Java's F450 'Rough Road' RV

Soooo time to find the best spot to T into the cooling system on the 6.4. (with inline ball valves!) A local buddy just gave me a new hot water heater than uses a coolant loop..... I was thinking heater core?

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Assuming I can fix these threads
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Also its getting dark, finding camp sites at night can be entertaining in something this size, another upcoming project, lights aimed sideways under the cabover. A little more vision towards offshoots and pull outs etc.


Now Baja Designs makes great lights. Great FOG lights they do not..... These are their "SAE" rated, but independent testing shows that even with their band aid blinders installed they still fail.... So they got pulled off the Tundra and will be used for this!

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Great ass weekend. Other than breaking my ass sledding....

How all good times start
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How it looked when we showed up Friday night.
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And Sunday morning.
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That's a propane tank by the front tire :)
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Added a little table on the side of the truck, pretty slick unit from Expedition Upfitters. Should be perfect for a quick BBQ or just drink spot.
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The drive down got interesting. 1/3 of the way down I come around a corner and see a car stopped... Stuck. Trying to turn around. Park and walk closer and there is a Subaru well stuck in the ditch behind them too. Fun.... They had been spinning in that area for awhile, it was POLISHED. walk back tot he truck and get the Maxtrax (which was freaking amazing in snow....). A 5 point turn later car one is aimed back down hill. The off camber of the road was freaking the lady driving out, but keeping the pass side in the deep fresh stuff she got around the Subaru. Next try.... Drag Subaru out of ditch. Going uphill was a no go, I just spun and slid towards the ditch too.... Chained up, drove around him and tried dragging downhill, no go. Ditch was getting deeper. Last ditch effort was 4 people pushing, I dug down to gravel on the drivers side and we built a maxtrax bridge on the pass side.... Somehow that worked.... One pic my wife took when it was all over.

Maxtrax bridge he could dive on to combat the polished snow and camber....
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Long time no update, we have been in summer mode for awhile now. Although its still cold, having house on wheels is nice.

New puppy happened too.... Hes a terror.
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Had some great fun on the single track, until we hit snow!
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Then we cracked a radiator on the way home.... Thoughts on OE vs Mishimoto?

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I cant pinpoint it exactly, but I assume its between the plastic end tanks and the alu fins....
 
Very cute puppy!!!

I have read good things about Mishimoto radiators and I had one in a previous Miata, in the past. I really cannot stand the plastic/aluminum radiators. I have put a number of all aluminum radiators in a number of vehicles and they have always out performed the stock ones. I have seen plastic tanks crack, leak between the tanks and core. OE use them because they are cheap. At least with an aluminum one, if you have a problem with the tank, you can weld/braze it, to do a temp fix, if needed.
 
Good thing on the mobile house, been crap weather!
Mazama and Winthrop were nice :) One rain storm overnight, but not bad. TONS of morels in the fresh burn area if you head that way soon.

This was maybe 10 mins of looking, right off the highway.
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Makes a nice ravioli
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Very cute puppy!!!

I have read good things about Mishimoto radiators and I had one in a previous Miata, in the past. I really cannot stand the plastic/aluminum radiators. I have put a number of all aluminum radiators in a number of vehicles and they have always out performed the stock ones. I have seen plastic tanks crack, leak between the tanks and core. OE use them because they are cheap. At least with an aluminum one, if you have a problem with the tank, you can weld/braze it, to do a temp fix, if needed.
Thanks, I have been getting super mixed reviews on them, lots of love and hate! I agree though on the aluminum front, seems better. And JB weld can fix in a pinch. I want the Afe power one, but none are in stock. The core is almost 2x the thickness.
 
And it begins.

To get to the radiator, I have to remove the intercooler, PS cooler, Trans cooler, AC con denser, Core support, then you can pull the rad. There is a lot of cooling stacked in there.

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Coolers out....
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Decided I am 3/4 of the way there, may as well do Waterpump, T stats, and all the idlers and tensioner.

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No cavitation in the WP, but it looks like the impellers rubbed a bit?

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Forgot one rubber flappy thing..... And it has to go on before the core support goes in.
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But its back together, with new parts. I did an oil change and threw the new front tires on while I was there. 30 bolts to torque on each side gets old!

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But I did four big passes, hit 221 degrees and nothing blew up.

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