G-plus radiator

[savage54]

Only bad thing is it's still made in china.My old radiator ran around 190 in hot weather to ,and would fluctuate from 190 to 210 pulling a load.After all the stuff going on this week, I'm looking forward to see how this radiator works.

 

[GAmes]

I'm looking forward to see how this radiator works.

Me too. Having the privilege of driving a one owner truck I know how mine cooled with the original 3 row radiator. It didn't go over 190 and the fan clutch didn't engage when towing a 5th wheel trailer across flat land. Today with the 2 row I'm seeing 200+ and the fan seems to always be engaged. With temps in the low 90s and little wind shouldn't be that hot. I'm hoping you give it a good review.

 

[JR]

I hate to be a pessimist....but I hope it performs better than it looks. They've got a little bit of everything going on there. Incomplete bridging, undercut and incomplete fusion. From one extreme to the other. Definitely human welded.

 

[The patriot]

190° on a hot day? I'd say it's cooling very well. Were it running 220°-230° and the fan clutch rarely engages, I'd suspect the t-stat (not enough coolant reaches the radiator for the heat to be rejected).

If the fan clutch is often engaged, either there is sufficient heat leaving the radiator to engage it, or the clutch is the wrong temp or is failing. That is, if the truck is empty and at highway speed, I might not expect the fan clutch to engage. Around town, it should engage now and again. Hauling or towing heavy, I would expect the fan clutch to engage a lot more. Listen to big trucks and large cars; their fans can be heard a half mile away at any speed when the engine is working hard. But even those fans turn off when there's little heat to reject.

It seems like the only time I hear the fan running is in the morning when I first start it up. Hearing isnt what it once was.....:laf:
I dont tow nearly as much as I used to, which even then wasnt much.
Did make a trip to arkansas last year, but it was in the early fall. Hot, but not summer heat. I had a headwind to boot, and still it rarely went over 190 with a heavy damn trailer@ 70 mph for the most part.
Every time I got a good cadence going a snow bird or a mobile home-wide load would mess it up.

 

[savage54]

I hate to be a pessimist....but I hope it performs better than it looks. They've got a little bit of everything going on there. Incomplete bridging, undercut and incomplete fusion. From one extreme to the other. Definitely human welded.

I hope it preforms like the old 3 core radiator. Its hard to see the welds in the pictures , they used a silver paint on the tanks of the radiator.I cleaned some of the paint to see some of the welds, and they do look better with out the paint.

 

[savage54]

UP DATE ON THE 3 CORE I INSTALLED. Finally got the truck back on the road, so far so good, no leaks, took it on a drive in stop and go traffic and 91 degree weather. it ran between 175 to 190 with air conditioner on , not pulling anything.It seems to cool as good as the stock 3 core did and seems to have a good size coolant capacity .Time will tell when I start pulling loads. But so far I'm impressed.

 

[DavidC]

What type of drain does it have ?. Is it a real petcock or a plastic device like the stock ?

Dave

 

[GAmes]

The second picture looks like it is metal.

 

[GAmes]

Time will tell when I start pulling loads. But so far I'm impressed.

I'm hoping it is soon, my double tow trip across west TX last weekend (temps were about 100) put me at 220 on relatively flat ground. I need something better than the Spectra.

 

[DavidC]

The second picture looks like it is metal.

Thanks, finally a real reliable drain.

Dave

 

[savage54]

Here's the petcock.

 

[savage54]

I'm hoping it is soon, my double tow trip across west TX last weekend (temps were about 100) put me at 220 on relatively flat ground. I need something better than the Spectra.

Here in Washington State, you can't double tow. What weight are you at double towing? I look up the radiator I ended up using on EBay and the company say's their out of stock, but I see another company is selling the same radiator but instead of $220 they are trying to get $520, I hope the other company I got mine restocks the radiator.

 

[GAmes]

5th Wheel and boat is about 13,000 so the whole train is about 21k. I do tow heavier when working though. I hope the $220 price holds too.

 

[The patriot]

I have to pay a pretty hefty bill off, I hope the price holds a month or two anyway.
I don't mind doing this as preventative maintenance as long as it's an improvement over stock.

 

[savage54]

Up date on aluminum 3 core radiator. So far it's running as good as the stock one, fluctuates between 175 and 190 in traffic . When I pulled my trailer with the bronco on it, fluctuates between 180 to 200. I'm not pushing it hard in 75 degrees weather, I've read about the fluctuation of the gauge and thermostat, so i'm assuming this is normal? Only problem I had was a small pin hole on the upper hose connection on the radiator, it was not weeping a lot, after a hour of driving it would have a small green bubble , but not dripping. Luckily it WAS IN A SPOT ON TOP WHERE I COULD FIX IT.We will see how it does in the long term compared to the oem radiator. I see their still out of stock. The choices for radiators are not a lot, it seems their are only a few companies that make them.

 

[savage54]

So far the new radiator is working as good and even better than the oem did. Keeps the truck cool in traffic, around 190 and up to 200 at the most. I still haven't hauled anything heavy ,to compare it to the oem radiator yet. Been off of work with a injury, so haven't been hauling my bronco to the dunes, just to the muffler shop.

 

[GAmes]

I see they are up to $255 now. Still a good deal if they hold together and cool as well as the OEM. I'm waiting with bated breath for you to tow with yours.

 

[Kirwin]

Price is now $200, but they are out of stock again.

 

[Flinty]

I finally installed the above mentioned radiator in my '97. Paid $255 to my door on August 3rd. I had to bend one of the mount flanges to get it to line up with the hole and I had to cut three of the fan shroud bolts shorter - not a big deal. My biggest complaint is that the ears of the drain pet cock hit the intercooler. It holds pressure and keeps the truck cool. Judging by previous reports it should do fine next summer towing.
This truck has 380k on it.

 

[DavidC]

I finally installed the above mentioned radiator in my '97. Paid $255 to my door on August 3rd. I had to bend one of the mount flanges to get it to line up with the hole and I had to cut three of the fan shroud bolts shorter - not a big deal. My biggest complaint is that the ears of the drain pet cock hit the intercooler. It holds pressure and keeps the truck cool. Judging by previous reports it should do fine next summer towing.
This truck has 380k on it.

Maybe......remote mount the pet cock if it becomes a problem ?.

Dave