Radiator Relocation

[BWGuy]

Quick question... has anyone ever attempted, successfully or not, to move the radiator up and/or back a bit so that it isn't quite so smash-able?

Background... I had a Saturn L100 that my brother in law wrecked a while back, so I tore all the doors off, cut a BIG hole in the roof, and turned it into the redneckest go kart anyone around here's ever seen. Before it eventually died from taking a big drink of water into the engine (I wasn't driving at the time), I pushed the radiator into the front rail of the trailer I dragged it around on. After patching up the holes in the bottom tank with some QuikSteel, I decided to hoist the whole rad up and tilt it back. Being that it had an electric fan and a good bit of flexibility in the hoses, this was no issue at all and totally got it out of harm's way.

My TB is at a good altitude now, but it's a bit scary to peek under the front bumper and see that radiator tank hanging there. It sure would be nice to relocate it.

[bartonmd]

That's why the radiator skid is just as important as the radiator oil pan skid. (edit)

With the body lift, relocating the radiator up is doable. Without a body lift, there's not a whole lot of room for that.

Mike

[DirtyBacon04]

That's why the radiator skid is just as important as the radiator skid.

[Lauron]

Matt, I have been looking at the same thing with the 3" body lift and planning a new bumper with protection from it.

Ron

[JorDaneeKey]

Radiator skids save radiator lives.

[v7guy]

I've considered changing my radiator mount I made for the body lift to lift the radiator up. It would probably help with my cooling since moving at 65mph with the A/C blasting raises my engine temp to around 230 on a 90 deg day. Moving it up would put more of the radiator in the airflow that my big stupid winch doesn't block.
I think you'd have a near impossible time adjusting it back much with the mechanical fan, probably very doable with electric fans though.

There was some talk awhile back about putting the radiator on top of the engine and cutting a hole in the hood with a vent. That would probably be a nightmare. Everything from bleeding the system to getting enough airflow would be problematic. With enough desire and willingness to do the work I think you can pull off damn near anything.

Regardless, you'll likely end up with a skid of that general shape whether or not you radiator sits behind it.

[SmokeyMcBlazer]

I don't know the logistics of doing it to a truck but we do it to ATV's all the time. We mount them up to the top of the front rack to get them up and outta the mud. Electronic fans are a must and the bleeding sometimes is a little difficult. Sometimes it takes raising the front or rear of the bike (depending on the machine) to be able to burp the last little bit of air out of the system.