You can check out the RadiatorBarn.com also...I got my 34" radiator there for around $250ish shipped

 

Do the Flex-a-lite fans fit both the 29" and the 34" radiator? Do the 05 and newer stock e-fans work better?

 

The flex-a-lites only fit the 34" radiatiors. Flex-a-lites have had numerous VSC issues. Permacool makes them for both sizes IIRC, but they are much more expensive.

LS1 fans or recently the '05+ GM efans are probably the best bet anymore.

 

What is VSC?

 

Its a pile of ****.

VSC=FlexALites crappy fan controller.

 

Flex-a-lite makes a model for each radiator.
282 for the 34"
292 for the 27"

As long as you use an alternate method for the VSC, then it doesn't matter, IMO. But the '05 fans will only fit the 34" radiator.

 

Damn, I forgot that they started making the smaller version a while back. Thanks for catching that.

 

I did mine in the winter but there is no reason why it should be a problem unless you do heavy towing or are doing endourance racing or some sort.

The smaller 5.3 rad was designed to cool the engine when it is making enough power to tow 9000lbs.
a 6.0 and a 4.8 cruising down the highway in the similar trucks will be making about the same amount of power at the engine. This means its going to need about the same amount of cooling.
The silverado/sierra also hasa huge grille man, dont sweat it. I've done some powertrain cooling work with GM (H3, CTS, CTS-V, STS, SRX, STS-V and some protytpes that havn't made it/wont make it). I wouldn't be worried about it. They are pretty good about the radiator being the right size.

It also takes a lot to throw off a radiator. As it stands, they are "oversized" and this is why you have a thermostat. Also, saving you the physics of it all- the amount of cooling a radiator does increases with the heat of the coolant. So the hotter it gets, the more heat a radiator take cool off the coolant.

I did some simulation work (not on silverados) and found that increasing radiator size has a sloooow effect on cooling the coolant further. The amount of heat the radiator sheds to the air increases as the difference in temp between the coolant and air increases. This should be intuitive. The first 1/4 of the radiator does about 2/3 of the cooling. the last 1/4 does almost nothing IIRC.

Someone can do the math or i'll do it tonight- but unless that coolant is getting VERY hot, you're not going to have a problem. With a mechanical fan and assuming no heavy towing above the 5.3's tow rating- this will only happen at low engine RPM, low speeds and high loads.


Unless you tow a lot, dont worry about it.

Oversized sucks anyway. Makes for longer warm up temps.

Also, if you dont need it- oil coolers can significanly hurt engnie life. cold oil can be just as bad as hot oil (to an extent). Without oil boiling off condensation, spun bearings and oil/water build ups are easy to come by.

 

i have two of them for sale 175.00 shipped