Which radiator has the finest cooling capacity?

[robroy]

Good morning,

One of the goals for my truck is that it should be able to comfortably go in very hot climates and get stuck in traffic without having any problems with heat. Even out in Nevada in July.

What's the very finest radiator (the largest cooling capacity) that will bolt in to our trucks? Has anybody already gone down that road?

Thanks very much!
-Robroy

[BobbyFord]

Optional Super Cooling radiators were available but the core supports are different than non-Super Cooling. 4WD core supports are the same . I would recommend a fan shroud, also.

"Only the Super Cooling radiator uses a different core support, and the only difference is the radiator opening width is larger.
If you install one of the radiators, all you have to do is open up the width of your present core support a coupla inches, the height (length) is the same, as you can see...
19 3/4" x 26 1/4" = Extra cooling radiator = Use w/ or w/o A/C
24 3/16" x 26 1/4" = Super cooling radiator.
C7TZ-16138-A .. Core Support `~ 1967/72 F100/250 2WD with standard or extra cooling radiator.
C7TZ-16138-B .. Core Support ~ 1967/72 F100/350 2WD ~ Use with Super Cooling radiator. ALSO FITS: 1967/72 F100/250 4WD."
As quoted by Bill Sylhall, aka NumberDummy.

[averagef250]

That is not true. The super cooling core support has the exact same size opening. The difference is in how the radiator mounts to the core support. The super cooling trucks used the same core support as the 4x4's which have different mounting wings on each side for the radiator.

The super cool radiator is much bigger than the standard V8 radiator. It holds about 2 gallons more coolant. The main difference in size is the height of the super cool. It's about 6" taller and hangs down between the frame rails in these trucks. They also have monster end tanks, probably why they hold so much more coolant.

The super cool fan shrouds are also different from the standard ones.

[Jake11]

Got a 3 row with my jacked 390. Never gets past 1/4 on the guage. 100+ ambiant. Waiting for 2mile train to get
out of my way. No fancy fan system. No shroud. 7000 in 3rd will get 65/70 onramp pretty quick. fwy ya know. No
heat probs. 195 thermostat too, or the heater/defroster ain't worth shxt.

If you have a "decent" rad core, Find a radiator guy that ain't 20 or so. 40/50ish. He'll fix it up for ya. Buy him some
beer, bribe him. It works. Jake

[robroy]

Hi Bobby and Dustin,

That super cooling option sounds interesting to me. I already have my core support off so it would be easy to swap another type in.

Do either of you happen to know if the radiator mounts that differ between the two core supports are removable, so they could be swapped from a super cooling support to a regular one? Or are they definitely an intrinsic part of the support?

One more question: does anybody know of a radiator company that makes superior, new radiators?

Jake, thanks for your suggestion about my standard radiator working out fine as-is. You could be right. I certainly never had any heat problems with my stock 360, but I never took it in to hot weather either.

I'm inclined to go with an overkill setup instead of risking the stock setup in extreme weather. As I'm sure all of you can relate to, there's nothing worse than the feeling you get sitting in traffic and watching that temperature gauge creep up higher and higher!

Thanks for the great advice!
-Robroy

[binder56jd]

http://www.performanceradiator.com/

[robroy]

Hi Binder56jd, thanks for the suggestion! It looks like they have three different options for 2WD Bumpsides (each available in both 3 row and 4 row editions):

1. 19.25" tall
2. 24.25" tall "MOUNT TOWARDS GRILL"
3. 24.25" tall "MOUNTING CENTERED"

Options two and three are interesting. I wonder if one of those mounting options is designed to allow us to mount these taller radiators in trucks that didn't originally come with them?

Does anybody happen to know what the mounting options mean?

Thanks again!
-Robroy

[mrtleavitt]

I'm from Las Vegas, NV and with my stock radiator, stock fan shroud with the A/C on in stop and go traffic, my temp gauge never makes it past the 1/2 way mark in the middle of the summer, about 120 degrees outside. And let's just say I don't drive like a grandpa either. Just my

[robroy]

Hi Mrtleavitt, thanks for your reply!

Your experience certainly agrees with Jake's suggestion to leave the stock radiator as-is.

May I ask what the specs are on your engine? Is it stock or modified? I'm curious about this because I'm under the impression that high performance engines are capable of generating a lot more heat than stock engines, but this could be a false premise. Any thoughts on this?

Thank you!
-Robroy

[mrtleavitt]

My 390 has a fairly radical Edelbrock camshaft, Msd distributor, MSD 6 Box, headders, dual flowmasters. So as far as actual engine work goes, it's pretty stock, but it has a few good additions. My old 390 had some high compression heads and a few more engine mods and it stayed just as cool.

[robroy]

Interesting, thanks for your reply Mrtleavitt! It seems like I should just slap together the stock setup and try it out before going to any great bother to upgrade it.

Thanks again,
-Robroy

[basketcase0302]

Robroy,

Do either of you happen to know if the radiator mounts that differ between the two core supports are removable, so they could be swapped from a super cooling support to a regular one? Or are they definitely an intrinsic part of the support?

Mine are "spot-welded" to the actual support. I could see moving them from one support to another.
But it would probably be easier to just swap out to the super-cooling support if you have one.

Basketcase

[robroy]

Hey Basketcase! Thanks for the info! Since I don't already have a Super Cooling support I'd need to obtain one to get the brackets off of it anyways, so I may as well just swap the whole thing out.

But since I've received lots of feedback indicating that the stock cooling setup is very good, I'm thinking of trying it out before getting in to the swap project.

Thanks again Basketcase!
-Robroy