Ron davis rad went bad... so sad

[eds66bronco]

well after only being in the bronco for 3 years, the upper 4-5 rows of tubes on the passenger side and the upper 2-3 on the drivers side have begun to crack at the joint where the tubes enter the tank. i drove home from work and when i got there, i could hear a slight hissing sound and coolant was dripping from the bottom of the shroud. temp was at 190 the whole way home, right where it always sits. it was only a slight drip and the coolant level was fine (i checked before heading to work the next morning). i ran it for a few minutes to check for leaks and nothing could be seen leaking. about half way to work (right in front of the parts store-thank God) i smell coolant and see steam rising from the hood. pull in and coolant is pouring from the top of the rad where the tubes enter the tank. temp only got to 220 and after it cooled, i put in 1.5 gallons to get it back up to the top. took it slow getting home with the temp never going over 190 again.

what the heck happened? i would expect after spending over 400 on a top quality radiator like this, it would last a bit longer than 3 summers worth of use.

what are the options to fix it?

 

[eds66bronco]

well, just got off the phone with the tech guy at RD and he said they may be able to epoxy the tanks. if not, he offered me dealer cost for a replacement. according to him, the problem is the poly mounts. he said they need to be replaced with rubber and that the poly ones put way too much stress on the radiators. he was surprised that vendors still even sell poly mounts.

i'm very impressed with the customer service at RD. i sure hope it can be epoxied.

 

[73bronco]

I had a aluminum HOWE radiator in my last bronco that did the same thing. I took to a local radiator shop and they were able to epoxy it for me. It took a day and 80 bucks. I never had a problem with it again.Good luck!

 

[bigmuddy]

Hence the reason I have never bought an aluminum radiator yet. I run a stock 3 core radiator with a 5.0HO motor and a manual ZF tranny and it doesn't ever get over 190 ever. I beleive with a manual tranny there is really no need to go to a fancy aluminum radiator.

I do agree thats BS to have something so expensive go out that soon.

Ben

 

[jkskier]

You spent the money for a Ron Davis and not only did they blame it on the mounts (that's crap) but the best they could do is give you dealer cost?!?!

Guess I won't be buying one of those. Seems to me that DonsBolt has a Summit universal ($200) attached to his core support with only some small bushings on the bolts and I haven't heard him say he has any problems yet....could be wrong though.

 

[ken75ranger]

You spent the money for a Ron Davis and not only did they blame it on the mounts (that's crap) but the best they could do is give you dealer cost?!?!

It's actually a pretty common issue with all radiators. The more we flex these beasts the more the radiator supports need to flex instead of the radiator. If they don't flex it tears the radiator apart. One of the peeps in my local club had his fixed 3 times before he remounted it so it could move a bit.%)

 

[Broncobowsher]

I know my core support moves around like Jello.
The poly mounts are hard as metal.
Aluminium doesn't like repeated flexing, just research the Dehavalon Comet and see what happens when you add pressure, right angles and repeated flexing. Cracks form.
Look at any new car running an aluminum radiator, they are mounted in rubber. Not jsut a little, but a lot of soft rubber. New cars can move the radiator around about an inch.
Ever read the instruction that came with the radiator, do not solid mount.

Ron Davis makes some nice stuff. If you are ordering one new ask for the Epoxy. It isn't an "instead of" but a compliment to the brazing to the tanks. the eposy adds a radius that distributes the stress.

For them to even try and save your radiator is a good deal. The dealer cost replacment I consider rair as well. Some people just expect too much for free, kinda like that idiot who tried sueing for $56 million because he thought that a satasifaction garantee means he gets whatever he wants.

 

[lodnirgs]

I had my RD radiator last less than two years with few miles and it developed several tube end failures. My Bronco is a street driven truck with few off-road miles. I too thought that this high dollar piece should give longer service. RD offered me dealer price and in a time crunch, I had them send me a new one. Well at least they are attractive to look at. The two year old radiator hangs on the shop wall as a testiment to top dollar pieces.

 

[SteveL]

I've always heard the aluminum radiators have issues if you flex your rig. First I tried the duffy 4-core. It started leaking after a 1 1/2 years. Had it fixed and it soon sprung more leaks. Since that I've been running Chucks 3-core radiators for like 5 years on both broncos with no problems.

 

[eds66bronco]

i may need to build a better flexing attachment system. i realize now how rigid the poly is. i initially justified the cost of the RD with the wife as "buy quality and spend a bit more now to save in the long run". as much as i would like to get a new one as suggested by others above, the only thing i can afford is to try and save the one i've got. of course if it goes again then i will have flushed more money down the bronchole.

so with that in mind, what would you guys suggest as the best mounting option for an aluminum rad. my thoughts are to isolate it in a frame welded to the core support, while still utilizing the saddle strap brackets with soft rubbber bushings. i didn't think the core support could twist or get out of skew but my current situation says otherwise.

