Off Road Bumper = Need for Bigger Radiator?
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Off Road Bumper = Need for Bigger Radiator?
I've heard it said a couple times now. If you get a off road bumper you should probably upgrade your radiator because of the blocked air flow. The bumper in question is a TJM T17 or Warn Rock Crawler, neither of which would have a winch in it for a while. I'm currently running a 1 row plastic/aluminum radiator and have no cooling issues.
Can I pretty much assume I'll have to upgrade to a 2 row (which was stock in my 1994) or maybe even 3 row, or might I be able to get by with the 1 row. I'm just wondering if this is something that pretty much everyone has to do, or if it's just on a case by case basis. The radiator is fairly new but it was also pretty cheap. I'm not against getting a new one, but swapping radiators always turns out to be a big mess.
Can I pretty much assume I'll have to upgrade to a 2 row (which was stock in my 1994) or maybe even 3 row, or might I be able to get by with the 1 row. I'm just wondering if this is something that pretty much everyone has to do, or if it's just on a case by case basis. The radiator is fairly new but it was also pretty cheap. I'm not against getting a new one, but swapping radiators always turns out to be a big mess.
#3
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IMHO, those bumpers don't block the airflow much more than the stock one.
Why did you"downgrade" the radiator? That is more of a concern to me than the minor difference due to the bumper...
Why did you"downgrade" the radiator? That is more of a concern to me than the minor difference due to the bumper...
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I don't think that it will be a problem. As long as your radiator is working, and the fan is able to draw air through the radiator, it won't overheat. If you are really concerned, I would get a Taurus electric fan.
#5
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I found my TJM T-17 added about 10 degrees to the coolant temp untill I opened it up and made the winch removeable.
And I can go from this:
To this in less than 10 minutes, including power connections:
Last edited by mt_goat; 12-24-2007 at 07:15 AM.
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I actually consider a 1 row aluminum rad an upgrade over a 3 row brass/copper rad. The reason is the 1 row aluminum rad is one large tube (usually 1.25" or more) where the 3 row copper/brass are tiny little tubes and don't have as much tube to fin contact and don't flow as well.
mt_goat, that's a nice looking bumper, looks clean without the winch too!
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I've had an ARB bumper on for quite awhile and never had any overheating problems. In fact the only time I've EVER had any overheating problems was when I had a Black Magic electric fan replacing my mechanical fan. This was with a stock bumper. That Black Magic fan couldn't keep the engine cool on long grades. Didn't matter if I was in first gear crawling up a hill or blowing over a pass at 70 during the winter. The truck would slowly overheat on any grade. Once the load was off, it would cool right back down. Went back to the mechanical stock fan - no more problems.
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