex fan after tens of thousands of miles.

Dennis

[Oiluj]

If your old fan is going, and you are not planning on keeping it perfectly stock, I'd go with electric fans. Less power draw from the engine and more efficient.

[chaztg]

My 73 Z had a flex fan on it when I bought the car in '93. My mechanic immediately said to get rid of it, if I wanted to keep my fingers...I trusted him completely about that statement. Sure they may never wear out and not have a fan clutch, which can seize after a while and create a alot of fan noise, but flex fans are unsafe.

[FastWoman]

^^^ I agree with Oiluj. If not stock, I'd go electric.

FAIW, I recently replaced my leaking OEM clutch with a lifetime-warranted AutoZone TorqFlo clutch. It seems to work fine. $40, as I recall.

[hogie]

MSA said to stay away from them as well.....of course they want to sell you an electric one instead.