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I like how you think. Post pictures of the outcome.
This was my last big game hunt, it was more like harvesting, I didn't even have my 4runner and I just decided to take a look down one trail on opening day before taking off the next day for a long trip to the interior of Alaska. 10 miles from home 10 feet from the trail and 10 minutes into the season my hunt was over. I just happened to be the right place at the right time and that doesn't happen in my area very often. The moose have to either be really big or really small bulls, this one was a spork (spike on one side and a fork on the other). It was one of the easiest that I've ever got since I just ran home for the Suburban and my trailer (with a winch on it) and hauled it home. I can't seem to get it rotated though.
I recently had a chance to try out my electric fan setup with a load, I hauled a trailer onto the beach nearby so my girl could collect rocks for a rock wall she is building. coming off of the beach with a load I had to drive through sand up to and over a gravel bank that took a lot of throttle and both lockers to pull the loaded trailer up and over. the first run it got really hot and I had to stop at the beach access parking area to let it cool down, then up a steep hill, cool down again, then a couple of rolling hills and a 5 mile run to her house with another stop to cool off on the way.
The outside air temp was only 40 degrees.
On my next 2 runs I turned on the A/C and started my assault on the beach head with a cool motor and hit it with some speed so it didn't bog down as much. The extra fan running really helped and I was able to make the whole drive without stopping.
I don't have very high hopes of this working when it hits 70 (or even 80 sometimes here) unless I'm doing 60 on flat ground. So I either have more work ahead of me to add another fan and/or put the A/C fan in the control scheme or I need to return to the original setup.
But since I haven't modified much of anything I can put the fan and shroud back on in about 20 minutes.
I still don't have to change much to wire in another temperature controller to hi-jack control of the A/C fan when it gets to "oops it's getting hot" setting. Adding another fan to the aluminum sheet I used as a shroud will be tougher since the two fans I have on it now didn't leave much room for more but I think I can squeeze another one in below and between them since I mounted them up high.
Update, the electric fan just wasn't cutting the mustard. I run some trails with steep hills and it did not like warm weather/slow speed/hill climbs. so the mechanical fan is back in service until I have time to modify my shroud/plenum that I made up for the twin fans and add a third. I also need to wire in another temperature switch to take control of the A/C fan so it will come on without running the A/C compressor. Less load, less heat and more air flow through the radiator and maybe I'll get it to work. If not I will still have the original shroud and fan and it only takes a few minutes to swap back.
Well, the winter started out mild with very little snow, but in the last few weeks it has made up for it!
believe it or not, there are 37 inch tires under there and they aren't touching the ground!
I needed it out of the way to plow my driveway so I aimed for the back yard and went until it stopped, there she sits for a while!
Update, the electric fan just wasn't cutting the mustard. I run some trails with steep hills and it did not like warm weather/slow speed/hill climbs. so the mechanical fan is back in service until I have time to modify my shroud/plenum that I made up for the twin fans and add a third. I also need to wire in another temperature switch to take control of the A/C fan so it will come on without running the A/C compressor. Less load, less heat and more air flow through the radiator and maybe I'll get it to work. If not I will still have the original shroud and fan and it only takes a few minutes to swap back.
So, here's another update on the electric fan situation.
I added a third fan to my setup and added in the A/C fan to the control scheme, but it still isn't quite enough.
When I'm on the road it's fine, when I'm on hardpack level ground or moving over 20 mph it's fine.
As a test I took it out on the beach here, which is a combination of sand and gravel.
As long as I was moving into the wind (about 10 mph) it was doing ok even moving slow on soft ground loading the engine fairly hard, but when I turned around and headed back running with the wind it would get hot and I'd have to stop and let it cool down.
This is with a total of 4 fans running!
Time to just give up and go back to the stock mechanical fan.
Anyone who is thinking about using electric fans on an off-road 3.0 liter Toyota should reconsider, and if you do try it out get the highest power fans you can get. I don't have enough clearance for better than what I tried. Also you will be putting a lot of load on your electrical system.
I know others have gone down this road before but I hoped with the cooler climate here in Alaska that I might get away with it, (it's 45 degrees right now).
There is no way this will handle a long uphill crawl or a long muddy trail, so it's a no-go.
another change I made, I removed the creeper breathers and put regular rattle top vents tubed up under the hood for my axle breathers.
You might ask why I would get rid of a great modification... I found that most air lockers pass a little air through the seals, some more than others, and if you leave the air lockers on long enough it will blow the creeper breather up like a balloon and blow it out. I found that out when I was buried in the snow last winter and was walking away to get a tow rope when I heard one pop. Both front and rear were blown out.
I got the highest output (CFM) low profile fans I could find and it's still not quite enough. 10 mph on soft sand/gravel into the wind was OK, but as soon as I turned around going with the wind, it got hot.
No other issues, tooling around town was fine, hard level ground...fine. but slow hill climbs or slow speed when the engine is having to work... NO GO.
The setup is two 10 inch and one 8 inch fan plus bypassing the A/C condenser fan to make a total of 4 fans pushing air. All controlled by an adjustable thermostatic switch, each with their own fuse and relay.
Just to satisfy doubters that think I wired one backwards I ran one at a time with smoke just to make sure.
Maybe some day I'll try a Taurus fan to see if it will fit, but as you can see from my pictures, I don't have much room.
Back to the stock mechanical fan for now, maybe I'll try again when I do the swap.
I think a lot of your problem has to deal with surface area. You have a good bit of air flow but with all of the small fans that close the the rad I don't think you get enough airflow through the entire radiator. I don't know what fans you used but I know a lot of aftermarket fans usually have very exaggerated ratings. I honestly think if you were to switch to a sing oem llfan like the Volvo, villager, or taurus fans and mount them as far as you can from the radiator you will have better luck. Another problem with multiple small fans, you loose a lot of fan blade area to the motors. Rather than having one motor and a big fan blade you have 3 motors all about the same size and small blades around it. It really kills the effectiveness of the fans especially with them that close to the rad.
Here is my setup with a Volvo fan, 3.4 and 3core rad you can see it is close but it fits and covers the majority of the radiator.
akwheeler - I have a mercury villager fan in my attic that at one time I was going to swap into my truck, but I decided against it. You can have it if you want to give it a try. From everything I read about it, the shroud that is on it can be trimmed to fit nicely to the stock radiator. No idea if it will fit in a 3.0 between radiator and waterpump, but I assume it will. Of course, getting the fan from Florida to Alaska might be a bit costly, I really don't know.
akwheeler - I have a mercury villager fan in my attic that at one time I was going to swap into my truck, but I decided against it. You can have it if you want to give it a try. From everything I read about it, the shroud that is on it can be trimmed to fit nicely to the stock radiator. No idea if it will fit in a 3.0 between radiator and waterpump, but I assume it will. Of course, getting the fan from Florida to Alaska might be a bit costly, I really don't know.
Thanks for the offer cory, but I should be able to find something locally that will work. I don't get into deep enough water often enough to justify the electric setup anyway, I just wanted to see if I could make it work.
I haven't worked on my buggy for a while, but I am getting all of my poop in a group to start the 3.4 swap. I got the short block and heads back from the machine shop months ago and finally found time to put it together. Here's some pics:
Completely rebuilt, new valves in the heads, slapped some paint on it and planning the next move.
I have a complete T-100 to dismantle, still need to send off the crossover for modification (my welding isn't good enough to insure it doesn't leak). I also still need to see how the oil pan will work, I may need to source a 2WD pan and pickup.
03-08-2018, 12:52 PM
