I have a nice extra wide 2 row (like 3" wide) aluminum radiator out of an explorer /w the 4.0 and auto trans.. the radiator looks like it will fit, and the upper hose might need to be bent a little bit to go onto the radiator fitting.... would this work alright? my current radiator is the stock 2 row but it has a slight leak, it is only like 23 years old, i'd say it's lived a long good life..
i don't need the auto trans cooling lines on the new rad, but I can just plug them off..
my other concern is, will that cheap plastic fan be able to pull air through the thicker radiator?

 

Might work. Caution on the fan shroud, you want about 1/2 to 1/3 of the rear of the fan sticking out the back of the shroud, so if the new radiator fits and is thicker, you might have to trim the rear face of the shroud. Your plastic fan will pull air good enough, but the fan is controlled by a bi-metal on the front of the fan clutch, so if the temps are not close to what it is use to seeing, it might come on a little sooner than before.

 

Thanks for the reply.
Good thing i got the shroud from the explorer too.. i did notice that it was thinner, so i used it..i got the radiator in the truck, and so far so good.. fit fine.. the upper hose just needed a little stretch..holds way more coolant than the old radiator..
I did notice the fan roaring a little sooner than usual.. but it is 110 outside and very humid..i took the truck for a spin and it was running nice and cool.. i also idled it for 20 mins with the a/c on and the temp did not go up..will know for sure if the new radiator is better, when i take the truck to work on wednesday..

 

So far so good.. the temp used to run around the O and the R in NORMAL.. now it stays on the M.. looks like the little 2.9 appreciates the extra capacity of the radiator..

 

When I replaced the radiator in my 88 Ranger that's exactly what I bought to go in. NEVER had any overheating problems!