OldIHC

I strongly agree with the air dam. I made and installed an 8 inch tall dam under my R120. I do not agree with the suggestion of using other cooling fans being better, unless it is for the purpose of recycling. I have had great experience with new SPALL and good performance from recycled BMW/MERCEDES fans. The internet has a lot of BS and exaggerated performance claims. Google for the formula to determine the truth.
The R&L have more than enough free air space. I was able to cool a big V8 Diesel without Louvers.
This is a great thread.

I edited in two pictures of my R120 with an air-dam.

I only question the performance of aftermarket fans because of my experience with them in the past. I am not familiar with the SPALL product, and it sounds like you have had good results. We all know how shoddy aftermarket stuff can be at times, regardless of what the manufacturers claim. Your positive results with the BMW/Mercedes units mirrors my experience using VW fans, which worked well in a number of applications.

Gregg

A few air dam examples on a '40 Ford grill. These cars are notorious for overheating. The OEM design allowed the air to bypass the radiator over the top. The bottom and sides had air diverter/dams that were not very effective.
A pulling fan moves more air than a pusher.

It’s been awhile since this topic was discussed and I thought I ought to convey my journey through this. So far, I’ve not relocated my condenser. However, I did add a pusher fan in front of it. My research on pusher and puller fans led me through the two basic types: straight blade and curved blade. My puller fan is curved blade and, as best I can tell, moves between 2500 & 2650 cfm of air. I also found that straight blade fans are louder and curved blade fans are quieter when it comes to sound made by the movement of the blade through air. Straight blade fans move more air than curved blade fans, too. There are several prominent aftermarket manufacturers of fans of both styles. Two names to mention are Flexilite and Spal. I could not determine the maker of my puller fan and so I determined it’s capacity by the average of most of the 16” fans I was able to research and the rated amperage. My puller fan is also enclosed by a shroud to assist in the movement of air through the condenser and radiator. In deciding which style and size fan to get, my first thought was to not hinder the existing fan any more than necessary. So I chose a straight blade pusher fan made by Flexilite moving 3000 cfm and activates when I turn on the A/C. I’ve only made one trip since installing the fan. Performance in the morning of the trip was great because the temperature was in the low 80’s. Coming home later that day with the temperature in the mid 90’s was not as good as had been hoped for. Therefore, the verdict is still out, but suggests I still need to do the relocation Nikki suggested. I will let you know if I do that and what the results are.

A quick re-read and I may have missed some points. One thing I didn't see that is worth mentioning. Anti-freeze. It raises boil point slightly but also REDUCES the amount of heat absorbed over plain water. SO no stronger than 50/50 if you live in a place that gets cold, and if you don't see temps much below freezing you can increase the water content. You should add some corrosion inhibitors if you are running a dilute mixture as they are contained in most antifreze.
Lastly if the coolant isn't boiling you are not overheating. Temps "higher than I like to see" may be normal in hot weather with high heat load.
The fact that the A/C system is working well enough tends to point away from airflow being a big problem.

dang, just seeing this topic. I too see the temp gauge spike with the A/C is turned on, and never really thought about the fact that it was the condenser on the front of the radiator that would be my culprit. When you get yours moved, i'd like to know that solved your issue!

For me, in the 3 years that the truck has been on the road, i have used the A/C exactly once....lol. If i were to do it over, i'd have skipped that part. my truck is too loud to roll with the windows up! And, i feel weird not having my arm on the window sill when i am cruising

But, then again, maybe i'd change my tune if i didn't have any kind of heat issue when i turned it on. As you did, I always assumed it was engine load causing the temp to rise. Great topic and information, thanks!

Brad

Brad,
There’s a lot of similarities in your and my driving habits. I, too, am quite used to driving with my arm resting on the window sill and there is considerable noise inside the cab with the windows rolled up. Enough noise, in fact, that my wife won’t ride in the truck because “it’s too loud”. And she means with the windows up or down. So I’m typically alone when the truck goes anywhere.

I haven’t relocated the condenser from in front of the radiator yet. At this point I may never complete that task. The pusher fan I added to the front of the condenser has produced enough improvement for me for now. This is Florida and in the midst of the hottest months, our outside temperature usually doesn’t get higher than about 95. Having said that, on only a few occasions have I seen it reach 105 in the 40+ years I’ve lived here. The “feels like” temp., however, frequently is in the 105 or higher range due to the high humidity. And that stretch lasts from about late June through mid September. I don’t take the truck out often because there’s fewer shows to go to during that time frame and therefore less need to operate the truck with the A/C running. Being it’s just me, I’ll survive with the A/C as is or I can roll the windows down, open up the cowl vent, and be just fine. The other reason I haven’t moved the condenser is that I don’t have the skill set needed to modify the coolant hoses that would be required with the condenser relocated. Yes, I could take the truck to an A/C shop and have it done, but I haven’t reached that level of “need” yet. If ever I do, I’ll report back here. Stay tuned (Global warming may tip the balance).