I went through and did a search but I still had some questions.

I can get the Lund grill cover for $40 new (not one you have to drill, it has the adhesive snaps), so that made me think if it would be good for my truck to have one.

Most of the time when I gp tp work it is within 5 miles and in the winter it barely gets up to operating temps by the time I get there. We have occasional sub-zero temps but normally we are in the mid 20's to high single digits. Is that cold enough to warrant having one?

The other thing I am not sure about is how it will look during the summer when I have the cover off and there are just the snaps left on the grill. I don't know if that is going to look bad?

Any thought or ideas about the winter front would be great!

-Dan

 

Any thoughts at all?

Will the inercooler get enough air, transmission cooler?

 

I took the black plastic piece that sits above the rad assembly out so I could shove a giant piece of cardboard in there. Cost is only an old cardboard box.

 

I have the winter grill cover/summer bug screen from Cabela's.

Cabela's -- Winter/Summer Truck Grille Covers

It definitely helps things warm up faster in the winter. I haven't noticed any problems with it. I do get a little lower MPG, but I can't be sure that just isn't winter fuel.

The stick on snaps didn't work for me, possibly cause it was just too cold when I was trying to install it, so I got some small screws, drilled a small hole through the center of the snap and put in the screw. This is my second winter using it.

 

The Cabellas winter front doesn't cover the lower half of the radiator. Its really more for looks than anything else.

Go to Winter Fronts from Alaska Tent and Tarp

Their winter front covers the radiator, and has a bottom flap that you feed between the bumper and the grill. Then you pull it down to cover the bottom of the radiator and oil cooler/power steering cooler. This is very important, if your power steering fluid is too cold and you turn the steering wheel you cold blow out a power steering line.

When its this cold out you getting cool air to the charge air cooler is not an issue.

There are other benefits to having a cover. Without a cover:

1. gas engine PCV valves tend to freeze open or shut (causes oil to come out the dip stick

2. Brake fluid fluid gets stiff/brakes don't work as well. If you force the brake too fast you will burst a brake line or worse your master cylinder could give out.

rubber and plastic get brittle at -40 it just makes sense to protect ALL of the "under-the-hood" components.

You can order the winter front and for an extra $30 they will sell you the heavy duty bug screen for use in the summer. (It uses the same snaps).
The bug screen is made of a very soft yet very strong screen that will stop rocks from denting the fins of your radiator, A/C condensor, power streering fluid cooler, oil cooler.....

 

Sounds like a lot of work to live in Alaska My ex G/F is from and moved down here from Fairbanks LOL now I know why she didnt move back, her parents and brother still live up there and I went up there to visit what a nice place!

 

best hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, 4X4'n, no traffic, better schools for raisin kids, the **** poor economy down there hasn't come up here, there is work......oh yea and there is no traffic here.

 

It doesn't get anywhere near that cold here. Today the high is 20F and it will be in single digits, and it will be like that for a while. This one I could get is cheap at 40 bucks and it is just on the main grill not down low.

 

I run the stainless steel inserts from Lund on my 06. It does help warm the truck up in the winter

 

I've had the one from Cabelas on various trucks for the last 10 years.

While granted it is not as thourough as the one from Alaska for those of us in the lower 48 it does a great job of getting things up to temperature quite a bit faster.

I started using one in the mid 90's when I was taking my wife and newborn to the doctor's office after a snowstorm in my new 6.5L chevy turbo diesel P/U and the dam thing's fuel line froze up stranding us on a snowy deserted road.

The flatbed guy who came to pick us up eventually said to get one and it's worked ever since...

 

I also have the cabelas winterfront. i was able to install the snaps with the stick ons. i used plenty of alcohol to clean the grille and used a heat gun to warm up the adhesive backing. in -5 degree temps it takes 3 minutes to warm up to 105 degrees coolant temp according to my edge monitor. with the winter front, the heater is more effective.

 

I'm not willing to screw snaps into my grill. It looks like the Cabela's version is our only option. It's too bad, all duramax equiped trucks come with a winter front from the factory that uses no snaps.

 

The lund kit doesn't have screw in snaps. It inserts into the grill with a screw and special backing plate the fits into the openings on the grill. If anyone wants a picture I can post on of what my truck looks like with them.

 

I took a large chunk of card board, bomb canned it black, removed the grill (4 screws, and 4 clips), cut the card board to fit, and put the grill back in. Can't even tell that it's there.

Easy 10 min job minus the paint drying. The the engine warms up much faster, but doesn't overheat. Gauge gets to about half and stops.

The highest outside temp we've had since I've done this is about 25 above and the gauge never went over the half way point.

 

Definately! If I was still with her our plan was to move back up there to Wasila AK I loved it up there for sure I liked watching that show tougher in Alaska. I went to Valdez and it was cool going up over Thompson pass! Best Salmon I have ever had caught out of the copper river I think? Also there is a cool musem in Waslia with a life size model RR and the replica Alaska SD60M locomotives that was super fun! I just saw the ex last night down at the Casino's for new yers with her new b/f who is from up there. Id like to go back again some day to visit! Do you know if Alaska Airlines went out of buisness? I never see the planes landing here anymore. We have a lot of AK plates down here to as a lot of kids my age go to UNR for school