On my 2002 I made some Plexiglas fronts for the top two openings. Do you think that I should have made them for the bottom ones and covered them also.

I run plastic fronts in both the upper and lower grill inlets. I typically don't get around to removing them until late May/June. Never had any over heating problems, plus a nice side benefit is they really keep the bugs out of the A/C condenser well.

I don't tow in the off season. I'll run the winter fronts until May. I've been running them 3 years anyway, store flat under the back seat. It still takes a while to warm up & my temp guages stays right at half scale like always. I think the warmer intake air makes the grids run less & gets the truck into lean burn warmed up mode (more economical). Since I'm stock, the overhead is very accurate & immediately shows the differance in mpgs.

Before this, I was in the stupid "throw a cardboard in front of the radiator" mindset... but when I realized that it was blocking much more than just the radiator (think trans cooler, intercooler).

Last year, I replaced the SS hardware with hex head so I could use a socket on my screw gun & fender washers & nynuts.

I'm just like Russ... But in aluminum...

No pictures, but just like Russ and Mikes.......I made mine from clear lexan. They usually don't come off until about May for me also.

currious as to the problem that is caused by putting a thin piece of hardboard/cardboard between my intercooler and radiator keeps me in the right temp range and my truck gets about a half mpg gallon less but thats typically what it does when winter hits and it isnt blocking any of my coolers and fyi if you have an auto transmission your secondary cooler is mounted to the intercooler the main one is under your turbo controled by your engine coolant and egt's only know this because when I had my tranny done the shop came to me and showed me it and asked if I wanted it relocated and I said yes unfortunately you cant relocate it so it got plugged and another one was added up front (I only did this because overheating was the determined cause of tranny failure) imho I think the fronts that cover the grill are worse because the cause your egts to increse dont know how but my bud switched from what you guys got to what I have because my egts were 150 degrees lower on average Im not meaning to fight just currios if I have maybee overlooked something I will take a pic today so yall can see what im talking about...

currious as to the problem that is caused by putting a thin piece of hardboard/cardboard between my intercooler and radiator keeps me in the right temp range and my truck gets about a half mpg gallon less but thats typically what it does when winter hits and it isnt blocking any of my coolers and fyi if you have an auto transmission your secondary cooler is mounted to the intercooler the main one is under your turbo controled by your engine coolant and egt's only know this because when I had my tranny done the shop came to me and showed me it and asked if I wanted it relocated and I said yes unfortunately you cant relocate it so it got plugged and another one was added up front (I only did this because overheating was the determined cause of tranny failure) imho I think the fronts that cover the grill are worse because the cause your egts to increse dont know how but my bud switched from what you guys got to what I have because my egts were 150 degrees lower on average Im not meaning to fight just currios if I have maybee overlooked something I will take a pic today so yall can see what im talking about...

The theory is that the Intake Air Temp is so cold that the mileage drops because of it. The air coming into the combustion chamber is just too good to promote good combustion. So you block off the intercooler somewhat to get the temp back up and regain some mileage. Your EGT's shouldn't be high in the winter anyways, so putting the grill cover on just gets you closer to what you might see in the summer. I am not running any kind of winter front and am going to do so all winter and see what happens. So far, I haven't seen any difference. I was running 490F on EGT's at 70 on level ground the other day if that tells you how cold it makes them, you probably know that. As for mileage, I haven't seen any effect.

Running the winter front does "warm" the whole underhood area. Remember, a diesel is heat (compression) fired... so warming the air increases the IAT speeding warm up. In winter, I think faster warmup is preferable to lower EGT, which actually makes sense. The stock intake is through the fender & drawing air from behind the R headlight. This area does get warmed as it is behind the winter front. The bumper openings remain open so there is still some fresh air flow. With the cardboard across the radiator, the air intake is ahead of your baffle so the intake air will be colder. I'd rather draw plenty of warm air volume than block the radiator & coolers & draw almost no airflow. I just see it as keeping the everything in balance. Blocking the radiator may actually warm the truck up faster since there is darn little air flow. I did see a post recently about what it took to keep the truck at correct temperature... and that a working heater could handle the heat in some circumstances. Perhaps someone else will find the thread.I'd be interested in same truck, same day comparisons... very hard to compare different trucks, drivers, days. In the end, it's what ever works for you.Russ

