Well the day started off with thoughts of replacing the coolant and thermostat in my 87.
I soon discovered damage to (3) tubes near the top driver side, Called my local radiator shop to see about replacing the core.
What did cost $80 12 years ago now runs $450 today. (2 core) They might be able to repair for $150.
So after my wife revived my with a bucket of cold water I started searching...Found lots of plastic radiators (2 core) and a few on Ebay that claim to be 100% aluminum. (3 core $165-$199)
Toyota of Orlando quoted me a replacement for $530 plus tax (2 core)

Its been years since I've given any thought about radiators. I tried searching the web and like usual its information overload.
Anyone have any thoughts about the pros and cons of Plastic and Aluminum?

Thanks.

 

Ok, Ill jump in. I have two plastic/aluminum radiators. I put on in my 90 pickup about 6yrs ago, I think, it might be longer than that. Still just fine, bought it at auto zone. The other I put in a ford f150 about two years ago and it was the same as the one I took out that had lasted 20years, its a 95 model. I suppose the all aluminums are better made, but I don't know how they could work better than these plastic/all jobs have for me. They both have a lifetime warranty but that makes little difference to the guy broke down in the middle of nowhere.

 

Thanks for the reply.
So far I have found plastics with (2) cores for $109 and all Aluminum with (2) or (3) cores starting at $165 to $199 on ebay.

 

Did you check with Prater Radiator on Michigan St? They have my 89 radiator there now. My family has been dealing with them since the 70's

 

This is what I'm going with. Not gonna lie, the AutoZone warranty is sweet though. I buy brake boosters from them because I can just stomp away when I want and if I bust the diaphragm I just take it in and get another.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/1984-1990-toyota-pickup-22r-22re-2lt-a-t-m-t-economy-all-aluminum-radiator-teu-are.html

 

Radiator barn use to sell all metal two and three core radiators. I brass radiator should in theory be indefinitely rebuildable. I've had my rebuilt twice now...

 

I have fairly New all Copper and Brass radiators in all my Vehicles .

I had one Aluminum Radiator Fail ended up a$600.00 towing bill

Over the years I had made a few repairs on the Copper brass ones with a propane Torch Flux and Solder

Everyone has there reasons for what they like better

 

I've heard lots of good things about Champion radiators. I just a placed an order for one.

http://www.championradiators.com/Toy...ator-1984-1991

 

Toyota stills manufactures Radiators for our vehicles, get an original one. Alloy and Plastic on these engines are not a good idea. I had a 3 Alloy and Plastic radiators that where a pain in the a.. In the end i went to Toyota and i got the original radiator. It was made by Denso in August 2015.

 

I had a $95 plastic spectra put in back in 2012 and it's held up fine. It's been out of the truck for a rebuild and still looks good inside and out. I know it won't last nearly as long as the original did though. If you're planning on keeping this truck for life, over time a copper/brass is probably the most reliable and the cheapest option. Nothing else will last 20-30 years with no maintenance.

 

Purchased plastic aluminum radiator for 90 Tr4 from NAPA over 6 years ago and couple months ago had engine rebuilt where shop tested and determined radiator was good.

 

CSF is the company that supplies LCEngineering with all their radiators. they make good quality brass units.

 

My truck has a CSF radiator that was put in about 7 years ago and is doing just fine. It looks high quality, just like the original. The drain cock could be better designed though as it lets coolant spray everywhere when you loosen it.

Even though I prefer the brass radiators like OEM and CSF, I feel that the plastic & aluminum radiators aren't too bad considering that all new cars are made with them.

I have no experience with the all aluminum radiators.

I would personally buy a copper & brass radiator but as long as the quality of the radiator is decent, I don't think you can go wrong with any of these options.

 

I would recommend staying away from Napa and spectra radiators (they have the plastic top and bottom), My boss bought a new Napa radiator (rebranded spectra) about a year and a half ago. Yes they have a lifetime warranty, but it gets annoying when you keep having to swap them out. First one I put it, we tried several different radiator caps for (all brand new, it takes the larger chevy style, not the smaller toyota style) every single one leaked and originally I thought it was where the cap seals to the radiator) warrantied out the radiator, next one had the same leak, warrantied out the radiator, next one leaked as well, this time I noticed it wasnt where I originally thought, it was actually leaking at the base of the filler neck, the others might have been leaking there as well, not sure, no way to check now, this last one so far is not leaking and I havent noticed an antifreeze smell outside of the vehicle this time. while changing a radiator isnt hard, it does get annoying constantly warranting them out and changing them constantly, especilly when they are brand new. Maybe I am the only person that has had bad luck with spectra but I sincerely doubt it considering how many I went through before I got a decent one. I wish I shopped around first and got a better radiator, but hindsight is 20/20. I do know if this one fails I will replace it with an ll metal one, possibly from LCE, expensive compared to the one I bought (about twice as much) but I am tired of replacing this radiator

 

btw if you live in Cali, I wouldn't buy a radiator from csf, they are known to cause cancer in california. If you live in another state you should be fine though. I also beleive that in California breathing causes cancer too, so if you live there, don't breath

 

This is true, can confirm. *coughs up ball of smog colored phlegm".

 

No cancer problems here, although I do live in Oregon.

Everything causes cancer in California.... even the keyboard I am typing on...



Anyway, I think radiators are one of those "you get what you pay for" parts.

 

Thanks to everyone for the input.
I ended up taking flg8r22 advice and went to Prater Radiator in Orlando. The guy (Jeff) was straight up honest. (I didnt think many were still around). He wanted to try and fix mine
before he sold me a new brass/copper one. They cleaned, fixed, tested and repainted for $58 out the door.


LOL. Here in Florida it nothing causes cancer but it does make you wonder how you can turn your Yota into a boat. I think I have it figured out.

 

Awesome! That is the nice thing about the copper / brass radiators... you can repair rather than replace.

This reminds me of the "Toybota" Top Gear episode.

 

Yes Sir. I was surprised he could fix it.

My hero





What else can be said..