3rd Gen Hood Louvers

I found a 3rd party that makes an aluminum functional set. They have a very nice shape that is unique for sure.

 

Missed it because I have him on ignore.

 

He's talking about when you're stopped. Especially in traffic. Hot air rises and can easily escape the engine bay with louvers.

 

No he's not trolling, by "guys" he meant "that one member," and the overheating is clearly a turd gen quality issue, not a freak occurrence that was combined with a collective (dealer and owner) brain-fart of "did anyone check if the rad was clogged?" that happened to be posted about.

Anyways, staying on the topic. Hood louvers are actually pretty damn effective aerodynamically. Of course every vehicle is different BUT with properly designed ones you can get a lot of benefit. Most of the benefit is NOT because it "lowers under hood temperatures." It has way more to do with the air pressures. Lower pressure under the hood pulls air thru the radiator at a greater rate (higher pressure differential) and can even reduce drag / lift from the air flow going under the vehicle. Not that our trucks need hella downforce, but it would be nice to reduce a little bit of drag.

You'd also want a gurney flap on the leading edge to manage the flow coming up and out of the louvers.

TL;DR Just slapping on some universal ones might look OK, but you're going to want to do some actual flow simulations and testing and design work if you want to get any benefit out of it other than bling.

Then there's the other elephant in the room. Louvers lower hood rigidity. We already have issues with that.

 

Carbon Fiber hood might be better? Could help you in a drag race with a prius too...

 

good to have you back

 

If you have a scangauge and see the air temps of the intake (and have a "cold" hot air intake), you know that it gets hot in there when you're idling, especially in the Texas summer. I've seen the intake temp go to 140°F when idling in traffic when it's 100°F outside

 

I think louvers made from a decent gauge aluminum would add to the stiffness.

 

http://www.camarolouvers.com/

For what it is worth I was being totally sarcastic when I mentioned these.

 

Did you have mullet to go with that car??

 

I have had 6 of those cars my self love those things. You can absolutely beat the hell out of them and they just keep going. No mullet for me.

 

He owned a blue one

 

He had a blue mullet?

 

Iroc

 

I think some hood louvers would look great, but I'd go with some rounded ones, not the squared off ones. I put a rectangular one on my previous 11' JKU Rubi, looked pretty good on that, looked stock. I think rounded ones would go better with the lines of the 3rd gen Tacoma.

 

Seems someone on TW, other than OP, is somewhat concerned. Why call him a troll when he's offing input?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-overheat.467979/

 

So I've decided what I'm going to go with and they will look something like this (outer edge louvers):



But more long and narrow (5.5" x 24") for this location:



These should be very easy to install and work right around the existing framework of the hood. I like these for the ease of installation and the price ($99), plus I feel 100% confident doing it myself. Since the edge will cover the cutout in the hood, the cut does not need to be perfect, however there will be rivets around the perimeter holding these in place. I was hoping to get something along the natural ridge in the hood, but that interferes with the bracing underneath. Will post pictures after installation.

Link for others interested: http://vraptorspeedworks.com/ez-install/

 

If your truck doesn't come with a functional scoop, the best thing to do is probably leave it that way. Any air passing through the engine bay that wasn't designed for this can causing hood vibration.

 

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