Hood Mount Spacers

[B Point]

I was out wheeling with a group of guys a few weeks back and the majority of them had either properly made 1 inch aluminum spacers or a stack of washers between the hood and mounting brackets to lift the rear of the hood for heat dissipation. What are your thoughts on this? I'd be worried about hot air entering the cowling but they seemed to think it wasn't an issue. I'm not all that keen on cutting vents in the hood but any means of shaving a few degrees of heat is a good idea I'm thinking.

 

[retrofive]

I was out wheeling with a group of guys a few weeks back and the majority of them had either properly made 1 inch aluminum spacers or a stack of washers between the hood and mounting brackets to lift the rear of the hood for heat dissipation. What are your thoughts on this? I'd be worried about hot air entering the cowling but they seemed to think it wasn't an issue. I'm not all that keen on cutting vents in the hood but any means of shaving a few degrees of heat is a good idea I'm thinking.

My thoughts are zero is needed if your 80 cooling system is functioning as intended.

 

[B Point]

It just had me thinking about it as I was sitting in traffic on the hottest day ever in Japan's recorded history yesterday..

 

[kbahus]

Made me think of this:

I suppose it would work fine and I would rather go this route than cutting up the hood.

 

[B Point]

Yes, about like that.

 

[akarilo]

Do a fluid swap on the fan clutch and be done with it. I've never done a better "cheap mod" to my truck. It will dramatically improve your trucks cooling capabilities.

 

[Tools R Us]

My thoughts are zero is needed if your 80 cooling system is functioning as intended.

^^^This

Do a fluid swap on the fan clutch and be done with it. I've never done a better "cheap mod" to my truck. It will dramatically improve your trucks cooling capabilities.

^^^ And this

Japan has nothing compared to desert areas, if they can run cool in the desert without hood vents, then there is no need.

 

[retrofive]

Even my 'n on my 80 have kept the temp below 210 on the 108* days wheeling @ zero speed for hours.

 

[B Point]

Not that it should make any difference but I'm only talking about 1HD-T's and they are all over Australia which gets plenty toasty as well so a good testing ground.. as is Arizona. Not one of the trucks in the group has ever had any cooling issues they just do it as an easy mod to shed a bit of heat on 250,000+km engines.

I'll trade you some of that dessert oven heat for this jungle sauna s*** for a few days though..

 

[itbrokeagain]

So kinda off topic. What is Japanese wheeling like?

 

[Youngjoonni]

It's not going to hurt you to try it. I don't know why everyone seems against it but this is a reversible mod. Why shouldn't you try it? OP did not state that his vehicle had an overheating issue and that he wanted to use this mod to resolve the issue. Rather, he wants to stack the deck in his favor. Just do it and let us know what your feedback is.

 

[B Point]

That's right Youngjoonni. My truck runs like a well oiled machine.. just stacking the deck as you say. I used to be into performance VW's running bored and stroked engines and the engine hood is always either off completely or spaced open a couple inches. I'll try it and give my feedback.

Itbrokeagain.....wheeling in Japan is fairly hardcore and technical but limited to man made off-road parks. Kinda like a ski hill with green runs, blue runs, black diamond and beyond runs. We have four parks in our prefecture (state) and they cost about 40 bucks a day which is pretty reasonable. You can get through about 2/3 of the course sections in a day but it really depends on how well your rig is set-up and the conditions of the course for that day.

A few examples..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isbHSb-dw5s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m4bAaoqslQ

And our club..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jktlx_jdoLM

 

[Tools R Us]

It's not going to hurt you to try it. I don't know why everyone seems against it but this is a reversible mod. Why shouldn't you try it? OP did not state that his vehicle had an overheating issue and that he wanted to use this mod to resolve the issue. Rather, he wants to stack the deck in his favor. Just do it and let us know what your feedback is.

If you are referring to me, no hate, if you like the look, do it.

There are a couple of potential issues: The hood hinges are not designed to support the hood while the rig is in operation, that is the job of the rubber bumpers around the fenders, etc. Would look for premature hinge wear/bending, they are not that strong. It's not going to solve heating issues, may mess up airflow, reduce cooling. Most are designed to trap/hold heat when the motor is turned off. Allowing the motor to cool quickly makes for more cold starts, not a good thing for efficiency and motor wear.

Again, it's your rig, do what makes you happy. But, lots of $$$ goes into design/controlling airflow, if you think all of those little rubber/seal strips are just decorations, likely wrong. It's much easier to screw up carefully designed airflow, than improve it.

 

[B Point]

You may be right Kevin and good points.

Now for my smart ass point on the big bucks spent on air flow research and design... Prado 2.4L and 3L diesels...whoops!!

 

[Spin]

You will also be drawing hot air into the cabin air intake.

spin.

 

[Billy Skaggs]

I made Black 1/2" plastic spacer's and bolted to hinge. made about an 1" of gap. it let hot air out. looked like car photo .But it also foged the windshield. hot air blew in windows,hood really was flexing in the middle.it works but not worth the side- affects . took them off. did not see any change in truck cooling.