Honestly haven't even taken it into the machine shop yet. I'm waiting on some prototype head studs before it heads there to get an accurate torque plate bore/hone. Once those arrive everything is heading to the machine shop.
02' LB7 Tow Pig Build
- Thread starter Bdsankey
- Start date
Well after 8 long months of us both being busy, @Chevy1925's initial auxiliary radiator/oil cooling kit is headed my way to get put onto another 02 LB7 thanks to @gmduramax. If it worked for either of them in the hot as hell AZ/CA climate then it'll work great for me in the midwest. My HP goals towing aren't far off of what James built the truck for but I am using a stock radiator vs the dual pass he had in the truck.
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Here are some pictures from @Chevy1925's initial build thread of the aux rad setup.
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I have my oil cooler in the same spot, found a “air scoop” off line to help push air up though it. Towing in the Cali/NV desert it really helped. My oil temps stayed under 220 towing though the mountains. Also called fluidyne and had a trans cooler made, Trans is built to handle anything I could put it though.
That's good to know! I've been pleased with the direct fitment coolers I've used to date but if they don't keep up I'll have to get something larger.
i have mix feeling the dual pass helped or hurt my cooling situation but that aux rad will make a significant difference.
if you add a scoop to the oil cooler, i would be curious if the fan becomes a restriction but i really wouldnt think you need a scoop on it as that fan will make the engine oil temps too cool. i only ran it when towing heavy, otherwise id be running sub 160* oil temps and that doesnt help burn off moisture in the system.
if you add a scoop to the oil cooler, i would be curious if the fan becomes a restriction but i really wouldnt think you need a scoop on it as that fan will make the engine oil temps too cool. i only ran it when towing heavy, otherwise id be running sub 160* oil temps and that doesnt help burn off moisture in the system.
The plan is to use the sandwich plate I have here from @JoshH that he hand ported and has a built in thermostat or add a thermostat inline with the sandwich plate that came off your truck as my climates are far cooler than AZ/CA and it may also get driven in the winter if push comes to shove.
As for the fans on both the aux rad and oil cooler, I will be using thermostatic switches with a setpoint of 180f or 200f for the oil cooler placed on the "too cooler" side leaving the block. I'll likely add a 1/8npt port somewhere in the cooling system to facilitate that temp switch but will likely run one at around 200f to try and keep it from running extremely often but still providing reasonable temperature levels. I've never seen someone package something as well as @gmduramax did when he shipped this kit out to me.
lmao, Anthony is good people. He does guys right.
i would stick with 180* temp sensor with a manual override for off but i can only go off of how my rig worked out here in AZ. time will tell with it up there! letting the fan get to work before temps get up there helps that oil. it is harder to cool down unlike coolant.
im currently waiting for Anthony to just prerunner the 02 so i can just buy it back from him
i would stick with 180* temp sensor with a manual override for off but i can only go off of how my rig worked out here in AZ. time will tell with it up there! letting the fan get to work before temps get up there helps that oil. it is harder to cool down unlike coolant.
im currently waiting for Anthony to just prerunner the 02 so i can just buy it back from him
lmao, Anthony is good people. He does guys right.
i would stick with 180* temp sensor with a manual override for off but i can only go off of how my rig worked out here in AZ. time will tell with it up there! letting the fan get to work before temps get up there helps that oil. it is harder to cool down unlike coolant.
im currently waiting for Anthony to just prerunner the 02 so i can just buy it back from him
I will never sell it, but you’re more than welcome to drive it any time
i said that few times
lmao, Anthony is good people. He does guys right.
i would stick with 180* temp sensor with a manual override for off but i can only go off of how my rig worked out here in AZ. time will tell with it up there! letting the fan get to work before temps get up there helps that oil. it is harder to cool down unlike coolant.
im currently waiting for Anthony to just prerunner the 02 so i can just buy it back from him
Where would you recommend to tap into for a temp switch? I was thinking into the back of my HSP thermostat housing where the OEM coolant line was (since I no longer need it being S300/S400).
factory reads under the thermostats, thats probably where id put it just to make sure its working at the right temps (you can confirm with the factory sensor). over top of them will make the fan come on late "in theory" but the i dont think its a huge factor, it will be like the factory fan clutch. this is probably all splitting hairs, realistically.
When you say direct fitment cooler I assume you’re taking about oil - which have you had success with?
I think I digested most of your cooling thread a while back, but I don’t recall - are there no off the shelf radiator upgrades that were worthwhile VS that additional one?
I was referencing transmission oil coolers in that comment as you had stated you ordered a trans cooler from Fluidyne. I have been pleased with my Mishimoto and XDP coolers for the weights I've been running (my stock cooler didn't give me a lick of issues at 24k gross and kept temps at 170-200f depending on hills etc).
From what I gathered out of James's initial cooling thread, there are not any major upgrades available that are direct fit unless you pay to have one made. Even then, I don't know how much of a gain they are VS running the secondary radiator. This secondary radiator kit from Cooler Towing is pretty damn big IMO and I expect it to remove a lot of heat.
^^ pretty much. the factory rad is limited on going higher, thicker or wider. Unless you do a full LBZ cooling swap (i almost did that), adding an aftermarket radiator can only increase efficiency in the core rows and the fins used to increase cooling capacity. Doing a dual pass like i did was suppose to make the radiator much more efficient as well as it makes the coolant use every bit of the radiator. trade off is more pressure in the system due to some added restriction.
Why im not 100% on it helping or not helping is i wasnt able to mimic exact conditions when i switched radiators to do a back to back comparison. if there was a gain, it was only slight. This points to the stock rad to being pretty effective in my findings, its just not big enough overall. if it wasnt $2500+ for all the parts for a LBZ andmore custom work than i had in the dual pass, i would have go that route in a heart beat as it has 33% more surface area at the rad and a bigger fan.
adding that secondary rad, that made the biggest difference of all. that would be my first cooling mod along with an oil cooler on an older truck that tows heavy out here.
Why im not 100% on it helping or not helping is i wasnt able to mimic exact conditions when i switched radiators to do a back to back comparison. if there was a gain, it was only slight. This points to the stock rad to being pretty effective in my findings, its just not big enough overall. if it wasnt $2500+ for all the parts for a LBZ andmore custom work than i had in the dual pass, i would have go that route in a heart beat as it has 33% more surface area at the rad and a bigger fan.
adding that secondary rad, that made the biggest difference of all. that would be my first cooling mod along with an oil cooler on an older truck that tows heavy out here.
Whats nuts is at 24k gross on a 75hp tune (nothing like what it will be when done) the truck never broke 220f with a brand new GM rad and Kennedy clutch in 95f+ ambient driving to CO and back from WI. My goal is for a 500-550hp tow file with the compound so we will see what happens then. I doubt I'll have any cooling issues.