I dont see any comment or guidance on the forum on seed protection of radiator. Clearly most radiator covers are a form of shadecloth.
Any advice ? Shadecloth comes from 1% protection to something like 80% protection. I assume the better the sun protection the less flow-through of air?
We will be visiting Botswana later this year, and south eastern Angola (after rainy season) early 2019. The guide we are joining on both trips recommends that we cover the radiator.
1. Which shadecloth?
2. Mount close to radiator or further away. Some people seem to wrap on the outside of the grill....
Having the shade cloth in front of the bumper leaves it vulnerable to thorn bushes. Whether this will be an issue depends on the type of trip.
I personally feel that under the conditions where grass seeds will be a problem, vehicle speed and engine load is likely to be fairly low, and thus a heavier shade net shouldn't be an issue. But that changes quickly if you have to tow somebody through deep sand...
On the other hand, there's absolutely no point in using something that is permeable to seeds. I reckon you need at least 70%, and ideally it should be relatively quick and easy to fit and remove...
On a trip to Drotskys caves I drove through long grass growing on the middle manetjie and could not believe how blocked my radiator became from the seeds. At the caves I cleaned the radiator as best as I could and fitted cheese cloth that I had, from under the bonnet down to the bumper to prevent further seeds. I experienced no overheating even though I left it on all the way into Namibia via the Dobe border post and only removed it at Roys Camp in Nam. Like Peter says, at the low speed one travels along these roads their is little strain on the engine even though the sand is quite deep in some places. I then noticed that seed nets for radiators are available at a lot of places but have always used the cheese cloth I had when needed
It can be very difficult – even with shade cloth – to keep grass seeds out of radiators. I have been there. Despite my best efforts to fit shade cloth and keep the grass seed out of the radiator, driving through miles of virgin veld (no roads) left me with a very blocked radiator. It didn't cause any major problems but in the end I had to have the radiator chemically cleaned. This wasn't on a Patrol but the principle is no different. Even the air filter was absolutely clogged with grass seed because it had entered through the snorkel head.
There is only so much you can do. If you're going to do serious grass driving, reconcile yourself to the fact that you're probably going to have to pull those radiators out at some point and have them properly cleaned.
........ and on a side note..... be careful of the hot exhaust on dry grass....... sheet can get real very fast and you don't want change your Patrol int a braai !!!!
I'd put the seed net to cover as much as possible, and like Clem said the seeds will get in anyway, but hopefully a lot less than without a net
The 40% shade cloth is what we always use - [ I use the "block" factor, some of you may refer to it as the 60% shade cloth]
This is what I've been using since 1997 ...
VERY NB to clean the underside regularly AND DO NOT PARK ON LONG GRASS WITH THE HOT EXHAUST .. knoe where th eexhozt is and put that over th eone spoor if you HAVE to stop in long grass
Don't bring God down to your level of faith ... bring your faith up to His level!
I bought one from Outdoor Warehouse 500X 800 and fitted it on for the Bots trip once we hit the dirt and never took it off till i got home. It worked 100% and fits like a glove
? Shadecloth comes from 1% protection to something like 80% protection. I assume the better the sun protection the less flow-through of air?
