[03toy]

Needing to replace radiator. I know OEM is best. Anyone have good luck with anything else? Should I find a low mile used one and retank it? All suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Roadmedic]

Got mine from O'Reilly April 2013.

 

[03toy]

You get the Murray or Spectra?

 

[jballou]

EBay has full aluminum ones. Go new.

 

[steve05ram360]

Btr rad here... Takes some modding to get it squared away but all metal and worth it. Stock airbox will not fit without modding

 

[03toy]

I noticed the ones on eBay. I wondered how much modification I would have to do to make it fit. I do like the idea Iran all metal one. No more tank gaskets leaking.

 

[steve05ram360]

The one I saw on ebay was a 2 core all metal... pretty close to stock except the end tanks. Should be a direct drop in. The btr I have would not accept the stock airbox so I had to make an adjustment to it. Basically moved the battery tray & airbox back about 1/2 inch to shoe horn it all in. No problems since getting it all dialed back in.

 

[Rual817]

Ebay. There's a dealer in Dallas area selling Mopar parts cheaper than dealer. You just have to pay attention about the parts you're buying.

 

[ROBBIESWORLD]

I was in a bind and had to leave town the next day so I bought a Murray and put it in about 2 months ago. If I had time and when this one fails I think I will go with a Mishimoto for 643.00 free shipping on ebay
You know the bummer is the stupid plastic end tanks on our radiators

 

[dieselenthusiast]

when this one fails I think I will go with a Mishimoto

I don't plan on my factory radiator to fail anytime soon, but when it does, I will replace with a Mishimoto. I don't think there's a better "lifetime warranty" radiator on the market.

 

[03toy]

Thanks for all the replies fellas! Definitely need one with metal tanks!

 

[CAR67]

Just wondering, are some of you replacing because the radiator failed? If so, how many miles on the vehicle? I was wondering about when to replace mine just as preventive maintenance.

Thanks

 

[Geezir]

Just wondering, are some of you replacing because the radiator failed? If so, how many miles on the vehicle? I was wondering about when to replace mine just as preventive maintenance.

Thanks

When it's a problem.

I've never heard of replacing a rad for preventative maintenance. That is unless you have alot of money to spend and nothing to spend it on. And if that's the case, I'll take some of that money.

 

[dieselenthusiast]

Just wondering, are some of you replacing because the radiator failed? If so, how many miles on the vehicle? I was wondering about when to replace mine just as preventive maintenance.

Thanks

Most people are replacing them because their radiator sprung a leak. As for preventive maintenance, I don't think it's a bad idea to replace the OE radiator once it becomes 10 years old. Eventually, they will fail. I personally subscribe to the "preventative maintenance" philosophy because I don't want to have any surprises when I'm far from home. As an example, I just replaced the OE batteries which were nearly 9 years old (December 2005 Build Date). So even though the batteries worked fine, I replaced them a few weeks ago with the DieHard Platinum. I just replaced my tires for new tires. The old tires still had 6/32nds on the rears and 7/32nd on the fronts, but they were 5 1/2 years old and had 63,432 miles on them. In my opinion, the tires were getting old and needed to be replaced. Plus, Firestone had a sale going (buy three tires and get one free). So I got new tires and sold the old ones for $60 bucks. I replaced the factory ball joints at 100,000 whether they needed it or not. I've never been broke down on the side of the road, so preventative maintenance makes sense to me.

 

[Snorkohl]

I am also looking for a radiator for my cummins swap. It is going into 1969 chevy K-20 with plans of adding an intercooler. The intercooler is from a 95, so the logical choice would be an OEM radiator for the 2nd gen. It looks like I will be into it for about $200, but I am finding all aluminum radiators from Ebay and Summit for about the same cost. They measure about the same size, and are 2 row units. I know it will take a little fabricating to install, but it seems like a no brainer to go full aluminum. I am planning on running dual electric fans, and will not tow much over 8000 pounds, and only 3-4 times a year. Basically a daily driver. Am I missing something on the Summit radiators? Seems like a good deal and no plastic tanks to deal with.