Anyone interested in an all aluminum radiator

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Interested!

I just bought a new oem this weekend after my radiator failed catastrophically. This was at 215,000 miles about 30,000 miles after a timing belt, water pump, thermostat, coolant, etc. service with all OEM toyota parts. Had to drive 6 hours to get it and then installed it in a campground, could have been worse, but it wasn't good.

I had recently repaired an HJ60 radiator for a guy in a parking lot and that had me thinking about trying to have a brass unit built from mixed parts so at least I would have a field serviceable unit.. alas I didn't get that far.

In this case the top tank split on the front side where the return flow would come in. I suspect this was just a life/heat cycling issue that caused failure but don't recall reading here about a lot of blown radiators. How common is this?

Definitely interested in more field serviceable options!
 
Sorry for the lack of updates but here is the progress so far.

I hate to say it but any American fab radiators made all aluminum to replace the factory Land Cruiser/LX is looking to be around $800 more or less.

I've located a Chinese factory (Winner Racing) that builds 100 series aluminum radiators for m/t but they can add the internal transmission line for our auto trans. My research online shows that they have been building only radiators/intercoolers etc for over a decade and their ratings online are pretty good...

If I can get at least 5 initial interested parties we are looking at about $320 shipped.

This has a larger 56mm core with 2 rows. TIG welded. No epoxy usage. Approx 26 lbs.

s-l1600.jpg
 
Look for a local racing radiator shop. I bet they can make it for under $400. If I had a spare there is a shop outside of Memphis TN that would.
 
I contacted about 5 throughout the US but they all gave me quotes that were within $50 of each other. Locally here in Miami there is next to nothing that I've found.
 
Just FYI - I replaced my original 1999 radiator recently and took a chance with one off Amazon after doing some research and reading reviews. The radiator that showed up came in a KoYo box and appeared to be the OEM Toyota replacement as it was identical to the one I replaced. It was not only a excellent price but the quality was surprisingly awesome as it was genuine Koyo Japanese... For anyone interested here is the link: (I may have some other pictures if anyone is interested)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IYNUNC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
 
So I'm officially going to be the test monkey, they're going to make a one off A/T radiator and ship it next week. I'll post pics of the install once I receive it.
 
CurbsEnthusiasm said:
So I'm officially going to be the test monkey, they're going to make a one off A/T radiator and ship it next week. I'll post pics of the install once I receive it.
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Maybe take it by a radiator shop and have it pressure tested first? Have to admit the price is tempting but uncertainty about build quality makes it a $300 gamble IMO. Even at it's worst though an all-aluminum radiator is never going to fail catastrophically like a plastic end-tank.
 
staggrlee said:
Maybe take it by a radiator shop and have it pressure tested first? Have to admit the price is tempting but uncertainty about build quality makes it a $300 gamble IMO. Even at it's worst though an all-aluminum radiator is never going to fail catastrophically like a plastic end-tank.
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Agreed. But it's not a terrible gamble. I've seen a few people on Celica All-trac forums who highly recommend this place so I figured I'd take the chance. Not going in completely blind makes this a bit easier!
 
Your radiator has 56mm with 2 rows and the one on eBay is 56mm with 3 rows.

I would think more rows means more efficient cooling, correct me if I am wrong.
 
2003lx470 said:
Your radiator has 56mm with 2 rows and the one on eBay is 56mm with 3 rows.

I would think more rows means more efficient cooling, correct me if I am wrong.
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Well its dependent upon core size too. The 3 row ones on eBay don't appear to be specific to the UZJ100 series. This two row is larger than the factory 2 row. I've read that a better sized 2 row has more efficiency then that of a 3 row but I haven't gone too deep into the specifics.
 
2003lx470 said:
Your radiator has 56mm with 2 rows and the one on eBay is 56mm with 3 rows.

I would think more rows means more efficient cooling, correct me if I am wrong.
Click to expand...

Straight from the manufacturer....



"If you're a hot rodder, you've probably heard of companies like BeCool, Griffin, Ron Davis, Howe and AFCO. These companies have been in business for a long time, and aside from making very expensive products, they have one thing in common: they all make the majority of their radiators with 2-rows of 1.0" tubes. Why? Because they work very well. The whole benefit of using alumiunm instead of copper/brass to make radiators is being able to make FEWER, LARGER rows (2 rows of 1.0" tubes), not MORE, SMALLER rows (3 rows of 5/8" tubes).


We will never sell you a 3 row aluminum gimmick radiator simple because they don't cool well. All of our radiators are built with 2-rows of 1.0” cooling tubes, not the 3-row gimmicks with TINY 5/8" cooling tubes. These 3-rows are a gimmick! Checkout the comparison photos.

A 2-row of 1.0” tubes has 2.0” of tube-to-fin contact area (1.0” rows x 2 rows = 2”).

These 3-row radiators only have 1.59” of tube-to-fin contact area (3 rows x .531” = 1.59”).

Also check out the core thickness – our core is 2-5/16” thick – the 3-row gimmick radiators are only 2-1/16” thick. A 2-row with 1.0” tubes has 26% more heat transfer surface area alone than these 3-row gimmicks with .531” tubes. That’s a HUGE difference!"
 
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I'd take the 3 row small diameter all day long and here's why. Yes cross sectional area plays a role in heat transfer, however that coolant in the larger diameter is travelling at roughly 40% the velocity of the small tube. That does a couple things, it drastically reduces heat transfer because it's far less turbulent and it likely is not completely covering the entirety of the inside diameter. BTW, the smaller diameter radiator is only 20% less surface area and 240% higher fluid velocity. My money is on the 3 tube. Actually, my money is on the inexpensive, more than capable OEM radiator. Although this one is pretty shiny.
 
Supra88 said:
I'd take the 3 row small diameter all day long and here's why. Yes cross sectional area plays a role in heat transfer, however that coolant in the larger diameter is travelling at roughly 40% the velocity of the small tube. That does a couple things, it drastically reduces heat transfer because it's far less turbulent and it likely is not completely covering the entirety of the inside diameter. BTW, the smaller diameter radiator is only 20% less surface area and 240% higher fluid velocity. My money is on the 3 tube. Actually, my money is on the inexpensive, more than capable OEM radiator. Although this one is pretty shiny.
Click to expand...

What about the tenuous piece of $%& plastic tanks on the OEM radiator? Mine cracked and I'm trying to decide what to replace it with.
 
Bump..

Anyone else interested in one? We need a couple more orders.
 
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