Having an all aluminum intercooler made...

BlackSkyRacing · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:17 am

I hate the idea of plastic tanks on an intercooler, so since my wife smacked a deer I decided to send her intercooler off to a company I normally work with for my diesel performance shop for full size trucks... Long and the short of it, the owner was glad to let me send the banged up stock cooler to him to reproduce.

He immediately saw room for improvement by stepping up to a 2.25" thick core (vs 1.25" stock) since the crimps on the tank are wider then that yet and there will be plenty of room allowed for said expansion. This will also increase the tank volume a bit, but boost delay should be offset by the freer flow of the bar and plate core.

Even with this being a one off production, he figures we can get this beast made for less then the dealer price of $720. I know Mopar direct has them listed for ~$500, but I'd much rather see TIG welded aluminum tanks go back in. Plus my insurance company adjusted for the $720 dealer price anyway

He will be making a jig to speed turn around time on any future productions. I will let you guys know how well it fits when it gets here. Let me know if there is any interest in adding one of these to your rig, I'm sure we can get a good deal if he makes 5 or more at a time

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:22 am

I don't "need" one right now but sure would be interested in pricing.

striperman36 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:40 am

the area identified as taking the most abuse, the area just by the intake hose is made of aluminum and over time cracks due to repeated expansion contraction.
What can a welded intercooler do to reduce that fatigue?

BlackSkyRacing · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:06 pm

striperman36 wrote:

the area identified as taking the most abuse, the area just by the intake hose is made of aluminum and over time cracks due to repeated expansion contraction.
What can a welded intercooler do to reduce that fatigue?

Unless they changed that after 2006 the tanks are 100% plastic with a crimped edge and rubber seal... Either way, I'm sure his tanks are of higher quality and thickness; the man builds intercoolers to handle 150psi of boost that our competition trucks can see. My personal (daily driven) truck abuses them with 80psi of boost being thrown in the mix a few times a week (people get froggy at the lights sometimes). He isn't building this unit any less strong than he normally builds one, so I'm not too worried.

striperman36 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 2:53 pm

if it lasts longer than 100K I'd look at it, I'm not going to go to Stage II

ChooChooman74 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 4:36 pm

striperman36 wrote:

if it lasts longer than 100K I'd look at it, I'm not going to go to Stage II

Get me a price and info! Diesel world did a segment a intercooler upgrades and it got me thinking... And this may be the answer. I didn't know where to turn for custom intercoolers.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

CATCRD · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:36 pm

This would be really cool. Last time I had an intercooler off I JB welded the leak, which is holding fine, but I remember looking at the end tanks with all the special mounting tabs and thinking what a nightmare this would be to custom-make in all aluminum. I'm glad he's willing to give it a shot and hope it works out. I would be in the market for one if mine sprung a leak.

audiboy86 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:47 pm

I am in on one if you can make it fit and if doesn't cause to much extra lag because of the larger capacity.

Glend · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:58 pm

I would be interested too. If you can get a weight for it I can calculate the international shipping.

Hoosier CRD · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:39 pm

I'm most interested in this project and am eager to see how it turns out.

My guess is that the new all-aluminum CAC will fit in the stock location without any mods to things around it, eh?

LIBERTYinLIBERTY · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:16 pm

I'm interested....
:SOMBRERO:

ChooChooman74 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:26 pm

When you receive and install it, full writeup with photos would be appreciated.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

BlackSkyRacing · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:45 am

CATCRD wrote:

This would be really cool. Last time I had an intercooler off I JB welded the leak, which is holding fine, but I remember looking at the end tanks with all the special mounting tabs and thinking what a nightmare this would be to custom-make in all aluminum. I'm glad he's willing to give it a shot and hope it works out. I would be in the market for one if mine sprung a leak.

The only tricky mounts will be the J-hook deals towards the bottom for the A/C condenser. Otherwise, he figured the rest are pretty straight forward. As to the question of fitment, that was the idea of sending him the mostly whole (just one hole punctured from the deer hit) intercooler. That way he has exact measurements to be sure it fits, I told him the packaging was pretty tight around it, and that it needs to be as close as possible to those dimensions. The suggestion of a writeup is a good one, I had planned upon doing one and will certainly make a point to do so.

kjjet · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 1:40 am

My intercooler was leaking all around the plastic sides. I sealed it by applying aircraft fuel tank sealant around all where the plastic and aluminum are crimped. The sealant will stay flexable for years. A all aluminum replacement would be great although it may outlast the engine.

Lancer · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 5:22 am

That sounds interesting - as Glend said - I'd like to know the price and weight.

dirtmover · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:09 am

kjjet wrote:

A all aluminum replacement would be great although it may outlast the engine.

For sure on a 6 year old vehicle but this is what should have been in the original design :roll:

.

Hey, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth buying Samco CAC hoses based on the fact that they'll probably outlast the engine :-)r

dennhop · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:39 am

BlackSkyRacing wrote:

I hate the idea of plastic tanks on an intercooler, so since my wife smacked a deer I decided to send her intercooler off to a company I normally work with for my diesel performance shop for full size trucks... Long and the short of it, the owner was glad to let me send the banged up stock cooler to him to reproduce.

He immediately saw room for improvement by stepping up to a 2.25" thick core (vs 1.25" stock) since the crimps on the tank are wider then that yet and there will be plenty of room allowed for said expansion. This will also increase the tank volume a bit, but boost delay should be offset by the freer flow of the bar and plate core.

Even with this being a one off production, he figures we can get this beast made for less then the dealer price of $720. I know Mopar direct has them listed for ~$500, but I'd much rather see TIG welded aluminum tanks go back in. Plus my insurance company adjusted for the $720 dealer price anyway

He will be making a jig to speed turn around time on any future productions. I will let you guys know how well it fits when it gets here. Let me know if there is any interest in adding one of these to your rig, I'm sure we can get a good deal if he makes 5 or more at a time

You wouldn't happen to be talking about Garret Shields at Pure Diesel Power, would you?

spitfire36o · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:08 am

BlackSkyRacing wrote:

He immediately saw room for improvement by stepping up to a 2.25" thick core (vs 1.25" stock) since the crimps on the tank are wider then that yet and there will be plenty of room allowed for said expansion.

Do you know the overall size of the stock unit? Did you look into "universal" aluminum intercoolers sold for custom turbo builds?

BlackSkyRacing · **Posted:** Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:28 am

dennhop wrote:

You wouldn't happen to be talking about Garret Shields at Pure Diesel Power, would you?

I do deal with Garrett on a regular basis, but not on this type of stuff. His water to air coolers are top notch and are ridiculously low priced as a wholesale client.

The stock tanks are shaped in such a way due to a couple brackets around the headlights that I doubt a universal piece would fit without serious modification. Plus the inlet and outlet are different sizes and the packaging of the CAC hoses leaves little room to deviate from their original path.

But if you want to know, the factory core is 20"W x 20"L x 1.25"T

cevans · **Joined:** Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:48 pm **Posts:** 278

We have a close relationship with a fantastic fabrication shop and access to vendors who wholesale intercooler cores (good ones, not Chinese ebay). If this works out we can probably get a batch of them made for everyone else too.

Having an all aluminum intercooler made...

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