What's the cost of a head gasket job? Plus water pump, plus radiator? Plus anything else that might happen? When your worried about cost of a new radiator think about what could happen when you get the cheap one. If quality comes with a price, bite the bullet and get a quality one. I know money is tight for a lot of folks, but for some things you have to do them right.

 

Check out U.S. Radiator look at their "Desert Cooler" Aluminum radiator. If I knew how to posts links I would. Just type in U.S. Radiator
check out their videos and customer testimonials.

 

I've been searching and I can't find any part number 8010132 on 1-800-radiators website. I do see a radiator for about $200(#110433), but also ones up to $400+ with all the same descriptions.

What model did you search for when pulling it up? Is yours a 2, 3 or 4 core?

 

I called and delt with the owner. They are in Birmingham, AL. Let me find the local number for the store and I will post. My radiator is a High Efficency 3 row, it is the replacement for the 4 row. From my research and from what 3 manufacturers have told me no except US Radiators makes a 4 row.

 

I'm confused, I thought they were in CA? Are they a chain or just a local distributor?

 

Due to living in Las Vegas, I am concerned about cooling at idle speeds when the truck is setting at lights. My intentions were use 2 high air flow cooling fans, not the mechanical one. We (the wife's 1967 F250) will use this for city commuting and will be setting at lights in the summer with the AC (aftermarket) running. What is the reason for not using electric fans for towing?

 

I am also in Vegas. I have not had any trouble with overheating with a stock fan. It does run a bit warmer when temps are 115+ but so does my wife's 05 Santa Fe.
I am considering electric fans but only after the 3G alternator swap.

 

Am going to replace the electrics (badly butchered) and a 150+ amp alternator, using relays for lights, fans, sound etc. Thanks for the info, was curious about that.

 

I bought an Aluminum 3 row for a 73 with a 360 for around $150 from China. It fit like a glove its a lot lighter and runs cool. One thing the instructions said was NEVER put chlorinated tap water in the radiator or it will corrode. Use 50% Distilled 50% antifreeze only. So I got 5 gallons of distilled.

The radiator I got had a 2 year warranty too. I don't remember where I got it. eBay or Summit I think.

What did you guys find? Do you use tap water? any corrosion?

Moose

 

I think 1 800 radiators is a chain. I dealt with Nick at the Birghmingham location, 205-591-1001. I called them after one of the Vista-Pro recommended them. Nick was very helpful.

US Radiators are very nice and quality but just very expensive. I just decided to take my chances with the Birghm. dealer. They shipped to me free and if I have a problem they will overnight another one to me and I'll send them my old one. It held together during my 6 hour trip from the beach, tranny was going south and making tons of heat, engine got to 215 several times on some steep hills. I boiled some tranny fluid out of the tranny but the engine never boiled.

The 433 radiator is not the HE core, it is a 3 row but the core is differnt according to two manufac. I talked with. From my research part nos. 132 or 002 are the 3 row HE cores.

At the recommendation of The Hollister Co. I ended up using a '96 T-bird 2 speed fan: , almost identical to the Mark IV. They prefer the TYC fan company. I run relay kit from Hollister company: http://www.hollisterroad.com/proddetail.asp?prod=MarkVIII. I can sit in 95 degree traffic with the A/C on and stay at 185. Until my tranny started acting up high speed of the fan never came on.

Apparently some folks have tried ditching their stock clutch fans in favor of some aftermarket fans that didn't cool well when towing. I've talked to about 6 bump and dent owners who have towed heavy loads using the mark vii & t-bird fans. It cured the owner of The Hollister Co.'s towing troubles, read here Mark VIII Fan Install in a 1972 Chevy C10 Truck

My tranny is being rebuilt now, I plan to test it next week on another camping trip. This time I will be running my tranny cooling system seperate from the radiator so one doesn't affect the other. I now have a huge plate & fin tranny cooler installed.

 

Now on another note I've talked to several folks who love their $200 or so alum Champion brand radiator. I just went brass/copper so if I'm camping in the middle of nowwhere any radiator shop should be able to patch if I have a problem.

I run an alum in my 55 Chevy and it is great.

 

If u find a radiator "shop" in the middle of nowhere, more than likely they can fix an aluminum one as well since thats what most radiators are made of now a days. Just saying.

 

To answer the question about towing with electric fans vs stock mechanical: Its simply because most electric fans don't pull as many CFM's as stock mechanical fans do. Many mechanical fans are in the 5000 cfm range and sometimes more. The Taurus/Mark VII fan is about the only one that pulls close to enough cfm, but it also draws a LOT of amps.

Also, copper has better heat transfer than aluminum, not the other way around. Aluminum radiators do not cool better because they are aluminum.

Thanks for the info. My 67 F250 has been running warm and the only thing I haven't changed is the radiator, that's including changing the 240 out for a 300. I'm adding A/C and have the condenser in front, but not hooked up yet, so it will only get hotter when its turned on. I have a couple of 12" electrics I might try, but only after the radiator is upgraded. Since I have a 67, and a 6cyl support, I'm trying to research and find out what's going to fit the best and give more than enough cooling at the same time. I'm open to upgrading to a v8 radiator and cutting the support opening larger if I have to, but if its possible to keep the hose inlet and outlet close to the stock diameter and location, I'd like to do so.

 

something else to consider is running both. Keep the mechanical fan but have an electric fan on the outside blowing in when temp gets high or when A/C is turned on.
I am sure someone has done this before, and they can hopefully speak up on if this was helpful or not.

 

Ok, it looks like the Vista-Pro 433318 or #318 is the one I need for my 6cyl. It is a front mount, with the same core dimensions as a V8 radiator with a/c and max cooling, but inlet and outlet for a 6cyl on the passenger side. The 433320 or #320 is a rear mount supercooling(ford term) unit for the 6cyl, but requires a supercooling radiator support or bracketry to mount it.

The 1-800-radiators price only seems to be around $10 cheaper than Advance or Oreilly's for the radiator I need though.

Next is trying to find a radiator shroud that will work with the #318 radiator and a 6cyl...