Well I have always disliked the plastic fins through the radiator deal I have been going with for the past year and a half, and since then, I've been through about a dozen plastic clamps and almost lost my fans on more than one seperate occassion (luckily I zip-tied the two together in the middle where they meet, my right fan's ties completely melted and hung on by just two zip-ties to the left fan )

Sooo....I have always wanted to do a metal bracket setup like Patmans, but have never found the materials to do it. A stroll through HomeDepot on another project had me locate metal strips. Well today I went back and got some thinner ones and plan on making a clean (and reliable!) setup for my fans to mount to.



2x Flat 1/8" thick, 48" long aluminum strips
8x 1/4" full-thread bolts
8x 1/4" nuts
12x 1/4" zinc washers

I can tell I'm probably going to need more nuts and bolts (I forgot to count in the fact I still have to have some to mount the thing to the radiator) so another trip will probably be in order. I also plan on shooting the strips with some high-heat black paint to fit the engine bay a little more.

 

Why not just follow Patrick's design with the 1/8" aluminum strips?

 

Carry on

 

 

Damn Pat..you make it look so simple...Now if you did a how-to on building a shroud for it you'd be my new hero

Rapt..good luck on the build..keep us informed, I finally plan on getting mine done this spring and I could use all the help/pics I can find.

 

you dont really need a shroud if the fan is within an inch of the radiator, it will pull a column of air through the radiator just fine without the shroud

 

So you used the plastic L tabs? I was thinking about doing that but decided against it. Heres what I have so far:





Strips all cut up:

















As you can see I'm using washers to help space it out a bit to prevent the bolt heads from getting too close to the radiator. I have my primary fan mounted and installed right now so the truck is road-worthy, and tomorrow I will install the second fan. Whats funny is the holes atop the radiator, line up EXACTLY with my strips.

 

Those look good Alex!

I really need to get a set of e-fans...

 

I was thinking about creating an "efan kit" (controller, 2x fans, and brackets) and selling for a profit

 

Do you have a hook up on fans or something? lol

I found a good set on eBay awhile back. 2 16" 2200 cfm (IIRC) fans for $65. just never pulled the trigger. and I don't have the money now. trying to get my HIDs back up and running.....

 

Second fan sitting in my living room:





Lonely fan:

 

Great..I was concerned about them not pulling enough without a shroud. Thanks Pat.

Rapt..looks good..you going to paint the strips? I was thinking of painting mine black or putting POR15 on them to help with rust protection. Where did you put the fan controller?

 

i was thinknig about it, but as you can see in my "lonely fan" picture, you can barely see them. my fan controller is zip tied to the radiator support next to the windshield washer fluid bottle

 

no, its just that there are a lot of people asking questions about fans, controllers and brackets and what not. it would be easier to buy a complete kit that i know will fit your truck no problems.

whats wrong with your HIDs?

 

Long story. Write me on facebook and I will explain there.