CK5 - The Full-Size GM Off Road Community

starting to tube up whats left of the truck and am planning on running my radiator in the back of the rig. Anyone done this? I was planning on getting some exhaust tubing to run the coolant through and i've already got electric fans to run on it. Any thoughts, pics, or part numbers?

I was planning the samething, I have my radiator but nothing else yet. The one thing is there will have to be some rubber hosing in there, what for the motor movement and connecting and disconnecting the radiator.
http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/ChevyBigBlockV8s/images/ultimate1d.jpg
Hosing like that is what I want, no idea where to get it. My radiator is a 19x31" 2 core Aluminum unit by Howes. Got it from Summit for $200 and change.

I had plans to mount the radiator in the rear.... But it didn't work out that way /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. After installing the fuel cell and back seats, I just ran outta room /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif.
http://coloradok5.com/photos/data/500/3081Buggy2_081803-med.jpg
But, I was planning to use "copper tubing". Seems I had found some @ mcmaster.com that was close to the size of fitting inside a radiator hose. The added heat x-fer from the long copper tubes would really help the cooling capability.

Marv

Hum /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif copper would be interesting. Up to 2" tubing may be needed but it bends pretty good and is relatively light. The best part is I can get it for free. Just use rubber out of the pump, water neck, and radiator. Measure the ID of the rubber hose and I will see what I can do to match up the size. I usually work with 1",1 1/2", and 2" so hopefully one of those sizes will work.

Only worry I have about that all is simply this, copper, aluminum, and steel all stewing in the same liquids. You hear of problems with aluminum and steel then throw another metal in there.

i'm not that worried...it's a trail only vehicle, whats the worst that can happen? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

EXPLOSIONS AND FIRE AND DEATH

You could always run PVC with flex on the end, hahahaha

mines trail only as well, worst that could happen is my pipes, $200 radiator, and block either corrode or get gunked up and I overheat or lose coolant. Doesn't matter if its trail only if you are stuck miles into a trail and can't drive out.

so what we're saying is that the steel block i'm running with aluminum thermostat neck and the copper radiator is bad for my engine. isn't that the same as stock?

Its not a problem stock but the issue shows up when you have two long lenghts of copper running along the vehicle. When the water pump is running, it causes cavitation in the glycol ( the stuff in antifreeze ). This aireated liquided traveling through the long copper pipes will build up a charge due to friction of the pipe walls. The rubber tires will insulate you from the ground but you will get some charge disipation through the air but not enough. When you drive down the trail, you are actually driving a large paowerfull Van De Graph generator capable of building up hundereds of thousands of volts (potential). The only real avenue of discharge is close or direct contact with either another person or vehicle or when you or your loved ones exit the vehicle, causing a huge lightening like discharge killing all around and blowing up the vehicle involved. Worse if you stopped off at the gas station.

Please try to do deeper research on these issues. Violent explosions on the trail killing dozens of people will only feed the argument to close our public lands. Thank you.

/forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif

now that's an explanation. thanks sandman. now, since you seem to have the knowledge on these subjects, what would you suggest to use? aluminum, steel, ?

Man that sounds far fetched. Has it ever happened?

So bolt a ground strap to the frame. All you'd need to drain potential is a single strand of copper phone line. For higher zoot, run a piece of 4/0 copper with an aluminum lug on the end. You'll instantaneously be at the same potential as ground.

If you beleive that Dan, then anybody with any kind of fan on their vehicles had better run ground straps too, since air rushing past metal tends to create a charge as well.

Your ****in rig is not going to blow up if you put the radiator in the back. Just because you put a radiator in the back doesn't mean they are going to close Moab or anything.

The main concern I have seen with rear mounted radiators is that they are hard to cool at higher speeds, such as highway driving. Needs a high volume/high speed fan like a Tauras fan, Black Magic, etc. The hoses shown in the picture above are avalable at any auto parts store in the nation. The are just flexible radiator hose. They range in cost from $25-50. For tubing material to get the coolant from that back of the vehicle to the motor, I have used both mild steel tubing and aluminized exhaust tubing. I never saw any kind of corrosion from either. I also didn't install them in vehicles and plan to daily drive it for the next ten years either. What ever you use will get really hot after a while. I think using copper would be a waste of time and money if you had to pay for it. Just go to Home Depot and get some 10' sticks of conduit and be done with it.

I hope nobody actually bought that one. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

well this rig is only driven on the trail...and at that i've got two 15" black magic fans. i'm still thinking aluminized exhaust pipe. thanks for the info.

/forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif I was thinking to myself: you've got to have some bad luck to be killed by some rear-mounted radiator charges....

