4-Wheel & Off-Road knows heat. Here in southern California we have access to some of the hottest four-wheeling playgrounds on the face of the earth, so when it comes to testing cooling products we got you covered.
We know a lot of you have contemplated going to electric fans instead of the typical mechanical clutch fan setup you have now. You may be wondering if an electric fan will cool your rig on those hot summer afternoons when you're stuck in traffic with the A/C on, towing your favorite toy behind you. The answer is yes, and you'll be rewarded with faster engine warmups, more power to the rear wheels, and a smoother running engine too. Check it out as we install Perma-Cool's new dual 14-inch fan setup on a '97 K2500 Suburban for the ultimate in cooling.
Fast Fan Facts
We mocked up one of Perma-Cool's dual fans to work on our 2000 K2500 because nobody with an '88-'98 truck would lend us their truck to test in the too-hot-for-Satan-sands of Johnson Valley. With outside temperatures in the 100s, our 6.0L truck flat-towed a flatfender, idled in the sun with the A/C on full (32F at the vents), and romped and stomped across the desert while maintaining a 210F operating temperature. It wasn't until we started doing abusive (drive it like you stole it) sand dune blasting in high range that we were able to get the engine temp up to 265F! We'd then stop and let the engine idle, and the fans would pull the engine back down to 210F in a few minutes. The owner of the '97 big-block Suburban in the photos reports 10-20 degree cooler engine temps with the new fans even in the stop-and-go commutes of Los Angeles.Price of fans: PN 19514 $500, PN 19515 $500.