2005 Z71 radiator replacement recommendation

[Bocephous]

I just joined this forum a short while ago and left an intro in the introduction section. I'd like to replace the (as far as I know) original radiator in my '05 Z71 5.3L to prevent future problems. 242,000 miles on the motor and it runs great, but the Tahoe is our back-up vehicle, not a daily driver. The previous owner, a good friend, performed a lot of work on this as he had meant to keep it but plans changed. I'll provide a list of what he performed. What are your recommendations for a new radiator?

 

[Joseph Garcia]

The original (?) OEM radiator lasted for 242,000 miles, so why not replace it with the same radiator? You can get good reduced pricing at RockAuto.com and at GMPartsDirect.com.

 

[Marky Dissod]

The original (?) OEM radiator lasted for 242,000 miles, so why not replace it with the same radiator?

20 years ago, things were manufactured to a higher standard, especially for brand new vehicles.
I HOPE OE for a 20 year old vehicle still means what it did 20 years ago, but I am not an optimist.
When you are doing maintenance replacements, it's ok to upgrade, if the price is right.

While you're there, very seriously consider replacing the rear HVAC coolant Y & T connectors.
Even if you feel froggy enough to not replace them in advance, buy them now, &
keep them in the glovebox for when they do fail.

 

[strutaeng]

Welcome to the forum and beautiful and well cared for truck.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Did you get it figured out? I've had my eyes on this guy HERE for a LONG time. One of my buddies purchased a radiator from them for his square body build and likes it. Stupidly I just swapped in a factory radiator when mine went out and 50k miles later along with multiple upgrades since...

When I startup my truck and let it and warm up to temp I get the following temperatures.

Upper hose 178F
Lower hose 165F

I measured my friend's stock 2005 Z71 and the upper hose was a similar temp (178F) but the lower was like 115F. I'd say it's 20% humidity, 85F ambient, and 2500ft when I took measurements.

Maybe I'm maxing it out my radiator?


Backstory:
I did some cooling system upgrades HD GMT900 eFans and most recently I installed a 180F tstat. I have a new radiator as mine gave out around 225,000 miles (not sure if was original, seemed so but I'm not original owner of truck). I have a built 6.0L swap in my truck. I think they all came with the same radiator though?

 

[Montana _Tahoe]

Just recently My 04 Tahoe LT radiator decided to spring a leak at 215k. I replaced it with an OEM unit from AutoZone. I did the E-fan upgrade using an Escalade fan which does a great job.

 

[Bocephous]

Did you get it figured out? I've had my eyes on this guy HERE for a LONG time. One of my buddies purchased a radiator from them for his square body build and likes it. Stupidly I just swapped in a factory radiator when mine went out and 50k miles later along with multiple upgrades since...

When I startup my truck and let it and warm up to temp I get the following temperatures.

Upper hose 178F
Lower hose 165F

I measured my friend's stock 2005 Z71 and the upper hose was a similar temp (178F) but the lower was like 115F. I'd say it's 20% humidity, 85F ambient, and 2500ft when I took measurements.

Maybe I'm maxing it out my radiator?


Backstory:
I did some cooling system upgrades HD GMT900 eFans and most recently I installed a 180F tstat. I have a new radiator as mine gave out around 225,000 miles (not sure if was original, seemed so but I'm not original owner of truck). I have a built 6.0L swap in my truck. I think they all came with the same radiator though?

I ended up replacing it with one from Rockauto, I'm pretty sure. Being a backup vehicle, she only sees maybe 1000 miles a year.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Cool, yeah that'll work. Same thing I did. Mine works fine, no issues. I just modified my truck to point it's a little small for my use.