Bought my first diesel this fall and have a question about the grill cover. Is it needed? In Wisconsin we need the front plate exposed. I will not be plowing with it but would like to remove the lower portion and just cover the grill. the instructions say to cover the bumper opening in heavy snow. Unfortunatley we do not get that here anymore. Also it says to remove it every time you wash the truck. If I did that I would have to constantly remove the front plate for both situations. I have seen deisels with and without the cover in winter. What is the reason for it and do I really need it?

 

umm WTF are you talking about?

you have your license plate on your grille instead of your bumper?!

and I don't know anyone that removes their grille to wash their trucks...

as for winter fronts for the grilles it just clips on to the grille to block airflow across the radiator for faster winter warmup times.. no need to block the bumper too. and its not required to do it in winter...it just reduces the time it takes to warm the vehicle up...

for example without a winter front, my truck takes 9-10 miles of driving in mid 30* weather to reach full operating temperature. winter fronts should cut that in 1/2.

 

You have to remeber that the average winter temps in Wisconsin are lower than the typical low temps in Renton. It falls below 0 degrees consistantly in Wisconsin.

Now over here in Oregon the record low for my area is +13 degrees and that only happens once every 5 years. I just use a block heater and am up to temp in about 1-2 miles.

 

No it's not "needed", but as said, it does have a use. Less airflow over the radiator equates to a quicker warm up. Same happens sticking a piece of cardboard between the intercooler and radiator

 

cardboard between the intercooler and radiator is a VERY BAD idea....

you can easily cause an overheat doing that, and you might as well delete the intercooler because you are blocking off flow from that too...

cardboard clipped to the back of the grill would be a better idea so air can still flow through the intercooler and radiator if it needs to as the fan can pull around it.

 

I disagree...

You're assuming complete blockage

The Mopar 3rd gen cover goes under hood, right in front of the intercooler, along the lines of this: http://www.genosgarage.com/DODGE-RAM...R%5FFR%5F0309/

Now, if you close the flap, you more or less have the same thing as cardboard. So since I've never actually done the cardboard on either of my diesels (my 84 crew cab gasser has to have one in the winter, and even then the thing hardly starts) I went and put a piece of cardboard in between the intercooler and radiator and drove yesterday and today; yesterday was 40 (I expected it much cooler) and it never once got hot, nor was there an increase in EGT's. Trans temp was up slightly. Had I known it would have been 40 I certainly wouldn't have put it in there. Today is cooler; again, no increase in temps.

Truck does warm up noticeably quicker, that's for sure. So...$80 or free cardboard, I'll use the free cardboard myself if I keep using it. I'll continue testing it over this week and into next, to see the overall effect; always have wondered about the cover but never done it myself.

 

I'm saying a better method (even if it is cardboard) would be to ziptie it to the back of your grille so the intercooler and radiator are not blocked. should still warm up faster than normal, but be able to pull air through rapidly if it needs to for towing and what not.

cardboard is also a bad idea where I live though because of rain...it rains here pretty much daily during the winter.

so my idea for my truck is to take an old mud flap I have and cut it to fit behind the grille and zip tie it in place. should do the trick, and not get soggy when it gets wet which it will most definitely get wet in this area...

 

Rain? What's that? We don't get that haha. I agree, it's not ideal, one of the reasons I've never done it. Figured I'd try it out; I have maybe 2 inches exposed at the top and probably 3 or so at the bottom, so it is getting air. Today I opened her up and it did move up to right at 200, then right back down, so in the event towing was needed, I wouldn't recommend it.

It's coming out tonight since I'm going on a highway trip tomorrow, just don't feel good about blocking it off that long.

 

sound like you need to sell your crew cab to someone that will take better care of it. i have started my 81 gasser when it was -25*C but it felt like -30*C with the wind and it was a bit slow turning over but fired right. no ugly grille cover here. no block heater used.

 

Sorry , should have clarrified I purchased a 2012 Laramie 2500 Megacab.

The plate is bolted on the bumper. This style of cover not only blocks the grill but it also drops down to cover the bumper opening (snaps to the lower valance connectors). It covers the entire front of the truck. You can cut the stiching to remove the lower portion of the grill cover if you have a plow on the front.

I decided to remove the lower portion and just cover the grill. I do have a block heater on it but figure it sits all day on the job sites it cant hurt. Cover also has 4 velcro flaps that can be opend if it gets too warm.

Thanks for the info, its been helpfull.