GEN 1 Mishimoto Radiator upgrade experience?

[B E N]

I ran a full race radiator on my 11 ecoboost, quality was good. Overall the increase in cooling when towing was marginal, bought a little time before I had to back out of it but once heat soak happened I was still slowed down, and it put to much heat in it to get back going full boogie, I probably picked up 5mph on the steep passes.

I would look into opening up your hood vents a little, I believe these trucks have inadequate heat extraction, that will be an inexpensive thing to try and I bet it helps a bunch. Ford kept the vent openings small to keep the engine bay clean would be my best guess, and it is probably adequate at high speeds where there is good draw on them. The raptors come stock with the heavier duty ford radiator so any stock size radiator is going to be mediocre in the upgrade department, to see real gains from a radiator your going to have to modify the truck to accept a larger radiator (thicker, wider or taller, maybe all three?).

 

[letsgetthisdone]

I ran a full race radiator on my 11 ecoboost, quality was good. Overall the increase in cooling when towing was marginal, bought a little time before I had to back out of it but once heat soak happened I was still slowed down, and it put to much heat in it to get back going full boogie, I probably picked up 5mph on the steep passes.

I would look into opening up your hood vents a little, I believe these trucks have inadequate heat extraction, that will be an inexpensive thing to try and I bet it helps a bunch. Ford kept the vent openings small to keep the engine bay clean would be my best guess, and it is probably adequate at high speeds where there is good draw on them. The raptors come stock with the heavier duty ford radiator so any stock size radiator is going to be mediocre in the upgrade department, to see real gains from a radiator your going to have to modify the truck to accept a larger radiator (thicker, wider or taller, maybe all three?).

Did you have an intercooler upgrade on the ecoboost? And what was the water temp and IAT it go to?

 

[B E N]

Water temp would peg, I started to slow down when it hit 230° and would just drive the truck at whatever speed allowed me to maintain something below that (towing a 9500lb RV trailer). The truck had the wagner intercooler on it, the intercooler upgrade helped a bunch because it wouldn't start pulling timing every time I hit a hill. With the larger IC my IAT1 vs IAT2 were within 30°.

 

[letsgetthisdone]

Towing 9500lbs is pretty extreme. Doesn't surprise me, especially knowing the hills and elevation are pretty gnarly in CO. Thats solid performance out of the intercooler though.

My Raptor runs 225 water and trans temp going 65mph up mountain pass/baker grade and grape vine in California towing a car and trailer (~5500lbs). Stock radiator and trans cooler for now..

 

[B E N]

I think most of the fun of driving is finding new crap that needs to be "fixed" so I push everything pretty hard. Baker grade and grape vine are no joke, I spent some time hauling fire equipment in enterprise trucks for the forest service and that was always a slow go.

It won't be the engine or trans that struggles towing in one of these trucks, always the ancillary systems. If you were borderline on temps I would say drain the coolant, run straight water with an anti-corrosive and see where that gets you. When you start talking about serious overheating though more airflow is going to be key.

 

[letsgetthisdone]

I think most of the fun of driving is finding new crap that needs to be "fixed" so I push everything pretty hard. Baker grade and grape vine are no joke, I spent some time hauling fire equipment in enterprise trucks for the forest service and that was always a slow go.

It won't be the engine or trans that struggles towing in one of these trucks, always the ancillary systems. If you were borderline on temps I would say drain the coolant, run straight water with an anti-corrosive and see where that gets you. When you start talking about serious overheating though more airflow is going to be key.

My truck is due for coolant change (just hit 100k), and since I rarely go where it's below zero, or even below freezing I'll be putting in a 25% coolant mix.

Your experience with the full race has me second guessing that purchase as I was planning to put a radiator in the truck while doing the coolant. Hmm..

Did your truck have the cooling fan duty cycles adjusted in the tune at all?

 

[letsgetthisdone]

****** RIP...

Went to order a radiator last week after towing my Rzr to Duck creek with the enclosed trailer and having to manage coolant temps to keep it under 235* with the stock radiator. CSF and Full-Race were both months out. Ron Davis is $1475 and 8 weeks. CBR is $980 through SDHQ and they said 2-3 weeks. So, I went with CBR. I figure the increase in core from 42mm (full race and CSF) to 55mm for the CBR was worth the extra couple hundred. Of course the season is over for Duck creek, and I wont have the radiator in time for my trip to Laguna Seca this weekend, but I will try to update the thread with relevant data as I have it.

I installed an engine oil temp gauge in the truck as well, so I will be able to monitor and report on coolant, trans, and engine oil temp. Knowing all 3 is important since they all coexist with the engine coolant being used for transmission and oil cooling as well which increases the heat load on the radiator.

 

[vegascarnut]

I’ll be watching this thread. How much does your trailer weigh fully loaded?

 

[Dane]

I’ll be watching this thread. How much does your trailer weigh fully loaded?

Me too. Seriously eyeballing that CBR.

 

[letsgetthisdone]

I’ll be watching this thread. How much does your trailer weigh fully loaded?

The enclosed with the rzr is probably a little north of 6000 with all the stuff in it (winch, two batteries, shelving, tools, lights, sand tires for the rzr, etc). And then you add the additional aero load of the "box" lol. And the turck is carrying another 500-600 lbs of gear/supplies for camping.

Open trailer with the Evo is right about 4800.