Blazer Eagle
Newbie
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 30
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- 8
I have a 1995 K2500 8600 GVWR. It has the 454 and every optional cooler you could get from the factory plus an upgraded transmission cooler. In every respect, it is set up like a diesel truck - minus the engine.......and the nostrils in the bumper
Now, the reason I bring up the nostrils is because my truck likes to get warm if I'm hauling with the A/C on in the summer (think 90+ temps). I have some some cooling mods in mind such as an aluminum radiator, HD fan clutch, larger oil cooler etc. However, I am concerned about how much air is getting to the cooling stack. If you look at any modern heavy duty truck, you'll notice they all have giant grill openings as well as vents in the bumper on many of them.
I imported some pictures of some different GMT400 grills to get a rough idea of the open grill area. While my numbers may not be an exact reflection of the true grill area, they should provide a good basis for comparison between the grills.
Now I have a Chevy, so I started there.
300 square inches
I then measured the GMC grill. I was expecting a fairly large difference since the gmc grill doesn't have the bar across the middle, however, the lights and the bottom of the grill are moved up quite a bit higher.
342 square inches
That is a 14% in frontal area over the Chevy
I then looked at the diesel bumper. and what the nostrils would add.
65 square inches
If I were to run a gmc grill with the diesel bumper, I would have a total of 407 square inches (342+65). A 35.7% increase in frontal area over the Chevy grill.
Then I found that LMC offers a grill that is a combination of the GMC and Chevy grill. It retains the Chevy head light spacing, but without the cross bar. I don't think it is the most attractive grill, but get this - this grill alone has
402 square inches
the combination of the LMC grill and the diesel bumper would net 467 square inches of frontal area, or a 55.7% increase in frontal area!!!
So I ask, is there any reason not to do this? Is there a reason more people aren't doing this?
Now, the reason I bring up the nostrils is because my truck likes to get warm if I'm hauling with the A/C on in the summer (think 90+ temps). I have some some cooling mods in mind such as an aluminum radiator, HD fan clutch, larger oil cooler etc. However, I am concerned about how much air is getting to the cooling stack. If you look at any modern heavy duty truck, you'll notice they all have giant grill openings as well as vents in the bumper on many of them.
I imported some pictures of some different GMT400 grills to get a rough idea of the open grill area. While my numbers may not be an exact reflection of the true grill area, they should provide a good basis for comparison between the grills.
Now I have a Chevy, so I started there.
300 square inches
I then measured the GMC grill. I was expecting a fairly large difference since the gmc grill doesn't have the bar across the middle, however, the lights and the bottom of the grill are moved up quite a bit higher.
342 square inches
That is a 14% in frontal area over the Chevy
I then looked at the diesel bumper. and what the nostrils would add.
65 square inches
If I were to run a gmc grill with the diesel bumper, I would have a total of 407 square inches (342+65). A 35.7% increase in frontal area over the Chevy grill.
Then I found that LMC offers a grill that is a combination of the GMC and Chevy grill. It retains the Chevy head light spacing, but without the cross bar. I don't think it is the most attractive grill, but get this - this grill alone has
402 square inches
the combination of the LMC grill and the diesel bumper would net 467 square inches of frontal area, or a 55.7% increase in frontal area!!!
So I ask, is there any reason not to do this? Is there a reason more people aren't doing this?
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