Texas summer is here in near full-swing and I'm already having trouble keeping the Dakota comfy inside. Especially heavy traffic, I find myself running in a lower gear to keep the RPMs up so the air conditioner works a bit better. Works fine after it has a chance to catch up but heats up really quick when parked and holds that heat for a while.

My plan of attack:

Finally get the windows tinted.

Custom trim/fit a windshield sunshade and add maybe 3-5 velcro attachment points to keep it snug against the windshield.

Insulate the roof. Going Frost king the whole underside of the roof and use Foil bubble insulation on the bigger flatter areas. Already insulated the rest of the cab.



If these don't satisfy me, I might:

Get super light tint on the windshield (llumar Air Blue 80).

I have a Lincoln MK VIII electric fan sitting around. Might swap it in to get more airflow at lower engine speeds.

Install a turbo timer so I can bring my dog and leave her inside the truck for a couple minutes when necessary.

Truck is silver, really glad it isn't black right now. I already use the A/C setting effectively (fresh air at first, if need be, to flush the heat out, then recirculate after it cools down a bit) and crack the windows when parked. Any other great ideas I'm missing?

 

dont forget the most basic....

cabin filter. it affects AC efficiency more than ppl think

 

Our trucks have cabin filters? how do you access it?

LB

 

its under the dashboard on the passenger side. look down there u'll see it.

 

You'll be surprised on how much the tint will keep it cooler

 

How do you access the cabin filter? Is it in that cylinder shaped casing underneath? I see a phillips head screw in the center, and then a little further up it looks like its a cover being held on by 3 torx screws.

 

I attempted the roof today. Did a bit of dynamat first...but the Frost King won't stay up for very long, even with 3M spray adhesive and a clean surface. I'm going to finish it tomorrow with just the foil bubble wrap taped to the roof/dynamat.

 

have u actually preped the surface with some sand paper to give the adhesive something to grab to? if not try that, and gluing anything to metal is a pia

 

Nope, didn't sand it, just wiped/scrubbed a bit with acetone. The roof has adhesive stuck to it now, which I probably won't take time to remove to sand. Going to try one more time with the glue. Maybe it will stick to the glue that is already there...

A couple of pieces actually did stick really well. Can't figure out why.

 

Try a 5 minute expoxy. If you have some way to hold it up there while it dries, JB Weld is my new favorite epoxy, but it takes a couple hours to dry.