1995 Dodge Ram Driveway Radiator Upgrade
If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard about Project Triple Threat, our ’95 Dodge Ram project, it’s because we’re pretty happy with the truck. It runs low 12s at the dragstrip, has made 600 hp on two separate dynamometers, and is still tame enough to drive on a daily basis. Recently, however, we ran into a problem: overheating.
With compound turbochargers, we could tow a trailer at nearly 400 hp—a power level that severely overtaxed the factory cooling system, which was only rated to support 160 hp. What’s worse, with the air conditioning on, temps sometimes climbed as high as 220-plus degrees, just from sitting in traffic on a 100-degree day (and kept climbing until we got up to speed, or put the truck in neutral and raised the engine speed to about 1,500 rpm).
Doing stuff like this gets old quick. And since we aren’t even sure putting a new, stock radiator in will solve our cooling problems, we’ve decided to look at other options that would actually increase our cooling performance.
Fortunately for us, Mishimoto makes a direct-fit, highperformance radiator for most diesel applications, including our ’95 Dodge. The radiator is made out of aluminum, which dissipates heat much better than the factory unit. It’s lighter and also features TIG-welded aluminum end tanks instead of plastic. The complete radiator system includes a set of extremely durable silicone hoses (we were on our third top hose before the install), and a magnetic drain plug to catch any metallic debris. Finally, Mishimoto offers a lifetime warranty on its products, which made us feel confident that our cooling needs would be met for quite some time.
Another perk of installing this radiator in our Dodge is that it really is direct fit, meaning there’s no cutting, welding, or drilling, and all the mounting brackets for the fan shroud and radiator itself are already in perfect position,which translates to an install virtually anyone can perform in their driveway. To illustrate that point, that’s exactly what we did with the help of our diesel buddy, Harvey Grant. Follow along and see just how easy it was.
