So before i ask my question heres a little background info.

My dad has a 97 reg cab stepside bed f-150 with the 5.4 and 4r100 trans(im pretty sure thats the trans n e way), hes got obx long tubes, k&n cold air intake, e-fans and php tuned.

My 01 f150 extened cab short bed has the PI 5.4 and 4r70w trans, i have the factory tow package with aux trans cooler, obx long tubes, true flow intake, underdrive pullys e-fans and vmp tuned.

Now my question doesnt realy have n e thing to do with the mods its just the factory stuff i have question bout, just wanted to share what we got goin. Now i noticed when we put the new longblock in his truck last summer that his radiator is almost three times as thick as mine, mines about a half inch. is one or the other aftermarket? i would thought with my truck having the tow package it would be thicker. my truck never overheats(execpt when i had a cracked intake manifold and lost half my coolant goin up a mountain) but i have seen the temp gauge a little past the half way mark where it normaly sits, nothing critical but a little warmer than i would like. What do you guys think?

Wow post got long quick

 

He's got a dual core rad and you have a single core rad..

I've got a 97, 5.4, E4OD (which is what your Dad's truck has too) with the factory tow package and have the dual core rad. At that time, if you got the tow package, you got the bigger rad. Non tow package trucks only got a single core.

After around 1999 or so, they started to only put single cores in, regardless of the tow package or not.... Folks were complaining about it, because the description of the tow package stated it had the larger rad.. And Ford was replacing them... Until Ford changed the description of the tow package, so that's when everyone got the single cores...

At least that's how I remember it.. You could probably search for old posts of that time and get more detailed info on it...

Mitch

 

Quite frankly, properly engineered single core radiators are every bit as good if not better than 2 or 3 tube radiartors. Tell me the last car that you saw with anything other than a single row of tubes. Today's technology in radiators is MASSIVE frontal area, aluminum, and WIDER (deeper) tubes in that single row. That is the best technology going in keeping an engine cool. That AND ELECTRIC fans! My '99 had a 2 row and my '02 had a single row. I was upset at 1st., thinking they had cheapened it. They both had factory tow packages. Trust me, I have had plenty of experience with radiators and multiple rows are not your answer to proper cooling, what I mentioned is! I used to equip my trucks years ago with 4 row radiators. They cooled NO BETTER than 3 row, not so much as a degree! By the time the air reaches the 3rd and 4th tube it is so hot from the heat off the 1st 2 that they are not able to carry any additional heat away. You only gain CAPACITY with the additional rows and you already have additional capacity with the LARGE frontal area and the MUCH deeper tube in the single row. 3 and 4 row radiators (and even 2 for a large part) are dark age mentality in the area of cooling. Drive on and enjoy your single row, it's likely EVERY BIT as good as his "super dupper mega-thick monster radiator". You can take it to the bank. Flame away!

 

^^^^ Same here. I switched from the oem single core to a double core and back again, no difference.....

 

i see, but i just thought it was odd because he doesnt have the tow package

 

He probably has the 2 row because of the 5.4. Cooling technology has come a long way even since his '97. As stated, my '99 W/tow package had the 2 row and my '02 W/tow package had the 1 row. The 1 row always got a much DEEPER tube than either of the 2 row. Aluminum is one of the major contributors to cooling, the second being electric fans. When they came out with the electric fan on CV police vehicles, they retained the engine driven fan ALSO. It wasn't long before they realized there was NO NEED for the engine driven fan, the electric was 100% effective even when idling for long periods. They dropped the engine driven and never looked back. Wise move.

 

Well, I'm gonna have to jump on here and strongly disagree. Yes, normal driving and such, the bigger radiator might not be much of a difference. But with my 8,000 lb toy hauler in June, you better darn well believe that big radiator was the difference between normal, worry-free driving and sitting on the side of the road. I had electric fans and the whole bit, but the big radiator was the key because my running hot issue was going down the road where fans made no difference, not the sitting in traffic. So yes, if you're towing anything significant, that radiator is a substantial difference; at least it was for me.

 

You say "the runnimng hot issue". Was this BEFORE installing a different (larger) radiator and then no running hot issue AFTER the larger radiator? EVERYTHING else the same? I essentially stand behind what I said. I have had a good deal of experience with correcting heating problems on RV's (several of my own as well as others). Not because they all ran hot, but there were heating problems in several very adverse circumstances. With a copper radiator air flow was the primary answer. I mean LOTS of it cured more problems than a larger radiator did. My 32 ft. motorhome W/CHEV. 454 has heat stoke when climbing RAPIDLY (abrupt climb) and goes from center to 3/4 QUICKLY but as soon as that P-51 (aircraft reference) fan clutch kicks in it brings it right back down to center even while still climbing. There have been a # of other very challenging situations and I did not once have to increase the size of the radiator to cure the problem.

 

I agree. My truck does not have enough cooling capicity when towing on a warm day with a single core rad and we are not alone. I have a dual core rad sitting on the bench waiting to get installed before towing season next year.

 

my truck ran a little cooler after i put the dual core in it.

2003 4.6 less tow package