Running the winter front does "warm" the whole underhood area. Remember, a diesel is heat (compression) fired... so warming the air increases the IAT speeding warm up. In winter, I think faster warmup is preferable to lower EGT, which actually makes sense. The stock intake is through the fender & drawing air from behind the R headlight. This area does get warmed as it is behind the winter front. The bumper openings remain open so there is still some fresh air flow. With the cardboard across the radiator, the air intake is ahead of your baffle so the intake air will be colder.

I'd rather draw plenty of warm air volume than block the radiator & coolers & draw almost no airflow. I just see it as keeping the everything in balance.

Blocking the radiator may actually warm the truck up faster since there is darn little air flow. I did see a post recently about what it took to keep the truck at correct temperature... and that a working heater could handle the heat in some circumstances. Perhaps someone else will find the thread.

I'd be interested in same truck, same day comparisons... very hard to compare different trucks, drivers, days. In the end, it's what ever works for you.

Russ

That was one of my threads about taking my fan off. The heater core on full blast is all that is needed to keep the engine at 190 when idling (without the fan on the engine).

If I can find some lexan what is the best took to cut it with?

I used a metabo when I made mine. Ok, everybody keeps talking that the warmer intake air helps mileage. Would there be any merit to removing the BHAF heat shield in the winter?

I have not got my BHAF project installed yet... but I'm going to close the fender cut out in winter, open in summer. I'm probably kidding myself but just going to use another piece like my cold front & a couple of screws.

I used sheet metal from a roll of flashing that I had. Used tin snips. Slides in between the grill and the frame. No bolts. Boy this has helped my temp. tremendously. Before, I installed them I was lucky if I could get upto 120* in the winter. Now, I am at 188*. Best of all MPG's went up!

I used sheet metal from a roll of flashing that I had. Used tin snips. Slides in between the grill and the frame. No bolts. Boy this has helped my temp. tremendously. Before, I installed them I was lucky if I could get upto 120* in the winter. Now, I am at 188*. Best of all MPG's went up!

I get better milage when my water temp is closer to 190. have had a lot of trouble getting there in a cold winter though. i am lucky to get 160 in the coldest part of the winter. i have winter fronts on and just installed a new tstat. the tsta helped the most, but still hard to maintain 190. it dont mean nothing since it sittin in the shop right now.

You mean going from an IAT of 120 to 188 made your mileage go up?

I get better milage when my water temp is closer to 190. have had a lot of trouble getting there in a cold winter though. i am lucky to get 160 in the coldest part of the winter. i have winter fronts on and just installed a new tstat. the tsta helped the most, but still hard to maintain 190. it dont mean nothing since it sittin in the shop right now.

this thread has been about raising the Intake Air Temperature Sensor reading for getting higher MPGs. the IAT often reports temps very close to ambient until the truck warms up.

dripley, my truck was the same way before i did a a flush and new thermostat last year. my old thermostat my truck never, ever got to 190F. the old thermostat says "CALTHERM DOWN" and "180*F" the spring is much softer, and i suspect wasn't staying closed. the new thermostat i got from local o'reilly's auto parts. it was a MURRAY PLUS+#4289(made in israel) and is rated for 190*F. a warm engine is a more efficient engine, so MPGs should increase if there is a large enough difference in water temp between the 2 thermostat.

the thread related to thermostats and water temp: /threads/1840-engine-coolant-flush?highlight=">http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/1840-engine-coolant-flush?highlight=

would i be wrong to assume the winter fronts help with both air and coolant temps?

understood. i appreciate the concern. i have always had trouble with operating temp in really cold weather since i bought it in 01. highway driving no problem, intown and idle it cools quickly.

Like during my testing I've been doing for the IAT fooler... I've been operating the truck without a winter front into temp around 0*F without a problem. The warm time might be extended but the but I've always seen 193-197*F worth of coolant when fully warmed up even without a winter front. So if you cannot reach 190*F worth of coolant temp you've got a failed thermostat pure and simple...