Electric Fan Reviews
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Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Orange, Ca
Electric Fan Reviews
Please post any comments on your E-fan! 
Flexalite - $416
claims 2-3 mpg
up to 17hp
Amp draw?
Troyer - $365 (97-03 4.6 and 5.4)
mpg increase?
HP increase?
Amp draw?
Flexalite - $416
claims 2-3 mpg
up to 17hp
Amp draw?
Troyer - $365 (97-03 4.6 and 5.4)
mpg increase?
HP increase?
Amp draw?
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 3,105
Likes: 4
From: oceanside C.A.
i would stay away from the troyer kit, i love the guys tuning but his fan kit could use some work, i went threw two of the controlers in 3 months and after a year it wore holes in my radiator and i had to replace the whole radiator, if you use a diffrent mounting kit then the rods that are supplied then the troyer kit would be good, also look at the e-fans at mad enterprise, good luck
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 603
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From: Bryant, AL
If I did it agian, I'd spend the extra and get the Flex fans with the shroud. I had a shroud fab up and it's gonna work wonderfully, but I don't know about the controllers as bigtruck has had trouble.( I don't think he is the only one either. ) I wasn't about to stick brass rods thru my radiator though. Thankfully the shroud was a FREEBIE...I know some people that know some people 
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Fort Worth,Tx
i got a single fan with shroud off ebay for about 68 bucks and a controller and relay kit for about 20 from autoparts store. hasnt failed me yet and a single fan is power enough to cool your engine down. just make sure it had good enough CFM and a single fan pulls less draw then duals.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,618
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From: Atlanta, GA
I have the Flex-a-lite dual 5000cfm kit. Its a breeze to install, mounts right in factory locations, easy wiring and you still get to choose mounting location of controller. Its speed depends on temperature, so its not always drawing maximum amps. I had to seperate 16" fans before, and didn't like it. Some time later, the place where I had mounted the drivers side of the 2 16" with the through the radiator attachments sprung a leak. Well worth the money. As for mileage, its real hard for me to tell. WHen my wife drives it, it gets great mileage, but when I drive it I can pass anything on the road but a gas station. 
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,034
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From: VA
I have the Troyer E-fan kit.
19 Amp continuous draw, ~30 at startup. It was not the easiest thing to install, but I've been happy with it so far. I've seen about a 1.5-2mpg increase in mileage depending on conditions, my driving, and the gas I get (different blends). There's a claimed 10-12rwhp increase and I did notice a small 'seat of the pants dyno' difference when I first installed the kit. It revs MUCH fast than when it had the stock fan hanging on the front. If I had to do it over again I'd be happy with a troyer kit, but the rods through the radiator was a bit of and uncomfortable moment. All went well though. I'd like to see the Flex-a-lite kit in person though, it sounds like it mounts much easier.
19 Amp continuous draw, ~30 at startup. It was not the easiest thing to install, but I've been happy with it so far. I've seen about a 1.5-2mpg increase in mileage depending on conditions, my driving, and the gas I get (different blends). There's a claimed 10-12rwhp increase and I did notice a small 'seat of the pants dyno' difference when I first installed the kit. It revs MUCH fast than when it had the stock fan hanging on the front. If I had to do it over again I'd be happy with a troyer kit, but the rods through the radiator was a bit of and uncomfortable moment. All went well though. I'd like to see the Flex-a-lite kit in person though, it sounds like it mounts much easier.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 796
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From: Charleroi PA
I have had the Troyer fans for over two years now, I am very happy with the fan kit. The engine performance has a slight improvment as does the fuel economy. The truck is much quieter in operation especialy at start up, cooling is excelant.
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Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 739
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From: TX
Flex A Lite
The amp draw is nothing to worry about unless you have a multiamp sound system or something. I like the Flex fans because the fans are mounted in a one piece shroud. Once they are installed they look like factory equipment. Hint: What ever kit you get, mount your controllers away from the radiator. This is the source of a lot of controller failures.
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Dec 1997
Posts: 9,417
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From: Windsor,Ontario,Canada
I have the Troyer Performance kit. I got it back when It was called Performance Products Inc. No problems except for burned, read shorted out, relay. They don't like being under water. 
I have run at least 80,000 miles with them on the truck. They are not easy miles. They have spent many hours off road. I have landed quite hard and no problem with the copper rods.
JMC
I have run at least 80,000 miles with them on the truck. They are not easy miles. They have spent many hours off road. I have landed quite hard and no problem with the copper rods.JMC
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 10,511
Likes: 10
From: Under the flightpath of old ORD 22R
I got the Flex-a-Lite prior to Mike shipping the kit in qty, and when it came time to get a set of E-Fans for Dad's 38' Itasca RV, I called Troyer Perf.
The kit Mike has is a much better kit then the FAL, and it flows more air when running. Nice having redundant controllers, rather then the single VSC ( so far I have yet to have a problem with the VSC though ).
Got that nice little recall on teh fuse holder from FAL..well JMC posted about it, and I called FAL, and got the new fuse kit, then 4 weeks later got my letter in the mail about it ( about as good as the Ford Flambe recall ).
The kit Mike has is a much better kit then the FAL, and it flows more air when running. Nice having redundant controllers, rather then the single VSC ( so far I have yet to have a problem with the VSC though ).
