Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ironhorse]

In 2015 I installed the Wards cooling fans on my '06 CVO Ultra. They worked great and really help in slow and go hot weather. However, they most recently presented me with a new problem.

On my way to meet John in Barstow, CA I heard a clanking sound. I looked down and saw my horn and Wards fans flopping back and forth. The rubber isolator had torn. I went to Bakersfield HD and bought the $6 part. Out in the parking lot I went to change it out, or so I thought. I couldn't get the old isolator off the bracket. Even with large channel locks from the shop, I couldn't get it off. So I tossed the horn and fans in my bag and rode on.

Tuesday was our "off the bike day" with no scheduled rides. I took my bike to an independent shop in Sedona. The tech couldn't muscle the remaining part of the isolator off either. He had to remove the bracket from the engine. However even with it locked in a vise and using large visegrips he couldn't get it off. So he ground all the remaining rubber off, and welded a bar onto it. With the added leverage from the bar he got it to unscrew. There was no way I could do all that in a parking lot with my basic tools! So he installed the new isolator, the fans, and the horn. He used blue locktite on the acorn nut that holds it all together. The tech was of the opinion that while the fans do not weigh much, their extended design led to a "pendulum effect" exacerbated by typical HD vibration. This added to the premature wear and tearing of the isolator. For the rest of the ride everything was fine.

Coming home I'm splitting lanes on the north bound 101,....when suddenly I hear a clanking sound. I look down and see the horn, and ONLY the horn dangling from wires. I pull off at the first exit and tossed the horn in the tour pack. The fans are laying somewhere on the 101 north of Paso Robles.  After two and a half days of cleaning I tied up the fan wires, and reinstalled the horn.

What's your thoughts on this?

Did the fans add extra strain on the rubber isolator causing the initial wear and tear on the original one, and the mounting nut to come lose on the new one?

I really like the fans, especially in traffic on hot days. But I can't have stuff falling off the bike when I'm on the road.

Thanks.

Mark

[Major Tom]

G'day Ironhorse,

I had wards fans on Lucille and they worked just fine apart from falling off on our way to Sturgis a couple years back. They chewed into the granite paint on Lucille's inner primary and made quite a mess. The dealer who installed them provided excellent support and they fixed the primary and reinstalled the fans and we did another 10 or 15 thousand miles before one of the fans died.

Unfortunately Wards has gone the way of the dinosaur,s so I could not get a replacement. Looking at the Love Jugs Mighty-Mite Cooling Fans which are very similar to the Wards fans I believe Love Jugs may have swallowed them up but am not sure. Anyway, I decided to give the HD CoolFlow Fan a go as it was designed to pull the hot air from the rear cylinder and push it to the ground rather than across the cylinder. It was also cheaper by around $100 than the Love Jugs version and links in with the instruments etc.

When I compare the difference, the CoolFlow Fan is much more effective at keeping hot air off my right leg. On a recent run to Texas we were stuck in stop & go traffic for over 3 hours on the Atchafalaya bridge on a stinking hot day & while I was hot anyway, there was a distinct improvement in the amount of heat coming off the motor onto my right leg.

I now have better cooling for the rear cylinder, no worries about parts falling off and best of all my nuts aren't like little steamed dim sims when I am in traffic on a hot day!

The part number for Lucille (2015 FLTRUSE) was #26800152

Cheers Tom

[Ironhorse]

Thanks Tom, but I’m not sure that fan will fit my 06.

[ematicic]

I had my JIMS fan installed since 2013 on my Break Out and it is still running strong, not even a bit loose. Can't say why yours failed, sorry..

http://www.jimsusa.com/whats_new.php

[Ironhorse]

Just to be clear, the fans didn't fail.

The rubber isolator tore, and I was wondering if the design of having the two fans out on "pontoons" rocking back and forth contributed the isolator failure. The second time the fans just vibrated loose (through blue locktite) fell off the new isolator, and onto the freeway.

Now that Jims unit looks good. Did you have to relocate the horn?

[ematicic]

Just to be clear, the fans didn't fail.

The rubber isolator tore, and I was wondering if the design of having the two fans out on "pontoons" rocking back and forth contributed the isolator failure. The second time the fans just vibrated loose (through blue locktite) fell off the new isolator, and onto the freeway.

Now that Jims unit looks good. Did you have to relocate the horn?

The Jims fan includes a horn but it is much quieter than OEM. The included horn is tucked behind the cover. Without the fan the IETMS would kick in within 20 minutes of being stuck in traffic, with the fan, I can actually commute in I95 gridlock. Big fan, of the fan...

[hd-dude]

Mark;
I have a set of these in stock and on a bike if you want to come check them out....

https://love-jugs.com/new-cool-master/

The also have an improved mount that is really stout....

[Major Tom]

Thanks Tom, but I’m not sure that fan will fit my 06.

My  Bad Ironhorse, pretty sure they won't.

Cheers Tom

[rheiner]

I completed the installation of my Love Jugs Cooler Master fans today. I used the frame mount which should reduce vibration significantly from a motor mount installation. They use an isolator similar, if not identical to the OEM isolator to mount the Cooler Master fans and the horn onto a bracket. So instead of the isolator only carrying the weight of the horn like OEM, it's now carrying the weight of the fans, the fan bracket and the horn. I am concerned that it is a potential problem down the road. I would have liked to have seen a beefier isolator. The instructions also require that the inboard end of the isolator gets screwed into a bracket using red Loctite. So like the OP experienced, I can see that being a real problem eventually getting it off if it does fail. They also want you to use blue Loctite on the acorn nut at the other end of the isolator. Hopefully that will hold due to less vibration being a frame mount system.

Overall it does seem to be a very robust system, very attractive, and it really pushes a lot of air over my S&S 124 engine with a simple flip of the rocker acc switch on the panel.

[Ironhorse]

I completed the installation of my Love Jugs Cooler Master fans today. I used the frame mount which should reduce vibration significantly from a motor mount installation. They use an isolator similar, if not identical to the OEM isolator to mount the Cooler Master fans and the horn onto a bracket. So instead of the isolator only carrying the weight of the horn like OEM, it's now carrying the weight of the fans, the fan bracket and the horn. I am concerned that it is a potential problem down the road. I would have liked to have seen a beefier isolator. The instructions also require that the inboard end of the isolator gets screwed into a bracket using red Loctite. So like the OP experienced, I can see that being a real problem eventually getting it off if it does fail. They also want you to use blue Loctite on the acorn nut at the other end of the isolator. Hopefully that will hold due to less vibration being a frame mount system.

Overall it does seem to be a very robust system, very attractive, and it really pushes a lot of air over my S&S 124 engine with a simple flip of the rocker acc switch on the panel.

Can you post some pics?

Thanks

[hd-dude]

Mark, your bike won't use the frame mount kit. I have used these and they work well...

https://love-jugs.com/product/the-vibration-master-2/

[rheiner]

Can you post some pics?

Thanks

I'll post three pics. I should have taken pictures before the fuel tank was installed. You'd get a much better idea of the install.

[rheiner]

#2

[rheiner]

#3

[timo482]

ive got the hd fan on my 07, had a hd fan on the 00 - ive never really had any problem with either of them - not as cool as a aftermarket fan - but its been dead reliable so far.