Regarding horsepower and getting more fuel mileage, remember we are trying to get more power to save fuel. So we already talked about how we can use a specific turbo to increase the airflow into the motor. This gives us the biggest power gain. Most of the other parts are complementary to the turbo making sure that it works how it needs to ie (the boost and pyro gauges).
But today's topic is the Charger Air Cooler, the giant panel in front of the radiator. Its purpose is to cool the air going into the motor being pushed by the turbo.
The Charger Air Cooler is another essential part of the performance package. Since we are increasing power and temperature ( an engine's biggest enemy), the best way to combat this is with an excellent cooling system. There are different kinds of intercoolers, the one we have found to work best in our application is the Duralight Evolution . In reality, most intercoolers are made of the same material the only thing that changes is how long they will last.
Word to the wise always check your Charger Air Cooler. We have found so many cracked at the shop. The only way to know if it leaking is to check it with a pressure test. With a special tool, we cap off both ends of the Charger Air Cooler and with an air compressor pressure test it to 30psi. And check to see if it holds the pressure. One crazy example is when we worked on a brand Peterbilt 389 brought straight from the dealer to get some power gains. After checking the intercooler, we found it Charger Air Cooler, a brand new truck. A leaking in Charger Air Cooler can cost you thousands of dollars in a year by making your turbo less efficient and making your engine work harder, burning more fuel.
Check your Charger Air Cooler with us!
So the moral of the story is check your Charger Air Cooler. We actually check them for free so you can pull them up and in 10 min we can tell you if it's leaking. Give us a call so we can have a bay ready for you to pull in.
Ok, so why do we recommend the Duralight evolution, as we increase horsepower the boost pressure will increase, right, so that means we need a Charger Air Cooler that will take that high pressure. And most will but not for a long time. The best example we have found is the duralight. So we tried to figure out why.
The majority of the cracks that we saw on the Charger Air Cooler are where the horizontal tubes connect with the vertical air inlet and outlet. Because trucks are exposed to constant vibration this is the weak point of most Charger Air Coolers. SO duralight found a way to fix this, they put rubber grommets right there in where these two pieces meet. These grommets absorb most of the vibration and we have seen them work for years. They have a 7-year warranty which is crazy. We have had a few we had to warranty. The process is pretty simple, come in and if the damage was not caused by something hitting it, we can just swap it.
So if you need a new Charger Air Cooler or have any questions about the cooling system give us a call. Next week I will talk about another cooling system, the radiator.
Edwin Matias
Co-Founder of Texas Truck Market
Thanks for reading, ask for me if you have any more questions 👍