aluminum radiator upgrade
 

i haven't seen it posted before, so i went ahead and tried it. picked up an aluminum radiator for a 2nd gen, and with a little massaging it fits in my 81. i suppose it depends on what manufacturer you get, but i had to grind off 1/2" of material of the bottom of the brackets to fit between the framerails. everything else fit pretty well. the fan shroud could use a trim to flush up against the tank, but its ok as-is.

my overheating issues should be a thing of the past!

Al

hmmm...where did you find it? U Pullit is having a 50% off sale this weekend...but am camping

it was new, got it from my parts guy. he just moved to a new parts house, but i might be able to get another one for the same price if you are interested. it was only $75 :)


btw, i was at u-pull-it in sherwood yesterday, they have crap for toyota pickups right now. only a few pre-80 2wds, and they are very picked over.

Al

broke right now anyway..but maybe in a couple weeks it might be possible. $75 is pretty dang reasonable.

How's the new place working out?

Been running pretty hot, I need to get something like this done. I wonder how this compares to the 3.0 rad upgrade

my stocker stays right close to the far left (cool temp) in 95 deg weather, maybe the issues are not the rad???

my issues were exactly the radiator. it sat for a few years, so it clogged up and even a cleaning agent and flush couldn't get the radiator unclogged enough for comfort.

Al

I would find a good clean stock radiator... mine has been keeping my truck very cool after I worked out all the leaking hoses. No problems, any temp, hill, freeway this summer. I also, although, run AMSOIL. I think it helps for keeping the temps down. But, I am running smaller tires (30's) than you are.

i didn't do the swap because i needed 'extra' cooling power, i just figure the price was right, aluminum looks sweet, and because aluminum dissipates heat much better then copper, it would be easier on the cooling system in general.

plus i've never seen a 1st gen with an aluminum radiator, so i thought it would be fun to be the first. ;)

Al