Aluminum Radiator on Amazon..?

[Schwarttzy]

Found this online at amazon for $150 + Shipping, looks like a sweet deal. Anyone got any thoughts on it? Seems like a few mods to get it to work, but way cheaper than the alternative that has been flowing around.

http://www.amazon.com/YourRadiator-...531667&sr=8-55&keywords=h3+hummer+-LED+-cover

 

[SedonaBound]

Another forum member recently got one and posted some comments.

 

[4speedfunk]

Yeah. Old news.

Still a great price. Not sure how the other companies arrive at a $600-$900 MSRP. Thats just nuts.

 

[Kurt]

I'm guessing the 600-900$ MSRP are made in US radiators. I can't see how you can sell an aluminum radiator that's hand tigged for $100-200 unless its imported materials/labor or mass produced with flux and plastic tanks.

I'm looking at building a few custom radiators for the H1 and was looking at maybe doing them for H2/H3 but there's no way I could touch the $100-200 price point. My material costs alone [use/local sourced] would be higher than that.

What's the warranty like?

 

[H3HummerLineX]

All it is is a stock radiator that's aluminum and doesn't fit right. I hear there is a lot of grinding and banging involved to install


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[SedonaBound]

All it is is a stock radiator that's aluminum and doesn't fit right. I hear there is a lot of grinding and banging involved to install

The Amazon offering looks pretty rough compared to the CSF which looks like very good fab quality. Aluminum welding requires real QA. If your paying for installation labor, it doesn't need much "adjustment" for fit before the price difference is insignificant.

 

[4speedfunk]

I can do a lot of grinding for $700.

 

[Schwarttzy]

I can do a lot of grinding for $700.

My thought exactly.

 

[rsc]

What I'm interested in finding out is whether the single row aluminum radiator above (and the single row CSF as well) and the beefier, more expensive CSF radiator cool the same or if one is noticeably better than the other. If they cool equally in extreme conditions I'll go with the less expensive one and modify it as needed to fit.

 

[cowboy_tech]

The one I got from Amazon for $150 is dual core.

 

[SedonaBound]

The Amazon offering looks pretty rough compared to the CSF which looks like very good fab quality. Aluminum welding requires real QA. If your paying for installation labor, it doesn't need much "adjustment" for fit before the price difference is insignificant.

I agree that grinding for fit is a small price to save hundreds. (BTW, the price difference is about $300 per another thread, not $700.) It's whether the tubes and fitting are as roughly made as the the exterior that gives me trouble. Sloppy finish outside usually means sloppy inside too. I'd wait for a long term report on it, not just how it fits.

 

[4speedfunk]

I thought the Ron Davis was over $900. (Must be gold plated or something). Whatever the case...a $150 aluminum radiator is way better than plastic, even if it was fabbed by Hellen Keller herself.

 

[Portager]

Has anybody ever try one of these "YourRadiator" RD22855A radiators?

I think eliminating the plastic end caps is a plus, but I'm concerned that the transmission cooler may not be any better that the OEM cooler. From a thermodynamics standpoint the internal trans cooler is far more effective than an external cooler. Water has 100 times the heat transfer coefficient of air, so if you are going to bypass the internal cooler you are going to need a very good external cooler. To me the best solution is to fix the internal cooler.

I talked to the sales reps at Ron Davis and they use stainless steel tubing for the transmission cooler. Much stronger than aluminum tubing in the OEM radiator. They also said they have never had the transmission cooler fail on an H3 radiator. Also, the RD core used 1 3/8" OD tubing, the "YourRadiator" says it is 1".

Also, if you have a TCM tune, it can make the transmission shift more aggressively, which increases the trans cooler pressure over the stock transmission.

The RD (including shipping cost) is a $994 more than the "YourRadiator" RD22855A on Amazon. However, I think I'd have more peace of mind with RD (not stranded in the desert - invaluable) and the cost of rebuilding or replacing the transmission after a transmission cooler failure would far exceed the cost savings.

