Mountaineer

Why ?




Fans as in plural ?

Festus

Seen a few up here too.

Fan sucks air through rad from the front, correct?

So, if air flow is completely blocked off, a great amount of suction force can be created to the point of bending the blades into the rad. Such a pulling force is not good for the fan clutch bearing either.

To avoid both, you still require a certain amount of air flow even at the coldest temperatures. Even on highway tractors points North of me, this is why you'll never see experienced drivers completely close the winter fronts on the front of their trucks.

Mountaineer

Even if their trucks aren't up to operating temp ?

Festus

Not from an experienced driver, nor from me when I was driving OTR you won't. You won't even see it on my personal or company pickup. Solution: lug the engine a bit. It'll get up to temp.

What's worse - having engine temp a few degrees colder and the heater not quite putting out a cremate temperature but still moving, or sucking fan blades into the rad or piling up an electric fan clutch bearing and stranding you say in Meandor River / Indian Cabins / Steamboat at 0100 in the morning at -30* Celcius, without phone service, and not seeing another passing vehicle for about 7 hours?

Personally, I'll do what I can to not put myself in a stupid situation and possibly freeze to death if I can help it.

Festus

These grill inserts they sell that completely block the grill aren't great, but are not as bad because there is still air movement between the bottom of the grill and the bumper.

However, once you block that space off by slipping things between the rad and the intercooler, WITHOUT MAKING PROVISIONS TO MAINTAIN SOME TYPE OF AIR MOVEMENT, your are pretty much asking for trouble to find you.

Hope all this explanation helps everyone reading it from getting stranded. I ran into a fella once in a similar situation on a remote highway. I learned from his hard way. He was blue he was so cold.

klx650a2

Yes, you don't want to completely block off the rad. Those fans make a HUGE mess!!! That being said, I just removed my fan (love being from the old school!!!) and it warms up great and does not over heat. Even today, it was +4 Celsius (39F) and towing a 6000 lb trailer, it does not heat even with 2/3 of the front of the truck covered up at 100 km/h. But I'm careful to not run the defrost (a/c) with the truck sitting there as issues can arise.

Mountaineer

Well what if I just pull the fan off ? I guess they can't eat into the radiator then. So with fan removed and temps below 190* is there any other reason not to block it off completely.

klx650a2

^^^You'll want some air through the intercooler. To remove the fan, an air chisel works wonders. Just remember, its a reverse thread...

hivoltage

To block or not to block...I think it a matter of opinion. Personally I would not completely block the radiator for fear of bad things, BUT there are alot of guys who have been doing it for years with no ill effects. I think it's a coin toss.

FLYH2O

Am I wrong in thinking blocking off the rad with cardboard won't make any difference?

Does the thermo not stay closed until it gets up to temp then opens and flows through the rad after it reaches temp in the block? Blocking the rad should make no change until the water in the block reaches full temp?

hivoltage

For the most part I think you're right. There could be a SMALL difference because the fan is still pulling cold air across the engine itself. I really think the cardboard is good for light load situations where heat is lost faster than it can be made.

Festus

The next question to ask is how hard have they worked the truck? Wouldn't be much of an issue around urban areas as the fan would rarely cut in anyway.

Go ahead, cardboard is a good, cheap idea. Just cut some random 1" holes in it. If you notice your fan cutting in often, cut a few more holes. There is no one solution. Everyone's needs will be different. The variables will be loaded / unloaded, how much of a load, how often loaded; urban, rural, highway driving; how hard one gets on it; traffic; etc, etc, etc; it's endless. Just use common sense about it is all - there is no absolute.

I have the Dodge winterfront. Depending on temperatures each day, I've closed a flap, opened them all the next day, closed two the day after, and then midday opened them all when I hooked onto my trailer. That's the only nice thing about a "real" winterfront is that it is completely customizable to immediate conditions simply by opening and closing the flaps. I will guarantee one thing though........you'll never see mine completely closed - I don't care how cold it gets - and we do get a bit colder here than probably most of the folks on the entire DTR, save those members from points farther North - I've been to the Yukon and Alaska driving OTR and in my personal truck and I still never had the front of any of them closed up tight.

MikeyT

Ok, here's a stupid question.

I count 4 heat exchangers, from the front of the truck back they are small, large, small, large.

Which one is which?

I would like to add a cardboard sheet for winter but don't want to slide it into the wrong spot.


Thanks!

John Faughn

To start the closest to the eng & the biggest one would be the radiator = eng. coolant .
The next one forward , 2nd biggest , would be the intercooler .
The rest father forward , would be the AC , trans , PS .
Put the card board in front of the radiator after the intercooler , or in between those two .
But do not forget to put a hole , about 6-8" in the middle , I cut a square standing on one corner .

beardedone

I just installed Cloud Rider stainless steel insert on my 08. Got them from my Dodge dealer here in Alberta. Look nice. What was said about covering the grill from the outside has been said for many years. When you put the cardboard too close to the rad you can create problems from heating and I have heard that if you do that the fan can be compromised as well, but I don't know how much truth there is to that.