 

[kb6677]

misc. rad. ramblings

After 5 years of cooling I pulled my RD rad. tues. night also. To speak to several of the posts on this thread-mounting IS everything.....
For those comments on high $, not holding up, etc.... wake up. The RD rad. is by far the best al. rad. on the market-check on many of the professional rock crawler rigs-hum,... a RD al. rad. I doubt in a lifetime of eb use we could match a season of comp. crawling. Lets not forget the numerous teams in Baja racing which also use the product. For the boys to offer replacement at cost is excellent imo. Think about most performance parts you buy, once you install it it is YOURS!!!! I would hope that folks considering an al. rad. would give the boys a call at Ron Davis... I am not thrilled at replacing mine after 5 years but the new one will certainly have a better mounting system-so its on me not the radiator!!!!

www.rondavisradiators.com

FWIW,
Karl Bradley
NC
ebssss

 

[Tito]

So where can we get rubber bushings to go in the radiator mounts?

 

[kb6677]

So where can we get rubber bushings to go in the radiator mounts?

http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/11.asp

HTH

 

[phred]

I've seen a few baja rigs that use rubber bungy cords to hold the radiator be cause of the flex issues. I think the Moss Bros. use this system in the big bronco.

 

[eds66bronco]

After 5 years of cooling I pulled my RD rad. tues. night also. To speak to several of the posts on this thread-mounting IS everything.....
For those comments on high $, not holding up, etc.... wake up. The RD rad. is by far the best al. rad. on the market-check on many of the professional rock crawler rigs-hum,... a RD al. rad. I doubt in a lifetime of eb use we could match a season of comp. crawling. Lets not forget the numerous teams in Baja racing which also use the product. For the boys to offer replacement at cost is excellent imo. Think about most performance parts you buy, once you install it it is YOURS!!!! I would hope that folks considering an al. rad. would give the boys a call at Ron Davis... I am not thrilled at replacing mine after 5 years but the new one will certainly have a better mounting system-so its on me not the radiator!!!!

www.rondavisradiators.com

FWIW,
Karl Bradley
NC
ebssss

karl, i hope the thread doesn't come across as a bash on the RD guys. the reason i went with them was only after doing lots of research on what the best one was. everything clearly pointed to (and still does) Ron Davis.
i'm only put off by the fact that it was never stated in any liturature/site that the poly mounts were a big NO-NO. i would have bought soft rubber ones if i had known, and the vendor i got them from that also sells the RD rads, didn't say they shouldn't be used. it just hurts to have paid so much for such a beautiful work of art and have it ruined so quickly. i bust my butt to make ends meet and stuff like this puts an end to my very short wheeling season while i try to save up enough to fix or replace. it kills me to see her just sitting while the sun is shining and the salt is gone from the roads. plus the whole wife "you spent how much and it only lasted how long" isn't helping me any

 

[kb6677]

karl, i hope the thread doesn't come across as a bash on the RD guys. the reason i went with them was only after doing lots of research on what the best one was. everything clearly pointed to (and still does) Ron Davis.
i'm only put off by the fact that it was never stated in any liturature/site that the poly mounts were a big NO-NO. i would have bought soft rubber ones if i had known, and the vendor i got them from that also sells the RD rads, didn't say they shouldn't be used. it just hurts to have paid so much for such a beautiful work of art and have it ruined so quickly. i bust my butt to make ends meet and stuff like this puts an end to my very short wheeling season while i try to save up enough to fix or replace. it kills me to see her just sitting while the sun is shining and the salt is gone from the roads. plus the whole wife "you spent how much and it only lasted how long" isn't helping me any

Not at all- I to am not pleased either-especially after putting in a new 392 stroker motor last summer and spending more on a custom fan setup than the radiator cost!! Unfortunately after speaking with them and the posts here I know exactly when I "tweaked" mine-rock 1, broken headlight and pushed back fender 0-the rad was hard mounted (sandwiched in a metal bracket with rubber inserts) to the cross bar on my front end. Note to self: don't headbutt anymore rocks with the front of the eb!!!!
I am shipping mine off in the morning. Based on another thread on the chat section, be SURE and pack it well and take the insurance

 

[eds66bronco]

well, it's off on the big brown truck to the rehab center at RD. i miss it already took out the extra insurance too. maybe they will destroy it on the way and i can get a new one

 

[nvrstuk]

mt

Put the top mounts closer together than the bottom two- say 12" apart (rough guess). This will reduce the radiator movement when you are all twisted up.

GM makes some soft rubber mounts also. Got to be others out there too.

 

[Madgyver]

Don't feel too bad about your RD rad springing a leak.

Mines sprung a leak in the same area and it wasn't a year old with probably less than 500 hard miles on it.
Got the brand new RD rad at the 40th, actually needed one after my original copper 4 core rad got torn up from my flex fan on the trail.
WH, BC and Tom's had radiators for me when I got trailered back to camp.
I went with Jim because his RD rad was there and after getting it it went right into my rig.

I spoke to Bob S. at Ron Davis about the problem and his solution would be to epoxy fix it, Being in Hawaii, shipping it back to them wouldn't be worth it.

I called Sales @ WH with my dilema and Rich set me up with a staggered core rad which I finally ordered yesterday. Thanks Rich

Running with A/C on and a crippled RD aluminum radiator doesn't help much, As for my RD rad, when it's out I'll get a local rad shop to do their epoxy trick...

 

[nvrstuk]

Bigger softer mounts with more "slop" between the mount and the radiator. Just a thought. There's a lot of flex/ movement there and alum doesn't flex well. Couple times and there's a leak. :-(


Hope I do the mounting right. Be installing mine next week!