Radiator upgrade. Is it worth it?

I have a 2011 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 4.0L V6. My truck is set up for Overlanding and it’s quite heavy now because of all the gear I take when I go off roading . Im replacing the OEM radiator and trans cooler with a aftermarket high performance Mishimoto cooling system. You might be asking why I’m I doing this? My truck runs hotter now that I carry all this gear, driving for long distances especially driving up grades. What’s your take on replacing the radiator with a high performance 3 core mishimoto radiator and trans cooler?

Ps: I’m also replacing the OEM thermostat with a mishimoto thermostat

 

Not familiar with the products, but the concept to support your use case is fine.

You should also monitor trans temps if not already doing so.

 

I use a scan gauge to monitor my water temperature as well as transmission. I’m also replacing the OEM transmission cooler with a bigger Mishimoto transmission cooler

 

I'm guessing you are using the factory temperature gauge.

I don't know about your truck, but many "analog gauges" aren't really gauges. They are idiot lights that look like gauges and don't give a serious reading. I would find out what you have. A real set of gauges might be better.

That being said, are you having problems with the stock cooling system? Overflow tank getting filled a lot? Other cooling system signs? Have you serviced the cooling system?

Nothing wrong with aftermarket stuff, but sometimes I wonder if we just want to spend money instead of just going out and having fun.

 

What's your temps running? What conditions do they get high?

 

I have a scan gauge in my Tacoma to monitor water temp, transmission temp, volts and RPM’s.

My Tacoma is very heavy now with all the overland gear I take with me when I off road. I notice the water and transmission temperature goes up with those long distance drives especially going up steep grades.

Hence the reason I’m going with a higher performance cooling system. I just being proactive to engine and transmission in the long run

 

Then why ask? IF you are going to ask, give some data. What temps before and after? How much weight have you added?

Might help others out.

Right now you are just asking for confirmation for the decisions on what you're already doing.

 

You can say I’m asking for confirmation. I ask because I’m wondering if someone has upgraded there cooling system with and aftermarket one and got positive results from it.

I don’t really know the exact added weight however with all the gear including a camper shell, 33 inch tires and armor my guess it’s close to 2000 extra pounds (give or take) including passengers

 

What temps are you running at what ambient temperature?

 

Dude.
He already told you. He uses a scan guage™
He's an overlander™
Now, are you gonna follow him on the gram™ or what?

Edit: forgot Mishimarshmoto™

 

At 2000 extra pounds you’ve probably exceeded the gvwr.

 

Like I said I carry lots of stuff. I might be exaggerating but it’s pretty dang close

 

Heavy for sure. Maybe look to lighten the load some. My firefighter friends carry to much crap too...lol. That aside, the truck is wanting to run around 185F engine and 170F Trans. If you are significantly exceeding those, then yes, extra cooling would help. If it were me (and it was, but at half your load) I'd start with adding a trans cooler - and do what you can to keep the TC temp towards 170F. When pulling grades 2nd gear is your friend - you need to keep RPMs up to keep fluid moving. OD is never your friend on any sort of grade - paved or otherwise.

 

Is reading comprehension a problem? That is not an answer to "What temps are you running at what ambient temperature?" Temps are an actual reading not what tool being used to take the reading. The actual temperatures would be used to see what improvements are being made and if it's really worth the upgrade. His temperature readings might help others make a similar decision.

 

Sliders 150 lbs
camper 200lbs
camping gear and loaded cooler 200lbs
all the skids 100lbs
two 200lb people

Might be over estimating at 2000lbs, but GVWR on these trucks isn't much.

 

Good info.

Here is another thread on Transmission Temps.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-temperatures.500200/

 

Yes. A radiator upgrade is worth it!!
I've added a ton of weight to my truck but I'm not an overlander and any support to help your engine survive is worth it. With that being said...be careful when you wheel with all that weight and throttle input. I've snapped a couple of half shafts

 

Thanks for the heads up. I’m pretty conservative when I off road because of the extra weight.

 

I installed an aftermarket double row all aluminum radiator for similar reasons a few months ago. I do a lot of low speed stuff, especially at the higher elevations that's often above 10k feet where the air is thinner. And mix in all the desert stuff that I do, and the camping gear and spare parts I carry that includes a rear 3rd member and everything else, the need is justified. Keep in mind, a aftermarket double row radiator by itself won't truly improve the cooling efficiency of the cooling system without the addition of a auxiliary electric fan. Or by deleting the fan clutch entirely, and adding a electric fan as the primary radiator fan as I'm currently working on now. I've also added a mechanical coolant temp gauge with it's own temp sending unit making a closed system for monitoring that doesn't rely on the ECU, ScanGauge or any BlueTooth OBDII APPS. A Transmission Fluid Gauge and aux trans cooler with fan will also be installed. That project has been on hold for a few months now because the trans fluid gauge has been on back order.

I chose the Mishimoto Radiator that recently became available to us. Reasons why is because they are known for great customer service, the radiator itself has a lifetime warranty and was on sale with free shipping. My two other considerations were CSF and AFE until I dug a little deeper and found out that CSF's customer service is poor as noted in this thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...mance-radiator-for-our-trucks-finally.539151/

here's some brief details about when I installed the Mishimoto Radiator in my build thread..
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/monkeyproofs-misadventures.697489/page-5#post-27003535

The E-Fan that I'm adding will take the place of the stock fan clutch and will be controlled by a PWM Fan Controller. Basically the fan controller will increase/decrease fan speed accordingly to what the coolant temperature is. This will also be a closed loop separate from the ECU. The E-Fan I'll be using is from a 2016+ Camero/Corvette, and the fan controller is from Lingenfelter. I don't want to post much more about my fan install until I've actually completed the install.

Here's where I got the idea for the Camero Fan install, from these two threads..

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cooling-issues-not-anymore.682278/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/deo-electric-fan-kit-15-spots.692897/