Got that nice little recall on teh fuse holder from FAL..well JMC posted about it, and I called FAL, and got the new fuse kit, then 4 weeks later got my letter in the mail about it ( about as good as the Ford Flambe recall ).
Senior Member
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,961
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I posted this some time ago when I had to remove my radiator for a leak NOT related to the electric fans:
Anyone who knows my post will know I report things exactly as they are. I did have a problem with the wiring. When I ran it inside the same loom it overheated and melted the shielding in one spot. That shorted out one of the fans (just blew the fuse). I redid everything and kept them separate and no problem since.
I may in the future opt for one of Mike Maddens controllers. I like the idea of having the air conditioner only kick on the second fan when it is needed. Right now I disconnect the wire to the air conditioner in the winter so it doesn't kick on with the defrosters.
Troyer Fans removed and reinstalled. Some information that may be on interest.
________________________________________
This weekend I had to change out the radiator. I have Troyer fans and had to move them from the old radiator to the new one. I was originally going to make a mount for the fans but I am also installing a water to air aftercooler so I needed all the room between the fans and the block I could get.
I ordered two install kits from Mike (actually Anita) and proceeded to remove the fans and reinstall them on the new radiator.
The fans were originally installed in October 2003.
There was NO CORROSION AT ALL.
I expected to see some rubbing or a little oxidation but there was none. The only damage was done by me when I pushed out a couple of fins installing the fans. There was some mild corrosion on the copper rods but no more then a discoloration. I removed one fan slowly to see if there was any damage then I removed the second with no regard to damage since the radiator is trash.
I used the same system to install the fans again without worry.
I know in the past there have been many posts questioning this mounting system and weather it creates any undue wear. I posted this to let you know what I saw. My radiator failure had nothing to do with the fans, it was leaking at one of the soldered seams at the top drivers side of the radiator.
As a side note, I must have used inadequate sized wires to ground the fans and I found some melted plastic loom. I always run my wiring inside a loom and the wires must have gotten so hot that they melted the plastic. Needless to say I upgraded the ground wire. I also ran the two fans in separate looms.
This post is FYI.
________________________________________
This weekend I had to change out the radiator. I have Troyer fans and had to move them from the old radiator to the new one. I was originally going to make a mount for the fans but I am also installing a water to air aftercooler so I needed all the room between the fans and the block I could get.
I ordered two install kits from Mike (actually Anita) and proceeded to remove the fans and reinstall them on the new radiator.
The fans were originally installed in October 2003.
There was NO CORROSION AT ALL.
I expected to see some rubbing or a little oxidation but there was none. The only damage was done by me when I pushed out a couple of fins installing the fans. There was some mild corrosion on the copper rods but no more then a discoloration. I removed one fan slowly to see if there was any damage then I removed the second with no regard to damage since the radiator is trash.
I used the same system to install the fans again without worry.
I know in the past there have been many posts questioning this mounting system and weather it creates any undue wear. I posted this to let you know what I saw. My radiator failure had nothing to do with the fans, it was leaking at one of the soldered seams at the top drivers side of the radiator.
As a side note, I must have used inadequate sized wires to ground the fans and I found some melted plastic loom. I always run my wiring inside a loom and the wires must have gotten so hot that they melted the plastic. Needless to say I upgraded the ground wire. I also ran the two fans in separate looms.
This post is FYI.
I may in the future opt for one of Mike Maddens controllers. I like the idea of having the air conditioner only kick on the second fan when it is needed. Right now I disconnect the wire to the air conditioner in the winter so it doesn't kick on with the defrosters.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 135
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From: Aurora,NC
I used a Motorcraft Windstar fan, it is shrouded and covers app. 90% of our radiator surface. It has a 15-inch two speed fan and a 13-inch high speed fan. Mounted it with 1-inch angle at the top and bottom. Probably have $275 in it with three relays, an AC bypass switch and two controllers. Either fan dropped the temperature in my truck on a 93 degree day in gear with the emergency brake locked parked in the sun.
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 10,511
Likes: 10
From: Under the flightpath of old ORD 22R
Originally Posted by WLF
,,<snip..I like the idea of having the air conditioner only kick on the second fan when it is needed. Right now I disconnect the wire to the air conditioner in the winter so it doesn't kick on with the defrosters.
If you want that, I will try to find my list I used when selecting E-Fans for dad's RV.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 109
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From: San Diego, CA
I've had the Troyer twin 16" kit on my truck for over 2 years now. I was also skeptical about mounting it with copper rods through the radiator. I removed the radiator (they said you can do it without) to make sure I was as precise as possible. I don't know what kind of job the other guys do but my fans are still mounted tightly and have zero leakage. I regularly beat the crap out of my truck in the desert (rough trails and jumps) and have had no problems.
The Troyer kit uses Derale fans. It has curved fans (more surface area) with a plastic ring around the outside of the blades (prevents feathering and distortion of the blade angle during high heat). The Flex-A-Lite fans are straight blades with no outside ring. I've heard that at higher temperatures that the blades have a tendency to straighten out and lower airflow.
Hope this helps.
The Troyer kit uses Derale fans. It has curved fans (more surface area) with a plastic ring around the outside of the blades (prevents feathering and distortion of the blade angle during high heat). The Flex-A-Lite fans are straight blades with no outside ring. I've heard that at higher temperatures that the blades have a tendency to straighten out and lower airflow.
Hope this helps.