Several people I've talked to say the grill blockoffs are not needed in Oklahoma (it gets in the teens for about a week total & below freezing for a week at a time several times in the winter) but the guy at the truck accessory place says they are needed, but he could just be trying to get me to spend more $$$.
whats the straight scoop??

I know it's not even close to getting cold yet (100+ degrees average for a while now). but I'm new to deisels so I'm trying to figure out whats what.

 

Bet once the Canadian guys chip in you will find that none are needed. If they don't need them or the guys in Alaska don't use them, you sure don't. I have driven in temps of minus 60 degrees centigrade with the chill factor with various vehicles and never used them. That is what thermostats are for. Just make sure that the anti-freeze is good for under the worst temps you anticipate.

 

If I am towing I will only put mine in when its -20C or colder.

What I thought was odd lately is how many 3rd gen Rams running around with the solid inserts in 90F plus heat here.
No comprende

If I am not towing and just running around town, I will slip then in when the temps stay below freezing.

The inserts are black, same color as the new truck.

;D

 

An Alaskan point of view....Kenai, Anchorage, Fairbanks.

I have always had a weatherfront (what you Sooner or Cowboy fans call grill blockoffs) for all of my diesels. I usually put the weather front on sometime in mid to late September when the nightly temps get below freezing and the daily high temp is in the low 40's. I go to work at 4:30 a.m. and find a diesel warms up quicker when I have the weather front on.

With that said, I have had the Lund plastic weatherfronts in the past and with those you can insert a couple of them in the openings and leave one of the openings open so as to let in a little air but once the temps go below zero then all the weatherfronts are in and keeping the thing warm. The other option is to have one made out of vinyl with snaps installed in it...then you add snaps to the grill of the truck and snap it on...it has a zipper on it so you can open it up or close it completely depending on the temperature. It is just like the Peterbuilts and Kenworths run on theirs, just a smaller version of a weatherfront.

I, a true blue Huskers fan, spent a little time growing up on my grandparents farm in Nebraska and know how cold it can get in the plains states....if it were me, I had have a weatherfront ready for late October or early November as I recall some of those windy blizzards can chill a person to the bone, let alone a diesel.

I've driven my diesels in Fairbanks when the temp was -42 degrees farenheit, and was glad I had a weatherfront. The engine was able to warm up quicker, stay up to temp and the heater worked alot better. Just wait till it gets really cold, run it without the weatherfronts and check the engine temp gauge...then put them in and watch it come up....it's more dramatic in -40 degree weather but I'm a firm believer in using them once the temps go sub-zero.

 

[quote author=XTOAK link=board=20;threadid=17823;start=0#msg166767 date=1059711855]
An Alaskan point of view....Kenai, Anchorage, Fairbanks.

I have always had a weatherfront (what you Sooner or Cowboy fans call grill blockoffs) for all of my diesels. I usually put the weather front on sometime in mid to late September when the nightly temps get below freezing and the daily high temp is in the low 40's. I go to work at 4:30 a.m. and find a diesel warms up quicker when I have the weather front on.

With that said, I have had the Lund plastic weatherfronts in the past and with those you can insert a couple of them in the openings and leave one of the openings open so as to let in a little air but once the temps go below zero then all the weatherfronts are in and keeping the thing warm. The other option is to have one made out of vinyl with snaps installed in it...then you add snaps to the grill of the truck and snap it on...it has a zipper on it so you can open it up or close it completely depending on the temperature. It is just like the Peterbuilts and Kenworths run on theirs, just a smaller version of a weatherfront.

I, a true blue Huskers fan, spent a little time growing up on my grandparents farm in Nebraska and know how cold it can get in the plains states....if it were me, I had have a weatherfront ready for late October or early November as I recall some of those windy blizzards can chill a person to the bone, let alone a diesel.

I've driven my diesels in Fairbanks when the temp was -42 degrees farenheit, and was glad I had a weatherfront. The engine was able to warm up quicker, stay up to temp and the heater worked alot better. Just wait till it gets really cold, run it without the weatherfronts and check the engine temp gauge...then put them in and watch it come up....it's more dramatic in -40 degree weather but I'm a firm believer in using them once the temps go sub-zero.
[/quote]

What he said!!

 

I've run the fronts on past-owned trucks but stopped after I found no difference, nada, in warm up times, etc. If I were to run 'em in the future it would be to keep salt and crud (they salt and sand the roads here) out of the engine bay in the winter. But, after running my truck all last Winter without the fronts - I just don't see the need.

Maybe it doe not get cold enough here (only down to 0 degrees F a few times each Winter).

Bill