Rear mounted radiator questions

[jbeery78]

getting ready to mount my radiator behind the cab, I have a nearly new monster radiator out of a newer ford e250, main question is what are you guys using for tubing to run from rad to engine? type, diameter, etc. Is there a distance from the cab that works best as far as drawing air thru the rad? Never ran a rear mounted radiator before so I suppose if anyone wants to give me a quick crash course that would be great 

[jbeery78]

if it helps im going to be cooling a ford 400 engine, unsure what t-stat temp ill be using at this point. Thinking I can stay with a 180 degree stat since im adding so much cooling system capacity/surface area.

[4x4xdodgeman]

you need thank how hot air works? and how a radiator works?  hot air rises, radiator needs air flow to cool. i would put the radiator parallel with the box side. so you room around it for air to move.

[jbeery78]

Right I understand how a radiator and cooling system works, mainly interested to know about the tubing used to connect engine and radiator.

[J.C.]

I had a sammi with sch 80 pvc, seemed to work good, rubber hose and pvc elbows for the corners

[Hammerlane]

Air always rises, there is a potential for an air bubble to develop in the motor and cause cooling issues.
put a valve at a high point on the motor so you can "burb" it..

Ive seen PVC/ rubber hose as well as steel pipe used.. you are transferring scalding hot water, make sure whatever material you use can stand up to the stresses and pressures that will be applied.  catastrophic failure in this system can hurt.

[Swampthing]

I used  2 inch alumanized exhaust pipe.   Then put a bead of weld around the end so the hose couldn't slide off after it was clamped.

[swampfoxjr]

i run 1" heater hose and had aluminum adapters made to transition sizes. I had a bunch made thinking alot of people would buy them. I still have a bunch if interested.
i run a 180 thermostat with a stock pump, depending on the temp out it will run wide open for 8-10 min then just let it idle for a couple min and she cools right down then hammer down!!

[jbeery78]

Ill pm u swampfoxjr. so u just ran inch heater hose the whole way? no tubing? How long does the exhaust tubing last before it rots out?

[Swampthing]

if you use alumanized pipe, it will last a very long time.  15 years so far.

[domedirty2]

I used 2 in aluminized exhaust tube with radiator hose at the ends   works well and has lasted many years 8 or 10 ish so far .   you will definatly NEED to mount your radiator cap  at the highest spot in the system to bleed all of the air out, I had to jack up the rear of the truck high and iit took several heat up and cool cycles to get all the air out.   In the front where the hose meets the tube by the therm ostat on top on mine is almost the same height as the cap then angles back down to the frame rail  so I had to loosen the hose and slide a pick or small screwdriver in on the top of the rubber hose to vent the air out there too( a bleeder screw there would be ideal )    Good luck

[BigFrank]

On mine I used electric conduit and on the top hose I put a peice in there with a 1\4 bleeder and then a 5\8 hose barb that runs too where the heater hose would hook to in the intake soo as soon as the engine is running soo is the coolant if ya think about it that's how most gm trucks are  setup line goes too heater core then too radiator coolant is circulating before thermostat opens pushes the air thru too the highpoint \ bleeder