Rear Mounted Radiator - SWB sierra

[dank]

The thing about swb sierra's...is that there's no bloody room for anything!

my 20v sits about 2 inch further forward than a stock 1.3, leaving not a lot of room for a radiator up front. Still can be done with thermos on the front but it leaves the radiator still in a vulnerable position when it comes to victorian slop...which loves to fill up the radiator. so in the eyes of longevity and reliability i think i'm going to run a rear mounted radiator.

Ideas that have been thrown around include:
-mounting radiator and thermos to inside/integrate with tailgate - reinforce tailgate mounts. Run stainless exhaust pipe along chassis from engine for coolant transport.
-mount radiator with thermos on top of passenger rear wheel arch along the side of the zook thermos facing out.

So far that's it for ideas.

Keep in mind I eventually want to comp this zook in winch comps in vic for fun. A 6 point Cams/CCDA spec cage will be fitted. I really don't want to mount the radiator to the cage as it will raise the centre of gravity and reduce the storage room inside even more. Seeing Gwagens setup...it sounds that electric water pumps might also need to be integrated into the system.

I'm liking the tail gate idea, thanks callum but for strength purposes would consider making the gate permanently shut. This will still also allow me to run a modified full soft top if I want to.

Twin thermos would be interesting noise wise. I"m thinking with my cage and integrated cargo barrier might even include a sheet of perspex to deflect some noise....All up...I love driving mud and am sick of radiator issues associated with it.

Comments, suggestions, more questions wanted. Pic of my zook before the motor blew up due to dodgy head about a year ago. 20v 4age and auto is almost ready to drop onto the frame, all mounts done, just need locktite for the torque converter to driveplate connection...

[cj!]

I don't know how practical a low mounted radiator in the back of a swb will be. In comps you are going to want access to recovery gear, tools. spare etc and if you decide to go camping I can see it being an issue too.

How about living with it up front? Cut and extend the guards and bonnet by a couple of inches to make more room. Consider making up a blind that can protect the radiator to some degree that you put in place before entering major bog holes and getting one of those car cube(?) 12v portable high pressure washers or a large fire extinguisher filled with water to blast the mud out of the radiator when required.

Better yet, buy a trayback

[gwagensteve]

This is not going to be an easy one to solve Dan.

IMHO, you're going to need quite a lot of radiator to keep the 20V cool - Theoretically, you'll need three times the cooling capability for the 20V at full power- the engine has about three times the power of the 1.3.

To get an idea about how much radiator you might need, have a look at other 120Kw 4WD's and use that as a basis. It's going to be quite a large radiator IMHO.

HeathGU on Outers runs a side mounted radiator on his very powerful Duramax powered GU, so it is feasible. However, It's a very large radiator and the cab chassis design allowing lots of fan and bulk behind the cab.

So, side mounting might be possible - but IMHO it's going to be clumsy in your case- imagine a radiator about twice the size on yours along with twin thermos- airflow, mounting, visibility, access to the load area, let alone vulnerability to a light side flop. You'll need a fairly well sealed ute conversion - you don't want to get scalded by a blown out hose, or listen to two angry thermos all day (and remember, with no clear airflow, those thermos are going to be on A LOT.

Tailgate mounting? Maybe. It's going to need a clean path for air, so you're going to need about 4" bare minimum between the radiator face and the nearest bulkhead - so I think you are going to loose 100-150mm of cargo room and put a vulnerable, hot, power hungry (those fans want serious amps) and fairly complex system as far as possible from the engine, and the spare tyre could also become a problem- so IMHO it's still going to require a well sealed ute cab conversion to make it usable and safe.

Here's another couple of ideas.

Who says the radiator has to be vertical? Jason Bunch from tri-county gear in the US (I think now closed) ran a healthy 383 small block in a flatfender jeep - a well known "impossible to cool" combination. He ran a "family" roll cage (so "wagon" profile, if you get what I mean) and the radiator flat (horizontal) on the cage over where the back seat would have been. Sure, it's weight up high, it will suffer from solar heat gain on hot gains, and if you do a full roll, it's screwed, but it's totally out of the way.

Paris/Dakar cars generally run the radiator(s) in the rear. It might be possible to run the radiator about where the back window would be, and run something that looks like a normal soft top, but imagine that in the area of the back window, the roof sweeps from the B pillar down to the top of the current tailgate. You'll have some storage, no rear vision, no need for a full ute back conversion.

I think you will need some electric water pump assistance.... maybe - but you're in pretty uncharted water. I run electric only - no mechanical at all.

Steve.

[dank]

CJ - your cheeky comment has huge amounts of merit!!! Trayback...but then again...It won't be as cool as my shorty (as I type this I have another window open looking for a trayback). What I'd realy like is a WT LWB so I can swap my diffs in and everything else and sell the shorty "stockish"

after considering the options I just don't think its going to be feasible in my vehicle. I use it for camping and general wheeling as well and the added issue of hot coolant being only 1 metre from my head is enough to squeeze something into the front and build an auto retracable "blind" for the radiator when running through slop.

I don't particularly like bogholes at all...its just that sometimes "ruts" full of mud and water are an unescapable obstacle. I've been looking at compact aluminum radiators from vehicles like the Earlier EVOs which have both inlet and outlet on passenger side which suits my setup for the cooling system. They seem to be relatively cheap and easy to replace if I need to. I've also thought about longer narrower radiators like the 323 mazdas and 4age corollas but haven't measured correctly yet.

[cj!]

Actually I was being more serious than cheeky if you really wanted to run a rear mounted radiator. As Steve mentioned in more detail you have safety issues to contend with as you have very hot water at pressure. This means that you need to be aware of the safety of not only the occupants but also any people nearby if it lets go. Even in a lwb styleside you will still need a sealed partition between the radiator and the driver and navigator. You then also need to shield it to some degree from people outside the vehicle too. This is where a trayback makes things easier. The airflow aspect also needs to be considered and here I also feel a trayback offers more scope too.

Shorty's are cool but the trayback just makes some things easier.

[cj!]

Also, as you want to comp it then having less bodywork to deal with is no bad thing and access to gear becomes easier as you can build a tray to suit YOUR requirements. There is a reason why you see lots of trays in comps and also why their back corners are not square. I'm sure a little extra wheelbase wouldn't hurt you either.

Maybe you should come for a drive and have a look at mine and see the extra freedoms you have to work with in areas such as exhaust, fuel tank, etc.

[dank]

I totally understand how a trayback is more suitable for what I want as an end result but things like time, money, availabiltiy of tray LWB, and the fact that my zook has been off the road and I just want to drive the thing all points towards getting my current vehicle running.

I'd Love a trayback more than a styleside lwb but its just a matter of finding a nice one as I don't have the time or patience to spend 12 months building it up.

You name the day and I'll be there to have a look at your rig cj. I'd like to see it in the flesh.

[andrew_wale]

You name the day and I'll be there to have a look at your rig cj. I'd like to see it in the flesh.

I think we would all like to see it.
There has been so much talk about it.

[gwagensteve]

There's been a lot less talk than there has been work Andrew.
It's probably a month or so off of being a roller.

Of course there's only one car in the club with a rear mounted radiator... and it's not Cj's

Steve.

[mightymouse]

Steve... you should know better - never use the work "roller" around cj!

IIRC that's what started the whole thing !