Desert Rigs: Ideas to help keep cool. Share

[SoCalMonty]

My issue wouldn't be money, more of space and getting 1 that only allows cooling when the oil hits a certain temp. Cooling cold oil does nothing!

Thermostatic sandwich plate for the oil cooler housing. You can grab those from a ton of different cars at the yard as well. Space? Well, they're small and they're remotely mounted. You can pretty much put it anywhere. On the front of the radiator stack is probably the most common.

 

[Xtreme XJ]

In the desert OVER cooling the oil is pretty hard to do... I used Perma Cool stuff for the Oil & Trans. admittedly tube & fin but it HAS to help... I couldn't find a stacked plate with a true 1" core...
The space between the grill & condenser is MINIMAL... tube & fin allowed an easier fitment of 7 X 14in. coolers... one for ea.
What is even harder is the filter remote location... where to put it so oil doesn't drain everywhere... where it is somewhat accessible and where it won't get damaged...

I made a mount off the rear of the A/C comp. Dr. side of the rad. overflow tank (on my 96) vertical somewhat above the distributor... tight with minimal spillage...

Good luck...

Curt

 

[88Xj]

In the desert OVER cooling the oil is pretty hard to do... I used Perma Cool stuff for the Oil & Trans. admittedly tube & fin but it HAS to help... I couldn't find a stacked plate with a true 1" core...
The space between the grill & condenser is MINIMAL... tube & fin allowed an easier fitment of 7 X 14in. coolers... one for ea.
What is even harder is the filter remote location... where to put it so oil doesn't drain everywhere... where it is somewhat accessible and where it won't get damaged...

I made a mount off the rear of the A/C comp. Dr. side of the rad. overflow tank (on my 96) vertical somewhat above the distributor... tight with minimal spillage...

Good luck...

Curt

Not over cooling in the desert, but my rig does go to Yellowstone in the winter which is my concern!

 

[Oman4x4]

I plan on using a combination of products / methods to reduce the heat on my build. First is the Lizard Skin thermal spray insulation and sound insulation - each applied at least 2x normal coats... maybe 3x if it's reasonable on the cost. This will be done not only on the floor and firewall but also the interior of the hard top.

The windows will be tinted with a UV-blocking clear film. Specifically blocks the heat but allows the visible light through. The down-side is that it also blocks the GPS signal so the solution will be to mount the GPS up high and let the signal go through the fiberglass top. Will be testing the performance of the GPS up high like that before actually getting the window tint done.

The hard top will be painted body colour rather than the typical flat black.

The hard top will get a head liner on the interior with a layer of insulation.

All done it should be very well insulated. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

[Dawgboy]

I'm using the really thick Reflectix type Double bubble in my van build out on the ceiling and the walls. The stuff is great. I will also be doing the Henry treatment too, and eventually a rack, for storage and for 220 watts of solar I already have. I wanted to mention another shade cloth product for use in camp and such, it's called Aluminet, and it's better than the black cloth as itlets a lot of light through, yet still blocks the uv and IR radiation. Here is my 14'x21' structure with my Kodiak and a minivan under it at Burning Man. It's my home base setup, and I use it out in Borrego a lot too. I also run a piece of canvas under it too . The Aluminet I run is 70% and the best part is that the breeze goes through it so it has held up well even in 50 mph winds in Baja.



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