I know that the big rigs put a cloth baffle over the grille in winter what is its purpose, I once saw a guy put a sheet of cardboard inbetween the intercooler and rad on his 96 2nd gen for winter driving. why? is this somthing to do with engine temp vs the outside temp at speed (wind chill)???

 

it helps keep your truck warm.

 

is it somthing to be concerned with on our trucks?

 

Not really. I put grille inserts in for the winter to help it warm up faster and stay a little warmer while driving. I see you are from CA so you don't see cold like I do. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.

 

The grill on my truck has like snaps on it so if you had a cloth with some snaps on it you could snap it to the grill. I don't know if it serves a different purpose but I guess it could be used for that.

 

Someone in past had a winter front for it . . I have one on my truck.

 

Two years ago I put cardboard against my rad. The vibration caused a corner of my rad to spring a little leak. This winter I go back to using an old towel. The reason why we block the rad rather than the grill is that large volumes of icy air come in under the grill. I suppose that if I were pulling a very heavy load, the grill inserts would be better but for daily driving, the towel in front of the rad is best.

Minus 40 is not unheard of here. In California I would just turn the heater off till the engine warms some. Actually you can just forget about it in your mild temps. You can take some consolation in the fact that my Chev pickup was much slower to warm up than the cummins AND I was using an illegal hi-temp, John Deere thermostat in the Chev.

 

If it gets real cold they are a life saver. At -30*, an empty CTD dosen't build much heat. Block off the cold air across the radiator and it helps alot.

Check these guy out.
http://www.alaskatent.com/products/c...ter_fronts.htm

 

I have used these for years: http://www.gofia.com/index.cfm?pageI...ar=1991&step=3

Nice that it also comes with a bug screen for the summer.

 

Even in not-so-cold Kentucky, I slip cardboard down in front of the radiator of the wife's truck, as she complains of not having much heat otherwise.

The way I do it is two over-lapping pieces, slid down under that little flap business that is just ahead of the radiator under the hood.

She drives forty miles one way to night classes.

I put in the cardboard anytime below freezing and her truck hasn't had any over-heating issues.

Enough cold air comes up from underneath to allow sufficient cooling.

I have a custom-fit piece of fiber-board insulation that covers the front of my Ford/Cummins.

 

Somebody still makes them--I think Dave has a link. I love mine and it has a bug screen to snap inplace for warmer weather

 

http://www.gofia.com/ You gotta poke around a little to find it, but it's there.

You guy living in climates where the winter temps never get over 50 should just take the fan off for the winter. I promise you it won't overheat. You'll get better mileage and you won't believe how quiet it is.

 

I take my fan off in November and replace it in May. I do bring it with me when towing, but I haven't needed it in 2 winters. Feels like about a 30hp hit when I put it back on every spring

 

no fan works really well. I am always surprised at how much air the clutch fan will pull in when first started. It seems to be almost fully engaged. Then when it has been running a bit it lets go.

 

Talked with my uncle the other day he has a 96 3500 5spd 2wd drw, he put the card board in one winter and forgot about it, drove from Arkansas to Seattle with a 30' goose neck (empty), didn't have a problem till climbing a hill in Wyoming (loaded 10,000# plus) on the way home, (IN JUNE!!) I geuss these motors really stay cool!

At what temp should I worry about a shroud of some sort? Is it just for the heater, or does it also affect mpg and performance, i.e. a motor likes to be hot but burn cold heavy air?