Basically my winter front is a old road sign cut up to fit the opening in the grill. (Thank you! Kelly Hinkley - "The Metal Shop" Riggins, Idaho) I've seen several other ideas including, stainless steel, plexiglass, lexan, and several other materials. But the principal is simple. Keep the cold air from blowing across the radiator and engine. This will aid in engine warm up times and fuel mileage.

Remember the cold air will extend the warm up times hence this will cause more fuel to be consumed till the engine is completely warmed up. (Roughly 160-190°F) I've seen about 5-10 miles before I got full engine temperature without the winter front. Now with the winter front its less than 3 miles to get full engine temperature.

Excessive cold air for air intake will actually degrade performance. So with the winter front in place it will trap more warm air under the hood for engine use. Compression engines (diesel) require compression of air to make heat to fire the fuel. When the air get cold enough it will start to degrade the performance and fuel economy.

As for overheating... Not likely. As long as the fan is in place with the winter front the fan will engage to help cool the engine down if the temperature was to rise from extra load or steep grade.

Updated - November 24, 2006

I'm seeing people that are putting a piece of cardboard in front of the coolers and radiators or putting it between the radiator and the coolers. Most people put a good size hole in the middle and insert it... This is WRONG! DON'T DO IT!

Why is cardboard inserted wrong??? Well when you put a piece of cardboard against radiator or coolers your block air flow completely all the time. Then when you cut a hole in the middle of the cardboard your blowing cold air on the fan clutch keeping it unlocked always... If the fan clutch did lock it couldn't cool the engine down you got cardboard block the flow of air. Remember also there is a lot of air pushing against this and will plug the face of the radiator/coolers with what ever material you use! The only air flow is going to be at the center where the hole is at... So now you got a overheat problem possibly with both coolant and exhaust temperatures.

So why is the winter front CORRECT?? Because the winter front block the cold in coming air but it leave a gap between the grill and the coolers. So now if the fan should happen to lock it can pull full flow of air through it to cool not only the radiator but the intercooler too!

Since the temp sensor is behind the grill & in front of the radiator... if air is moving through the radiator, it stands to reason that the downstream air will be warmer than the upstream. Now, I hear you that you do not have a fan installed & you were stopped, idling, so heat might spread more evenly.I'm interesting in the temperature of the airstream supplied to the air cleaner & thus to the engine. There is a big grey area between the low temps where the grid heater runs & ideal intake temperature. Does anyone know the IAT temperaure that the computer shuts off the rich burn?Russ

Edited January 5, 201015 yr by flagmanruss

www.smartypower.com and Bob Wagner will let you try one with no strings attached......... He is the USA distributer and is out of Washinton state.

That's great info. I can't afford one right now but hopefully I'll find somebody around here that had one so i can enable my high idle.

just made my fronts tonight after work.Its been single digit cold and and truck has been slow to heat up fuel mileage has dropped almost 2 miles per gallon. i was able to get some aluminum printing plate from work for free .015 high quality aluminum spend about 20 dollars for stainless hardware to mount will find out tomorrow how it works really enjoy the info i get off this site thanks.

I cut my winter fronts out of an old Simpson helmet box last weekend and they do work. I wish that I would have done it last winter too.

I cut my winter fronts out of an old Simpson helmet box last weekend and they do work. I wish that I would have done it last winter too.

Could of use some plywood, plastic or aluminum to make them... Cardboard will eventually fall apart... http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/cummins/general/winter-fronts/winter-front.htm

I've not tried this on cold fronts but cardboard I needed to keep intact... I used some spray coating on. Artists fixer. Spray laquer. Even spray paint. (NOT while installed in the grill, of course). I just happened to have some plastic materials left over from another project... originally bought at "Modern Plastics". If I was going to buy for this I'd have used a thicker material as what I have will sometimes buckle. As I recall a single sheet of plastic material was not all that much.Once you have used them, you'll wonder why you did not do it sooner. Russ

That's a good tip. It was a spur of the moment deal one cold day to make them up so that's why they are cardboard, LOL.

