Upgraded Ron Davis Radiator

I called, and got to speak to Ron himself. We talked about racing and all kinds of stuff for like 30 minutes. Super stand up guy who can pull out serious knowledge on a moments notice!

Something was mentioned about possibly sending it out to you next week for trial fitment

 

Firstly, the best way to avoid that is throw on some cheap aftermarket trans cooler. All iver Jegs and Summit Racing. Also aids in keeping the coolant from getting hotter while trying to cool the transmission fluid.

OEMs do it like that for reduction in cost, and packaging.

These are all aluminium radiators. However, I am not sure if they have made provisions for the radiator to have a trans coolant passage in it. I have only seen plans for the manual radiator. We did not go into length other than that, except for the possibility of doing so, whem we first started the process.

 

Very exciting. I just should have started this process way back when.

 

I'm in the Phoenix area too so I get wanting to keep engine temps down...

I have an OBII adapter linked to my phone via the Torque app which monitors the coolant temp.

What I'm curious about is what benefit would I gain over the OEM radiator that Toyota's engineers designed to work within a myriad of conditions by using once of these custom ones?

I can only guess they will cost hundreds of dollars(?) so if there is any data about the difference in performance over stock then I'm all ears. I'm also curious about the install process.

I do off road my truck but I don't have any crazy overland set up or plan on it any time soon so again, I'm just wondering if this is more for the really geared up/heavily modified market or something that some of us who aren't quite at that level yet could use. This is definitely more of a involved modification than just throwing some knobs that can light up on the HVAC controls so the more quantified data, the better.

Consider me intrigued and definitely going to be following the progress of this thread...

 

More fluid capacity. More fins. Higher CFM fans. More heat dissipation. Happier engine.

A cooler engine is also much less prone to spontaneous combustion. (Detonation, knock, pinging.........)

Just because the OEM did it, doesn't mean they account for the worst case scenario. They account for the broadest range in a budget. Plain and simple.

I can think of all sorts of things which reduce the cooling capability of the stock system.

 

I have been working on this as well as the push to run an electric fan has been a high priority.

I found that the nissan 350z(common aluminum upgraded radiator) has just about the same dimensions.

a couple benefits to running electric fans vs clutch fans

1. being able to turn the fan off for deep mud or water which will prevent catastrophic blade detonation or fan wobble (which could damage the radiator)
2. extra cooling at low speeds (Rock crawling or low speed offroad) the fans go right to max rpm and ability where a clutch fan requires engine speed
3. Technically more efficient - this has been argued many many times. you can do the math all you want but when you remove load off the engine it will get better mileage. on the highway the fans never turn on unless major load is applied (ie:towing, racing) and when they do they dont tax the already taxed engine, they pull from a reserved power source. High amperage/output alternators and large batteries have become standard so the math for what it takes to run an electric fan is always going to be off. unless your running it directly from the alternator then you will have a more efficient setup for the same amount of power with electrics. This is proven by all of the big 3 running electric fans in their half tonne and higher pickups as well as electric steering and gaining MPG. toyota just plays on the old reliability addedge but I have yet to see one of these systems fail.
4. waiting till the motor heats up to cool the coolant is an inefficient method to keep the engine at prime operating temps.

now... before someone attacks me.
a clutch fan is reliable, effective and according to some as efficient. I do not totally disagree and by far suggest keeping the clutch fan if your unable to pay good mind to the aftermarket cooling system. I have been running twin 12 inch electrics for a while now but under extreme conditions it is a bare minimum. With the new radiator it will solve this without question. I have already ordered the 370 radiator. will see what it takes to mount it. outlets are the correct size and placement and the overall dimensions are within stock

 

Well said.

 

I am a logical person, dont want it read as an attack on people. just information to be said. the nissan radiator is an upgrade but expensive. when compared to the aftermarket handbuilt stuff its on par but already built and designed with electric fans.
I like having more cooling then required.

 

Ditto

 

You know... i misread something in my radiator search I think. Have you seen or measured the overall area that the radiator can fit. stock is 25.5 wide by 22 high. I did find a tonne of universals that seem to fit everything but outlets. but a quick bit of welding aluminum bungs on and it should work out.

 

https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/mio-mmradsen91sr/overview/

1.5" instead of 1" and 240 dollars on summit racing. only issue is its 2 inches shorter.

 

better yet.... why is the nissan car stuff fitting the dimensions and ports of the toyota trucks ..... just saying
https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/mio-rad300zx90t/overview/

 

(Tor, I'm not trying to crap on your effort and progress on getting this made)

Back around 2006, Ron Davis radiators rejected a warranty claim on a custom radiator and fan shroud that I bought (~$800) directly from them. I had a show car and was enamored with their radiators from watching Monster Garage.

My radiator was used for only 1 year before developing pinhole leaks from a weld near the endtank.

They rejected my request for assistance by saying my radiator was a custom job so therefore it didn't come with a warranty.

Later, I found out that it wasn't as custom of a job as they claimed because a vendor ending up selling the Ron Davis radiator for the application that I had (Datsun).

My $800 Ron Davis radiator/fan shroud was scrap AL in the end. I went with a Koyo radiator and modified it to fit my Datsun.

I know this has nothing to do with the Tacoma application....but that whole experience left a really sour taste in my mouth when it comes to Ron Davis Radiators. Hope this works out better for you guys a decade later.

 

That's just awesome.

Since I'm relocating to Phoenix I should look into this maybe.

Any idea on the performance difference (expected temp difference between stock vs this).

My ultra gauge usually has my engine temp hovering around 188F

 

When you see your gauge does it move up or down much? Any good upgraded radiator means more stable engine Temps. As long as you don't over cool in colder temp times then your engine will love you.

I found a 185 thermostat was normal for toyota and allows a couple degrees build on the Temps

 

No, it pretty much always stays around 188F from my experience at least in the PNW and Canada where ambient temps aren't as ridiculous as Phoenix. Once I'm back in AZ in the middle of summer I'll have to pay attention to what kind of temps I'm seeing on the UG.

 

https://youtu.be/ZXdLgaFXZzs


Makes you wonder how much power is sacrificed with the OEM 1GR fan?

 

Interesting!

 

No kidding! Yet another reason to upgrade to electric fans.

If only we could do chassis dyno with a fan, without, and with electric fans.

 

Hot off the UPS truck!