tampacruiser95
Upgrades are coming.
How are people keeping their rigs from melting while parked in the sun all day? Moving to Arizona and I don't want my truck to fry while I am at work. Open to any suggestions!
Keeping rig cool while parked in hot climate (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter tampacruiser95
- Start date
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Tint the windows dark as legally possible. Make sure to use quality tint. A good windshield sunvisor is a must. I will also crack my windows. A remote start w the A/C on will help a lot of you can!
Definitely get a nice fitted windshield sun visor. I like the Covercraft brand. Rather than lowering the side windows, I usually pop the rear vent windows.
Amazon product ASIN B001GF2T3E
I've found that my GX with a tan interior seldom gets that hot, even in hot climate. My last vehicle (a Mazda 3 hatch) had black leather and would get crazy-hot.....the lighter colors in the tan GX stay much cooler. I am never going to get a black leather vehicle again due to that.
Amazon product ASIN B001GF2T3E
I've found that my GX with a tan interior seldom gets that hot, even in hot climate. My last vehicle (a Mazda 3 hatch) had black leather and would get crazy-hot.....the lighter colors in the tan GX stay much cooler. I am never going to get a black leather vehicle again due to that.
tampacruiser95
Upgrades are coming.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thank you all. Anyone use solar fans to keep air moving?
re_guderian
SILVER Star
Park in the shade, even if you have to walk extra.
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re_guderian
SILVER Star
So your interior will easily get to over 140 degrees. Tilt the sunroof, crack the windows. When you get to your car you can push, push-and-hold the unlock button on the fob and all the windows will roll down. This will help vent the trapped hot air. For the first minute or two, use fresh air on the AC, since the air outside the car will be cooler than the air inside. Then switch to recirc. No matter how you do it, the first 30 seconds suuuuuuck. Oh, and don't cut off anyone who's driver's window is rolled down in full-on summer. You know their AC isn't working, and they're probably halfway over the edge already...
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Very dark tint. A quality form fitted sun shade for the windshield. I always crack my windows open a little. Unless its Monsoon season and you are confident that storms are nearby! A couple of my older cars have carpet dash mats. That seems to keep the heat down from the top of the dash. As others have said, the first couple of minutes suck. But once you get moving it gets better. Rolling the windows down the first few minutes is a good idea.
r2m
Richard
Just my 2 cents that I've posted on other threads.
Being in the medical device industry, we have to do accelerated age testing of our medical device products to predict shelf life. To do this, we use a calculation that includes an elevated temperature and time. Using this method we can accelerate 2 years (or whatever time is needed) of shelf life into a few weeks.
So on that note, to keep your interior from "accelerated aging" you have to keep your interior as cool as possible. So keeping it cool is just not a comfort thing for you, which I'm not dismissing at all, but also for your vehicle.
So on that note, I have a roof top tent which blocks the sky (read: sun). I leave my sun roof open all the time and never has my vehicle been too hot. Note, I do live in So. Cal.
Okay, I'll admit not AS hot as Arizona, but we still get triple digit temps.
Yeah, you're first comment to me will be, "I don't have a roof top tent!" But what you can do as mentioned above, crack ALL windows minimum 1", full sun shade over windshield, tint all your windows. You can even get a polarized non-tint for the windshield. AND if you can, get some sort of reflective cover that can spread across your roof rack and just wide enough to cover your entire sun roof so when you open your sun roof all the way you won't be getting any direct sunlight in. A large white piece of foam core board, cardboard or matting should do the trick!
As mentioned above, the idea is to vent as much of the heat as possible.
Another option would be to get some rechargeable USB fans and have them blowing, exhausting hot air while you're in the office and then on the way home just recharge them again in your USB port.
Look at some of Amazons USB fan options here:
Being in the medical device industry, we have to do accelerated age testing of our medical device products to predict shelf life. To do this, we use a calculation that includes an elevated temperature and time. Using this method we can accelerate 2 years (or whatever time is needed) of shelf life into a few weeks.
So on that note, to keep your interior from "accelerated aging" you have to keep your interior as cool as possible. So keeping it cool is just not a comfort thing for you, which I'm not dismissing at all, but also for your vehicle.
So on that note, I have a roof top tent which blocks the sky (read: sun). I leave my sun roof open all the time and never has my vehicle been too hot. Note, I do live in So. Cal.
Okay, I'll admit not AS hot as Arizona, but we still get triple digit temps.