Once you have used them, you'll wonder why you did not do it sooner. Russ

No joke... I just can seem to understand why it took me so long to figure that out...:rolleyes2:

Me too. They work perfect!

This is an older thread, but it popped up in the similar thread links at the bottom of the page so I opened it up..

My winter front is one of my favorite mods. I went with the OEM Mopar one, and it installs clean, and makes a HUGE difference. Without it my thermostat can take up to 12 miles to open on my daily commute, with 1 of the 4 sections open the thermostat will be open by at least 6 miles, and heat happens at about 1-1.5 miles.

I have also notieced the block heater is about 50% more efficient with the winter front as the heat cant escape thru the open grill, which in turn means less electricity needed, and a warmer engine.

Its been too long since I used it last winter but I want to say that my IAT's are about 3x warmer than without (normal is 6-12* above ambient, so 18-36* above ambient).

I do remove mine on long highway trips as the IAT's can easily go to 100* in 10* weather with all 4 flaps open, and I think the block grill increases the wind resistance at 75 mph. I also won't tow with one installed unless its below 0* out, and a light trailer. I did minor towing one day at 25* out and the IAT's and Coolant were much hotter than needed.

I have run mine empty on up to 60* days with all the flaps open without a coolant or IAT issue, so its nice to not have to remove it when a few warm days hit.

The only drawback to the winter front is it takes the EGT's a long time to drop as there is little to no airflow over the turbo/manifold at a stop.

I love your OEM cold weather front! Will this work on 98.5 - 02 trucks? Can you post a link to where they can be purchased? If you don't mind my asking, how much did it cost? Looks real nice!

This is an older thread, but it popped up in the similar thread links at the bottom of the page so I opened it up..

My winter front is one of my favorite mods. I went with the OEM Mopar one, and it installs clean, and makes a HUGE difference. Without it my thermostat can take up to 12 miles to open on my daily commute, with 1 of the 4 sections open the thermostat will be open by at least 6 miles, and heat happens at about 1-1.5 miles.

I have also notieced the block heater is about 50% more efficient with the winter front as the heat cant escape thru the open grill, which in turn means less electricity needed, and a warmer engine.

Its been too long since I used it last winter but I want to say that my IAT's are about 3x warmer than without (normal is 6-12* above ambient, so 18-36* above ambient).

I do remove mine on long highway trips as the IAT's can easily go to 100* in 10* weather with all 4 flaps open, and I think the block grill increases the wind resistance at 75 mph. I also won't tow with one installed unless its below 0* out, and a light trailer. I did minor towing one day at 25* out and the IAT's and Coolant were much hotter than needed.

I have run mine empty on up to 60* days with all the flaps open without a coolant or IAT issue, so its nice to not have to remove it when a few warm days hit.

The only drawback to the winter front is it takes the EGT's a long time to drop as there is little to no airflow over the turbo/manifold at a stop.

Jeez that truck is clean!!! You oughta make a thread with more big pictures of it as well as pictures of your mods and maybe a small tidbit about all of them. I guarantee if you keep this truck it might last forever. But yeah if they make a winter front like that for a second gen i would love to know about it.

man i'm getting cold just reading this. here on the beach it's 98 with a heat index well over 105 . i lived in colorado for about 8 months and could not handle the cold and never heard of a wind chill factor had to move back home. beautiful landscape up in the mountain though.

I love your OEM cold weather front! Will this work on 98.5 - 02 trucks? Can you post a link to where they can be purchased? If you don't mind my asking, how much did it cost? Looks real nice!

I got mine at the local dealership for about $100. I have not seen one listed for the 2nd gens before, thou I haven't really looked. I beleive Dodge calls it the Cold Weather Cover.

Jeez that truck is clean!!! You oughta make a thread with more big pictures of it as well as pictures of your mods and maybe a small tidbit about all of them. I guarantee if you keep this truck it might last forever. But yeah if they make a winter front like that for a second gen i would love to know about it.

The link in my sig should have most of that.