Hesco HD radiator alternative

First off if this is in the wrong forum mods are welcome to move it.. I'm a mgr at the local Carquest and saturdays are to say the least boring!! I'm planning a MAJOR project on my 01 next year, lift, tires, steering, bumpers etc. I was searching Hesco's website for a HD upgrade for my radiator. they list the CSF2573 for 279.00 probably a good quality part no doubt. Buti'm all about trying to save money for the next upgrade. I'll get to the point. I have several catalogs for radiators, most have interchanges, so after about 20 minutes of plugging in numbers I found out that Ready-Rad who is a large manufacturer of radiators makes the same radiator hesco offers for less than half the cost 140.00 plus tax for walk-in price! part number 432335. Now We happen to stock this radiator, i pulled it outta the box and upon close inspection it has a CSF number on the rad but has plastic tanks? The catalog shows the measurments to be nearly exact.

link to hesco
http://www.hescosc.com/shop.asp?action=details&inventoryID=47924&catId=9388]

link to Ready-Rad offered by summit...
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PLI-432335/?image=large

after shipping from summit it would be the same price to walk in the store and buy it. Even with plastic tanks i can buy the rad from Carquest and afford to buy the high flow water pump and t-stat housing from hesco and still save a little bit. sorry for the long post just had alot to explain. If this helps someone else then great!eace:

i would go with the heatbuster extreme duty model from completeradiators.com instead, its a larger-than-stock 2-row all metal unit

don't waste your money on plastic end tanks again

sorry, i can't comment on your original post however.....i can just make a suggestion

Glad its not just us, NAPA in CA here :cheers:

Ive always heard good things about CSF 3 rows.

i was just kinda shocked to see that our radiator had csf right on it... LOL i figure at MY employee cost just barely over 100.00 bucks, if they last 2 years even thats 3 radiators that i could buy before matching the cost of the hesco

radiatorbarn.com. last year i got a three core all metal radiator for dirt cheap shipped.

Is there a particular problem that you're trying to solve or are you looking for a new radiator "just because" ?


Fred

I know plastic tanks get a bad rep....but the guys at www.alumrad.com have a pretty awesome one - with plastic tanks - and I've NEVER heard anything bad about it.

I think the guys at www.ffdynamics.com use an aluminum radiator too. I keep reading that aluminum is the way to go, over copper/brass.

StealthXJ said:

Is there a particular problem that you're trying to solve or are you looking for a new radiator "just because" ?


Fred

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absolutely no problems at all.. i was gonna do stroker as a winter project, using hesco high flow water pump, t-stat housing, electric fan, and hood vents. i want to be able to keep this thing as cool as possible. just tring to get my ducks in a row for next years project.

dont get their tstat housing. its a joke. i bought one thinking it was a complete new machined housing, but its the stock cast one they machined a little. you could do it with a dremel. i was pissed. 30 bucks when a stock one is 9. no change in coolant temps either.

ahh thanks for the heads up!! i was aware that it was machined but it looked like they cut a bit more extensively!

steed76 said:

ahh thanks for the heads up!! i was aware that it was machined but it looked like they cut a bit more extensively!

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I have the high flow Tstat housing, it looks to me to be more than something I could do with a dremel. I have no regrets buying it and my jeep stays cool in the desert heat.