Plastic to metal fan swap

[masospaghetti]

Can a metal fan from a 96-98 V8 Explorer be swapped in place of the plastic fan in the V6 models? Mine is showing cracking in multiple places and is a 98 XLT model, OHV engine. Thanks all.

 

[Omnilux]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=329537

This is a sticky in this section that talks about it.

 

[masospaghetti]

Thanks for the link, I had read that thread but missed the note regarding the metal fan.

It seems the metal fan is not readily available like the plastic ones (probably because it never needs to be replaced) but I did find a Motorcraft plastic one for about 1/2 the price of a generic metal one. Does the number of blades matter? I've seen plastic fans with 10, 11, and 12 blades. The Motorcraft one has 11.