I used aluminized 1.5" exhaust pipe on mine and it has worked out great the past year or so. I have a pair of fans from some junk'd mid 90's dodge car. I had a thermostat running the fans for a while, but it crapped out, so I just wired in a relay that turns them on when the key is on. The battery is in the back between the frame rails and under the radiator, so the raly was pretyy easy to wire up. Since the fans are easily accesible from the side of the truck, I sometimes unplug 1 of the fans just because it doesnt need it on the trail. But like was mentioned earlier, w/o both of my fans on, it does get hot at hiway speeds.

HTH........

Rob

Funny,,,,I posted this same exact question in the garage and got no reply's,,,,,,thanks for the info,,,I like the theory about the electrical charge though,,,,BTW I work in the refrigeration biz,,
copper tubing is availible up to 4 1/8". I don't think the cost is justified though.2 1/8" ACR(hard drawn) is about 2.00 per foot.
I think when I do mine I may just use exhaust tubing or EPDM hose.

HIJACK ALERT!!!

Hmmm, where would I get some of this large diameter copper tubing? I wanted to get some (roughly) 3" diameter copper tubing with end caps to make a radiator overflow and power steering reservoir out of. I figured just sweat on the caps and add a common npt bung and nipple (x2) for the overflow and rig some sort of screw on sealed cap for the power steering. I called every place in Phoenix that I could think of with no luck, and that includes plumbing and refrigeration suppliers. Any suggestions? To avoid further hijack, please pm me with suggestions…

You might want a high flow water pump, pushing the water with that much more resistance could cut the flow rate and hurt your cooling ability. I know Stewart has an electric water pump that's pretty nice, I'm not sure if it's a boost pump or a total replacement though.

I am tryinng to figure this out right now if time will allow me, this is a flippin pain, between the fuel cell, a spare and a couple feet foe cargo I cant figure a decent place to mount it /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

any body have poics of one on a k5 in the rear or some truggy full size /forums/images/graemlins/1zhelp.gif

I saw one setup in a jeep once where the radiator was mounted flat on the floor. The floor was cut out with a metal screen covering the hole. On top of the radiator was the shroud and fans. Wouldnt work for mud very well though.

what is mud? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif


I dont have much floor I already eliminated my rear seat, the last option is the passenger, but I hate wheeling alone...plus when on the road or driving a lady friend can be a great help to keep your "spirits up" and keep ya hpppy /forums/images/graemlins/whistling.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif

Or keep something up! /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif

How about if you mounted the spare prerunner style with the fuel cell tucked behind it. Behind that could go a radiator in some fashion. /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

Can you post some pics of the rear of your vehicle?

one minute....

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/320000-320999/320728_207_full.jpg

Can you give us a side view also? Might help if we could draw on it for ideas.

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/320000-320999/320728_208_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/320000-320999/320728_210_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/320000-320999/320728_209_full.jpg

/forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

Something like this? Bear with the drawing. /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

http://www.planet4x4.net/pics/cell.jpg

I had thought about it, but that radiator goes right in the way of the room I need for my work supplies..

...Why yes officer it is street leagl..here is my sandrail registration /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif



it is so hard to have a duel purpose truck /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif

Ok, how about you pull the tire for your work supplies and the swap the tire back in for a trail run?

lol, I am more worried about loosing a tire on the road than the trail /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif or just make the tire vertiacly, I could also mount it higher/forward but that is taking more weight from the back /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif

Beck's rad. is vertical right behind the seats, then fuel tank behind it and since he went to 42's, the spare tire doesn't ride along anymore. His tool area is where the stock tank used to be. It doesn't cool well at road speed at all.

The class 3 K5 I pit for runs the rad. horizontal at shoulder height behind the seats and it has some plex. shrouding to direct air into it from the cab. His tank is in the stock location with tires above it. This one cools fine at higher speeds but it has 2 huge engine oil coolers up front and has a lot of air ducted right into it along with 2 big elec. fans that run all the time.

Whatever you do with the rad. in the rear, it's going to be in the way, hard to keep airflow to it, hard to plumb and take up space you could use for something else. Moving it back there gains you visibility, and relocates the weight at the expense of adding overall weight.

What about running a small radiator in front and using a heater hose radiator as an auxilliary cooler in the back? That's one idea we've played with. I know at one point I had a little rad. in mine and used the defroster/heater to keep it cool in high demand situations.

[ QUOTE ]
What about running a small radiator in front and using a heater hose radiator as an auxilliary cooler in the back?

[/ QUOTE ]
/forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif That may work, put an electric fan on the smaller one. Hell, you could put a small grid over it and use it as a small stove top cook area. /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif