October 2010 - Performance Zone
KEEP YOUR COOL!
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson
During the Great American Trucking Show (GATS) in Dallas, Texas last month, I visited with several radiator manufacturers and was shocked to see how few tubes they are using in their newest radiators. I stood there in front of one company’s display and counted how many tubes they have in their so-called “performance” radiators that they claim will cool any big truck’s engine. What a bunch of hog wash! I counted five rows of staggered tubes and only 254 tubes that travelled straight through the radiator. Also, this radiator only had 14 fins per inch – that is not enough to honestly call it a performance radiator for a Kenworth or a Peterbilt.
Over the years, we have found that staggered tubes do not work as well as inline tubes. Staggered tubes make a wall of tubes which blocks air flow. Four rows of tubes with ninety one dimpled tubes per row and 16 fins per inch seems to be the magic number. Before you purchase a new radiator for your truck, you should know how many tubes your stock radiator has, what kind of tubes they are, and how many fins per inch it has. Then, you should find out the same information on the new radiator – then you will really know how much better it will (or will not) cool your engine.
Many years ago, while in a meeting with several engineers from a truck manufacturer, they stated that the average grade in the U.S. is only 3% and that is the number they work with when determining radiator size. I asked them if they had ever driven 80,000 lbs. over the mountains in the west or one of the eight-mile-long pulls they have in the east. The response I got from these men was a long, blank stare – which meant, “No, we haven’t.” When buying parts for your truck, especially high performance items, you must keep this in mind. Sometimes you can’t buy what you need off the shelf – you have to modify or build what suits your needs best.
The radiator we build is the world’s most expensive radiator core, however it will keep your engine cool and you won’t have to drive through the mountains with one eye on the water temperature gauge (besides, that eye should be on your turbo boost gauge, not the water temp gauge). I have owned vehicles with radiators that were too small and had to pack snow around the engine just to get up to the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 in Colorado. This is not driving – it’s babysitting a truck that always wants to get hot. All summer long, you can find trucks sitting part way up the mountains waiting for their coolant temperature to drop so they can try to make it to the top. And these trucks are not usually tired old trucks – they are newer trucks sitting on the side of the road! The truck manufacturers have cut back on the size of their radiators to save a few dollars. Add to that the extra heat of the EGR and DPF systems, and you can see how these newer trucks already have two strikes against them.
Many of you know that I’m a fan of the 2002 and older engines that do not have the problematic EGR, DPF, Urea Injection or Acert technology. For us older guys still in the trucking industry, we realize that the federal government has had control over the fuel we buy for diesel engines since late 1977, but it wasn’t until 2003 that the big problems started. Keep your 2002 and older trucks and just keep rebuilding them and you will save a lot of money by not having to buy an EGR valve and EGR cooler once a year. That alone, with the labor to install, is about $3,000. Add in the fact that these trucks average 2 mpg less than their pre-emission versions, and the losses grow to $12,000 per year to operate a 2003 or newer truck.
Speaking of older trucks, we have a 2002 Peterbilt 379 high rise double bunk, powered by a DD4 Detroit that we just rebuilt, that is now for sale. This truck’s radiator was undersized, so we upgraded it to one of our custom 364-tube radiators with 4 rows of dimpled tubes, 91 tubes per row and 16 fins per inch. This will certainly keep the 640 hp Detroit cool. In front of the radiator we also installed a new Dura-Lite charge air cooler. This truck recently had a thorough in-chassis rebuild that included a new Detroit remanufactured head, ceramic and Teflon coated pistons, new bull gear, rod and main bearings, head bolts, crank damper, mercury-filled engine balancer, engine mounts, oil pump, six upper counter bore inserts, performance injectors, a 2400 RPM ECM and 15% larger turbo. This Pete has the power to make 40 lbs. of boost bobtailing. One year prior to the rebuilding of the engine, we had the double-over 13-speed rebuilt and installed a Lipe Clutch. The 3.55 rears were rebuilt in 2007, and a new power divider was installed. Needless to say, this truck is ready to go. And, as you can see in the photo, it looks pretty good, too. You can own this powerful Pete for $42,000. Call us!
We are now an installing dealer for Evans Cooling and also have Fleet-Air filters in stock. These filters are made of washable foam and will give you about one quarter to .3 tenths mpg more from a truck with an air filter under the hood. Be sure not to miss next month’s article, as I will be writing about these products so you will have a better understanding of how and why they actually work. As always, if you have any performance-related comments or questions, I can be contacted via e-mail at bruce@pittsburghpower.com or through Pittsburgh Power Inc. in Saxonburg, PA by calling (724) 360-4080. Stay tuned!