How hard is a fan clutch replacement job?

I’ve had a mystery vibration on my truck that has progressive gotten worse. It happens at about 40ish mph and last till around 50. no luck tracking it down. So this is the latest try at fixing it. This dude seems too have had the same issue. U-joints and carrier bearing have been done also. East coast needle bearing bushing is on order but I don’t think it’s the cause



*how hard is the fan clutch to replace?

 

4.7? Depends if he’s talking about the clutch itself or the bracket that the fan assembly mounts to. The fan clutch is not bad…the fan bracket is about 1/2 a T-Belt job.

 

Is there any wiggle at the fan?

 

@THinTX yeah man it’s a 4.7, I can’t figure out what he’s calling a cooling fan coupling. I figure I’ve got the original fan clutch though. Worth a shot

@Sirfive not really any play to speak of but it does seem like that sucker is loud as hell

 

I dont know how different the ‘06 would be, but it looks to me like the fan can come out through the bottom without having to remove the shroud. But if theres no wiggle, and all the blades are intact i dont see where the vibes would come from. Checked the common suspects like wheel and axle bearings? Slop in the steering? Wheel balance? Do you feel it in the seat or the steering wheel?

rpm or speed related?

 

I don’t man that’s what so crazy about it. I been chasing this since I bought the truck.

so far we’ve done u-joints, the carrier bearing, off-road shop I use has checked the suspension and driveline. Everything’s tight in the steering. Could a cv be causing my issue?I just found a cv boot that’s tore. Whatever is causing it shakes the whole dang truck it seems like. It starts at 40ish and last till about 50ish. Trucks usually turning about 2grand on the Tac.

first thought was trans or torque converter related but if you romp on it and just have the truck run through the gears as fast as it can it won’t do it. Cruising through town and holding speed uphill triggers it

 

Get the engine up to operating temp, then wiggle on the fan. When i got my tundra the brakes were dragging, and it got a light-duty death wobble under similar circumstances. Maybe check wheel temp the next time it happens?

 

I’ll check it in the morning when I get to work. The brake thing is a new angle, appreciate the suggestion

 

Have you had the fluid checked or maintenance done? Try driving with OD off and see what happens. I’ve heard of a few that have done fluid flushes and it has helped with converter shudder, but if it still does it with OD off, that’s probably not the issue. I don’t necessarily recommend flushing fluid completely on an older vehicle though.

 

It's not hard, one of the first things I ever did on my truck so I'm iffy on details. But when mine was bad you can hear it. It goes woo WOO Woo woooooo. It's a constant noise. I thought it sounded like water cavitating. I ended up pulling the shroud and radiator just to make it easier.

Oh, and the "cooling fan coupling" is the fan clutch.

 

@THinTX im stuck with a sealed unit on the 06 but the truck has had periodic drain and refills last one done about 15k ago. I’ll try the od trick on the way home tonight. It seems to do it worse when the truck is at temp and it’s hot outside.

@Sirfive checked the brakes this morning, the wheels were warm but didn’t seem out of the ordinary for a 30 minute drive. I’ve got new brakes and rotors to go on the truck just haven’t had time to get em on

@bmf4069 im sure mines still the original. Keep throwing parts at it till I get it. Worth a shot. My seems louder than it should be

 

Another thought, when the carrier bearing and u joints were done, was the driveshaft put back exactly? Both halfs of my driveshaft have the balance weights on the same side of the shaft.

 

“In phase” is also important

 

I’ll give the driveshaft a once over and report back. Might bring some pictures back also if anything looks outta whack