I Upgraded My Magnuson Radix Heat Exchanger

[therock]

I have a 2005 Silverado with a Magnuson inter-cooled Radix 112. I have been trying heat exchanger upgrades and contacted MercRacing with my needs and he delivered with a larger triple pass unit that is well built and very versatile to adapt.
The unit has a high count fin core for excellent heat dissipation and coated end tanks and headers for durability and long life.

Mine is a first run non-vehicle specific prototype that was configured with four threaded mounting bosses on each side with a downward facing port on one end and a side facing port on the other. With this setup I was free to flip or rotate the heat exchanger in any orientation that suited my installation. The only preference MercRacing suggested was to flow inward to which ever port I had orientated on the bottom.

Another thing I like is I have room under it behind my bumper to mount the Radix heat exchanger in line with it if I want, and I probably will.

The installation adaptation was very easy only requiring me to fabricate two small plates to get the mounting points onto the Magnuson Radix rubber mounts. I used over sized nuts over the plate bolts and top bracket bolt to adjust the spacing outward to maintain the trans cooler clearance.

My test results:

Weather Conditions were within 3°F on each test. Humidity was high and in overcast conditions on both days.
Each run was made on following days so the conditions of a fresh start up from sitting over night and matching warm-up drives to the WOT run area I use.

• When doing matching WOT runs up to 115mph both HX’s matched the raised IAT increases at the end of the run of 30°F.
• The MercRacing HX recovered in 1 minute. The Radix HX took 1min 40 sec to recover. Almost a minute advantage. On each run I would let off in the same way and hit the cruise control @ 65mph and monitor the time and temps.
• At cruise well after recovering from a WOT the MercRacing HX IAT's fluctuated 5°F to 10°F cooler than the Radix HX, according to if one is going uphill or cracking the throttle plate a little more. It was also noticeably faster to recover from playing around.
• When idling in the driveway after returning from a run and letting it sit for 15 minutes with the fans doing their cycling the IAT temps were 5°F lower than the Radix = 115°F vs, MercRacing = 110°F. This is in heat soaked conditions.
• At the same time I placed a temp probe in my return reservoir tank and the MercRacing HX held 8°F cooler than the Radix. This idling test thing is a test or curiosity I have. The throttle plate is closed and the blower is bypassing the screws I know. I guess it’s a way of testing the cooling of the intercooler when no air is flowing through it?

The pump flow returning into the reservoir looked to be unchanged with a strong flow.

I am happy with the improved cruise temps and faster recovery capabilities and the option to add my Radix in the line instead of trashing it or standing it in .

[LongrangeLauber]

I wish I had money, time, and knowledge to put in either a blower or turbo setup lol

[therock]

If you did you wold not regret it. Back in 2005 I had a Kawasaki Prairie 650 4Wheeler that I was not using. I sold it for $5000.00 and that covered a turnkey Radix install by a Radix experienced installer. Then came the other stuff. I could have done it but a ASE certified installer is required for warranty reasons, and I did not want to venture in to the new territory.

[LongrangeLauber]

I have a prairie 360, too bad we didn't even get it for that much lol. Actually just did a carb rebuild and some other stuff getting it ready for winter

 

Sent from the side of the road...