Air to air intercooler install
03-25-2006, 08:08 PM
#1
Staging Lane
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Air to air intercooler install
My intercooler turned up a few weeks ago but I had been so busy, I just left it laying there. Anyway, I got tired of looking at it on the garage floor so this morning I decided today was the day for an install.
I had read many posts on the forums about IC installs, along with many questions from lots of members. I thought I would take some pics as I went along and post my progress. Hopefully it may help anyone who decides to do it themselves.
Just a quick note. This is how I chose to do my install. It is by no means the right way as I don't know what the right way is. I'm not an engineer but I just used some common sense and ended up happy with the install.
I had access to a friends workshop but I wanted to see if it can be done using basic tools that most people have at home.
I used a 4.5" angle grinder and a 18v dewalt sawzall to cut the chassis rails and the rest of the steel to shape. Had a variety of grinding discs with me to make the job easier. A straight shaft grinder or even an air die grinder would have been really useful but not essential. I did find myself swapping discs frequently to be able to cut/grind/cut/sand which was a pain, but no big deal. I had a drill, actually only a 18v dewalt but that did the job ok. Only needed to drill 4 holes.
I used a mig welder to do all the welds. The chassis is only 3mm thick so even a small mig would have been ok to use.
All up, I spent about 8 hours but realistically it was about 5 hours of work.
I bought the IC with the 24" wide core and it was too long to fit between the chassis rails. I sat it under the chassis and made some marks where the cuts needed to be made.
My chassis was a bit greasy and it was hard to see the lines I made so I sprayed some WD40 and started to wipe the grease of. Next thing I knew, there was bare steel. Do they even paint the chassis????
Cutting it was a bit awkward and took some time as I tried to be accurate. The 4.5" grinder isn't ideal for this job. It's difficult to get it in there but it's possible. I used the sawzall for some cuts too. Some final shaping and there it is. You only need to remove about 1/2" at the top of the chassis and 1.5" at the bottom.
I wasn't too concerned about cutting the chassis, after all, it is right at the front of the truck - it looks like it is there just to support the bumper bar and the tow hooks. But I felt it would be better to weld some steel back in there instead of just leaving the big holes. I got some square hollow tubing, cut it in half and put it into the chassis so I could draw the shape I required.
I cut it roughly to shape, then used the grinding wheel to do the final shape. Test fit & some more grinding................
One done, one to do
Then cut & shape the second side. Here are my "tools of the trade"
Here is a pic looking inside the chassis rail. It was easy to weld it from the inside along the front edge, top & bottom
Welds done on the outside too. I know the welds look a bit unsightly. I wish I had a light so I could see better. Anyway, got good penetration, they will clean up with a grinder.........make sure you disconnect the battery when mig welding on the truck and use wet rags to wrap anything flammable near the area you are welding
I had to cut some spacers to keep the IC down to clear the tranny cooler lines. I was going to make some lugs to support it but ended up drilling holes and mounting it from the factory rail.
In the second pic, you can see there is a bit of clearance between the IC and the chassis
I made some braces for the bottom too. They may have been unnecessary but only took half an hour to do. It is rock solid now. I decided to leave that plastic piece behind the IC in place. It needed the high parts of it cut of, so I removed it, screwed it to a piece of timber and ran it through a table saw, then bolted it back in place.
The IC sits high enough not to be visible from the sides and from the front, my "Denali Down Under Grille" hides it from view
So that's it. Hopefully some of you guys may find this useful.
I had read many posts on the forums about IC installs, along with many questions from lots of members. I thought I would take some pics as I went along and post my progress. Hopefully it may help anyone who decides to do it themselves.
Just a quick note. This is how I chose to do my install. It is by no means the right way as I don't know what the right way is. I'm not an engineer but I just used some common sense and ended up happy with the install.
I had access to a friends workshop but I wanted to see if it can be done using basic tools that most people have at home.
I used a 4.5" angle grinder and a 18v dewalt sawzall to cut the chassis rails and the rest of the steel to shape. Had a variety of grinding discs with me to make the job easier. A straight shaft grinder or even an air die grinder would have been really useful but not essential. I did find myself swapping discs frequently to be able to cut/grind/cut/sand which was a pain, but no big deal. I had a drill, actually only a 18v dewalt but that did the job ok. Only needed to drill 4 holes.
I used a mig welder to do all the welds. The chassis is only 3mm thick so even a small mig would have been ok to use.
All up, I spent about 8 hours but realistically it was about 5 hours of work.
I bought the IC with the 24" wide core and it was too long to fit between the chassis rails. I sat it under the chassis and made some marks where the cuts needed to be made.
My chassis was a bit greasy and it was hard to see the lines I made so I sprayed some WD40 and started to wipe the grease of. Next thing I knew, there was bare steel. Do they even paint the chassis????
Cutting it was a bit awkward and took some time as I tried to be accurate. The 4.5" grinder isn't ideal for this job. It's difficult to get it in there but it's possible. I used the sawzall for some cuts too. Some final shaping and there it is. You only need to remove about 1/2" at the top of the chassis and 1.5" at the bottom.
I wasn't too concerned about cutting the chassis, after all, it is right at the front of the truck - it looks like it is there just to support the bumper bar and the tow hooks. But I felt it would be better to weld some steel back in there instead of just leaving the big holes. I got some square hollow tubing, cut it in half and put it into the chassis so I could draw the shape I required.
I cut it roughly to shape, then used the grinding wheel to do the final shape. Test fit & some more grinding................
One done, one to do
Then cut & shape the second side. Here are my "tools of the trade"
Here is a pic looking inside the chassis rail. It was easy to weld it from the inside along the front edge, top & bottom
Welds done on the outside too. I know the welds look a bit unsightly. I wish I had a light so I could see better. Anyway, got good penetration, they will clean up with a grinder.........make sure you disconnect the battery when mig welding on the truck and use wet rags to wrap anything flammable near the area you are welding
I had to cut some spacers to keep the IC down to clear the tranny cooler lines. I was going to make some lugs to support it but ended up drilling holes and mounting it from the factory rail.
In the second pic, you can see there is a bit of clearance between the IC and the chassis
I made some braces for the bottom too. They may have been unnecessary but only took half an hour to do. It is rock solid now. I decided to leave that plastic piece behind the IC in place. It needed the high parts of it cut of, so I removed it, screwed it to a piece of timber and ran it through a table saw, then bolted it back in place.
The IC sits high enough not to be visible from the sides and from the front, my "Denali Down Under Grille" hides it from view
So that's it. Hopefully some of you guys may find this useful.
03-26-2006, 10:51 AM
#7
12 Second Truck Club
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Very nice 
Looks clean. Too bad you cant see if with the bumper on though. I miss that most about my system. Having people freak out when they see this huge intercooler through the lower valance lol
Looks clean. Too bad you cant see if with the bumper on though. I miss that most about my system. Having people freak out when they see this huge intercooler through the lower valance lol
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03-26-2006, 11:10 AM
#9
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Originally Posted by kbracing96
I really should give props to FL8 (actually Rick @ Synergy) as that's who I copied. 
.....But I won't... 
.....But I won't... I helped Rick damn you! I had to hand him tools while he worked on it and other really important stuff!
03-26-2006, 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by marenko
My chassis was a bit greasy and it was hard to see the lines I made so I sprayed some WD40 and started to wipe the grease of. Next thing I knew, there was bare steel. Do they even paint the chassis????
No. They dip it in hot wax or somthin, supposidly its a better rust deteriant than paint type coatings, and its cheaper too.