 Parasitic loss (there's a new buzzword for you). In this case, we are not talking about your brother-in-law's borrowing habits, we're referring to the drag that accessories place on an engine. Your water pump, power steering pump, alternator, A/C, fan, etc. all use horsepower that would otherwise be sent to the rear wheels. Minimizing this loss would not only increase performance, but potentially gas mileage as well. Fortunately, there are a few ways to minimize accessory drag. Most of you have probably seen them in that Summit catalog next to your toilet, underdrive pulleys for your accessories. The idea here being to reduce the amount of hp required to operate an accessory by simply slowing it down. These kits are typically good for a few ponies at the rear wheels and cost you a couple hundred bucks. This solution might work great on your Mustang, but don't try it in a Jeep. Most 4 wheeling is done near idle where accessories are hard pressed to do their job already. Slow your water pump/fan down some more and those fancy aluminum pulleys are going to leave you steaming.
Since slowing down the accessories is not an option for most of us, remove the ones you don't need.
Just like the Wrangler kits, the CJ kit is designed to replace the existing You can view the installation instructions by clicking here.
What We Really Think 
The Flex-a-Lite fan setup is designed for 4 or 6 cylinder engines. This is also the same group of CJ owners who could benefit the most from a few more hp.
The jury is still out as to whether the fans can keep a V8 cool, but we're going to find out and let you know. At just under $300 dollars for the kit, you might have to get your wife's permission prior to ordering it. However, you can explain to her that the cat back exhaust for $400 dollars that you were going to buy won't give you near the performance improvement that the fans will, so you're really doing her a favor and saving a hundred dollars....that you can loan to your brother-in-law next time he shows up.
For more information, visit Flex-a-Lite at: www.flexalite.com, or call them at 800/242-9898. You may also contact us directly if you have any questions about our wheels. Click here for more information about our radiator. Click here to return to Product Reviews 
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