Yeah, you're first comment to me will be, "I don't have a roof top tent!" But what you can do as mentioned above, crack ALL windows minimum 1", full sun shade over windshield, tint all your windows. You can even get a polarized non-tint for the windshield. AND if you can, get some sort of reflective cover that can spread across your roof rack and just wide enough to cover your entire sun roof so when you open your sun roof all the way you won't be getting any direct sunlight in. A large white piece of foam core board, cardboard or matting should do the trick!
As mentioned above, the idea is to vent as much of the heat as possible.
Another option would be to get some rechargeable USB fans and have them blowing, exhausting hot air while you're in the office and then on the way home just recharge them again in your USB port.
Look at some of Amazons USB fan options here:
tampacruiser95
Upgrades are coming.
Got any recommendations on the fan, there are so many... LOL I'm stuck another summer in the blistering humid Texas heat. Ugh, I dunno how many more summers my poor GX can take. And now with a brand new vehicle out in the sun I have two worries. I wish someone would make a little vent that goes between the window and window seal with perhaps some tiny fans to help exhaust the heat out all-the-while keeping the bugs out.
r2m
Richard
Sorry, no suggestions. I just did a quick search to see if there was such a thing as a decent size USB rechargeable fan and was surprised that there were!
For the price, I'd get one or two and if they only last a season, still worth the $. Just my opinion.
Also, that would be a great idea about the fans in a window crack. I can easily see a bank of small 50mm fans running along the edge of a window and you wouldn't have to worry about bugs, fly's, no-see-em's because you'd be pushing a positive air flow out. There's no way for them to fly in against the output air flow.
I have been super happy with the Weathertech shades. I bought the full set and it makes it fantastic to sleep in the rig.
www.weathertech.com
2018 Lexus GX Windshield Sun Shade - Custom Fit Sunshade | WeatherTech
2018 Lexus GX Windshield SunShade protects your vehicle from harmful UV rays and helps keep interior temps cool in the summer and prevents frost build up in the winter.
www.weathertech.com
Not sure why anyone moves to AZ. The heat is terrible. Water quality is very bad, tap water is basically recycled piss. I lived there for 8 years.
Your car won't melt but you will not enjoy getting in it and sitting on those leather seats. Hell, you won't enjoy going outside at all between 8 am and 8 pm from may to Sept. Your paint will fade quicker; keep it waxed and keep your plastics treated. Plus side is you will never rust. Definitely park in a garage if you can.
Your car won't melt but you will not enjoy getting in it and sitting on those leather seats. Hell, you won't enjoy going outside at all between 8 am and 8 pm from may to Sept. Your paint will fade quicker; keep it waxed and keep your plastics treated. Plus side is you will never rust. Definitely park in a garage if you can.
They do make those, they're even solar powered
This one never reached the kickstarter limit, but I've seen similar ones elsewhere
Easily Reduce Heat in Parked Car | Solar Powered Car Ventilation Fan - TheSuperBOO! - https://www.thesuperboo.com/reduce-heat-in-parked-car/
or this one
Amazon product ASIN B07P38PKYF
I think you would need some pretty powerful fans in order to make a difference in the interior temp, so the cheap ones probably don't work well.
One thing I noticed when I was travelling overseas in SE Asia, everyone there puts a solar shade on the outside of the car, tucked under the windshield wipers. If you go to the mall, you'll see hundreds of cars parked outside like that. I asked one of the guys why they did that, and he said it keeps the car cooler because it prevents the windshield from heating up. Made sense, I've never tried it because I'd probably get my shade stolen
On really hot days I'll open the sunroof, my roof rack prevents anyone from getting in and blocks a majority of the sun. I also have those window visors on each window so I can crack the windows open a few inches without it being noticeable. It makes a huge difference when coming back to the car on a hot day.
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That first one looks pretty cool. Thanks for sharing!
*edit*
Looks like the Kickstarter failed
r2m
Richard
Reading the reviews, you may need a bank of them along your window and probably one each window to truly get any circulation.
Great idea having it be solar powered!
Perhaps a DIY with a larger fan and larger solar panel laying across the dashboard may work better??
tampacruiser95
Upgrades are coming.
- Thread starter
- #19
Being a little hard on Arizona haha. Glad for all of the tips though. I am going to get my tint redone to the darkest ceramic tint the shop will do, crack my windows, windshield shade, and solar fan to vent.
re_guderian
SILVER Star
Why do people move to Arizona? Jobs. And October through May... Check out the "Anytime else sick of winter" thread,