Has anyone installed a "YourRadiator" aluminum radiator and if so how many miles do you have on it and do you have a TCM tune?

 

[Clark]

That very same radiator I bought from Ebay. I sprung a leak exactly one month after my one year warranty expired. I couldn't find a repair shop
here in New York willing to fix it. Is the seller your buying it from New Jersey???

 

[Portager]

Yes, I looked up "YourRadiator" and they are in New Jersey.

Leaning towards Ron Davis!

 

[Clark]

Yes, I looked up "YourRadiator" and they are in New Jersey.

Leaning towards Ron Davis!

Very unprofessional seller do not, I repeat do not buy from them. Save yourself from the needless stress.

 

[Mr_Rich]

To me it's kinda like buying a $25 helmet to protect your head. Do you want to cheap out on something so valuable or do you want to invest in the best part that is out there. If you're replacing a stock radiator I would want an upgrade myself. I'm thankful I have an M5 since cooling has never been an issue for my truck; 114K and still counting.

 

[4speedfunk]

$900 radiator? Put the bong down.

 

[amrg]

From a thermodynamics standpoint the internal trans cooler is far more effective than an external cooler. Water has 100 times the heat transfer coefficient of air, so if you are going to bypass the internal cooler you are going to need a very good external cooler. To me the best solution is to fix the internal cooler.

Water does transfer heat better, but to cool, the trans fluid needs to be hotter than the coolant.
Once the engine reaches operating temps (195-215 for the I5, 195 to 220 on the alpha), the trans fluid is no longer cooled. Its just riding along with whatever the coolant temps are.
If you are 100% sure the built in trans inside the radiator won't fail, then a trans cooler installed in series with the radiator is great. Otherwise, a standalone is a good option when sized properly for the application.
At slow speed loads, a fanned cooler is good. At high speeds a bigger cooler is better as the fan wont be necessary (airflow is kuch higher than what a fan can do).
Btw, with a radiator type cooler, trans temps will get up to operating temps much quicker.


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[Portager]

amrg: I don't disagree with anything you said. With an Internal cooler the ATF temperature will always be a few degrees higher than the coolant temperature.

I have never seen my Alpha get over ~210F. With a better radiator it should run a little lower. The ideal range for ATF is 175F to 225F, so the internal cooler is good enough. The best is to use the internal cooler followed by an external, as long as the internal doesn't fail!

I'm thinking I'll get the best quality radiator I can, to minimize the change that the internal cooler will fail. I'll use the internal cooler and since I'm towing I'll monitor the AFT temperature. If it gets too high I'll add an external cooler.

 

[Chris Laun]

My stock radiator has held up with 160k miles of cooling the 5.3 so far with no issues, but I do plan on modifying my front end to fit this:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/gri-cu-56241-xs/overview/
I know the Ron Davis and the Amazon specials are "direct fit" but if you're really looking for performance, bigger can be better...

 

[amrg]

amrg: I don't disagree with anything you said. With an Internal cooler the ATF temperature will always be a few degrees higher than the coolant temperature.

I have never seen my Alpha get over ~210F. With a better radiator it should run a little lower. The ideal range for ATF is 175F to 225F, so the internal cooler is good enough. The best is to use the internal cooler followed by an external, as long as the internal doesn't fail!

I'm thinking I'll get the best quality radiator I can, to minimize the change that the internal cooler will fail. I'll use the internal cooler and since I'm towing I'll monitor the AFT temperature. If it gets too high I'll add an external cooler.

FYI when I went from an internal setup to an external only setup my trans oil temps dropped to 160* where engine coolant was 210*. With 1 hour of continous heavy offroading I managed to get it up to 190* (my engine coolant temps where at 225*)
All that at 115* ambient!

So no matter what, my trans temps were lower than engine 35* lower than my engine coolant temps . With an internal setup they were both the roughly the same

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