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As I said, you might want to give second thoughts to installing these if you are putting stress on your cooling system. I didn't say, don't do it if all you're doing is driving to Cars and Coffee events. But I will say that I took a trip driving a borrowed Suburban towing a trailored race car and the tow vehicle owner had installed extra grill screens on his Suburban, presumably for extra protection like what we are talking about here. The vehicle ran noticeably hotter than what I would have expected and I was glad that we didn't have any long uphill grades in thin air to negotiate.
Question; accepting your experience with the borrowed Suburban had you ever used that vehicle before either towing or not towing? Did you have any clue as to how it ran and cooled under ordinary driving? Are you aware if the Suburban was equipped with a tow package from GM? Do you know if it had any extra cooling or transmission cooling device(s) installed?
I do not dismiss that there can/will be some loss of airflow through the screens. I believe it will be minimal.
Don't worry about it, I've got 2,300 miles and all with screens. Car runs cooler than any car I have ever owned. Steady driving for hours it runs 176-182, anyone that thinks that's too hot, genuinely doesn't understand mechanics.
I ran 800 miles from delivery to home in December..... very low traffic and no bugs and stayed way back from traffic and had what I considered unreasonable damage for such a short trip.....so I did the grills and wrapped the back in vinyl mesh. I have another 1800 miles on the car and certainly a lot less damage. Unfortunately there is no way to get a good picture but I will try. No issues with overheating yet....but it just turned warm here. I had the same netting on my radiator on a 16 z and never overheated even in the track. I cant imagine if you do noting there wont be an issue down the road.
As far as gm engineering......I doubt they would do anything at all to protect the radiators after the overheating issues with the c7s.
ok took some pictures as I suspected you can’t see much with pictures but with the naked eye they look brand new..... here’s what I took. Lot of crap on the outside which did not make it to the radiators... I’ll see what happens when it starts cooking here in the south. But if I have no overheating issues I’m happy.
Here are the bare grills after the 800 mile trip home. I took a dental scraper to align the bent fins. A fin brush won’t work. Close up. Another close up Debries not on the fins
OK, I guess most of you haven't had over heating issues. Great! I think I said in my initial post that my concern would be if I was pushing the car really hard, not taking Interstate cruises. If most of your driving is to the corner drug store or to a mall, you probably don't need to be concerned.
The correct answer is - they will reduce the amount of potential damage, but not completely eliminate it. I believe any reduction in damage is better than no reduction, so I ordered them. Just waiting for a reasonably warm day to install them.
Update - I went ahead and installed the C8Grills.com screens. I’m not seeing any change in coolant temperature. Seems to be pretty the same temps I observed prior to installing the screens.
So for what it’s worth.....I had to redo my install today. I had used mesh behind the grills and used gorilla glue but one side gave way. I guess it works as hair spray but not so much in front of a radiator.
Anyway so far no engine temperature issues with the mesh. I’ve used it before wo issues will see. Ran the zip ties thru the mesh this time.
Here are a couple of pictures of the bare radiators.....I hit a few fins pulling out the grills.
Here’s what was on the mesh. Here’s the radiator after 3000 miles with the screens and mesh.
OK, I guess most of you haven't had over heating issues. Great! I think I said in my initial post that my concern would be if I was pushing the car really hard, not taking Interstate cruises. If most of your driving is to the corner drug store or to a mall, you probably don't need to be concerned.
Originally Posted by manecda
If the grill guards would cause overheating, wouldn't the Novistretch Front Bumper Mask cause more overheating? Just asking.
Good point re the Novistrech front mask. Had that and used occasionally on my two C7's. One was the long trip to the Z Max Drag strip in Charlotte 3 hours away. Took all back roads as it's a lot more fund. A ~50 miles run on a two lane twisty road though farms where you have to pass and occasional slow car. Often in 4th in my M7's. WOT when passing the few spots where it's safe. Coolant temp would increase but not where it was an issue
In addition, I live in a rural area 20 miles from town and take back roads with many stops and turns after stop signs. Little traffic and lots of fun. Hard braking and acceleration after making turns. Never more than 5th gear- never found a use for 6th and 7th was only used the few times I took an Interstate. Never in V4 mode. In fact I drive my C8 in Z MODE Power set to Track. Seldom uses more than 5th (won't shift to 6th until after ~72 mph) and never goes into V4. And already have had 95 degree days and expect will hit 100 a few days soon. Car runs cool. When driving aggressively oil temp will increase but have not seen coolant temp even close to being an issue with my Custom Car Grill mesh (that lets 77% of the air pass through per their specs.)
Now that said, a good friend's son worked as an engineer for Delco. He took cars to the SW desert to test AC systems. They put the cars though some tough very hot. dry environments. Doubt GM will "recommend" or install mesh screens. If Tracking in a hot Texas day, where temps are 100 F might expect and issue since you're at WOT a high % of the time. That is where you're using a lot of the 495 HP and rejecting a lot of the energy as heat to the coolant. Won't get to those levels driving aggressively in normal use!
I don't want to start another tread on what is the best, how to install or what best shapes of a grill guard. I want to know if your grill guard really is stopping the bent fins on the evaporator on the front of the car? Does anyone have pictures before guards installed and after install with a few thousand miles?
Good idea, I pick mine up from Museum next week, I will take before and after shot since I will need to drive back to Michigan. Still undecided which ones to buy or make.
Surprised you feel that way. Windshield replacement is BIG business in Arizona. My sister’s Insurance company (AAA) gives them 3 free windshield replacements a year because the problem is so bad. I drive to AZ once a month and the damage I have received on I-8 & I-10 has been an issue. Screens are cheap insurance that won’t help protect against big rocks but will help with the smaller stuff.
Good points but are you “**** retentive” enough to seriously expound on the question? LOL🧐
Don't worry about it, I've got 2,300 miles and all with screens. Car runs cooler than any car I have ever owned. Steady driving for hours it runs 176-182, anyone that thinks that's too hot, genuinely doesn't understand mechanics.
Picked mine up 12/1/20 in Bowling Green and now have over 12,000 miles of combination Interstate and back country roads many of which have been subject to “infrastructure” construction ( and I don’t mean social improvement ). No over heating issues in spite of 2 trips through the Deep South and FL. All miles beyond 3,000 driven with mesh screens installed. Look nice too🙂
As someone in a previous entry said, "GM is notorious for leaving the finishing of their cars to the buys". Maybe screens after enough aftermarket items are produced.
Last edited by SamTheSham; Jun 2, 2021 at 07:43 AM.
