Is this a radiator relocation bracket?

[GregBelleville]

I was inspecting my body mounts today trying to identify cause of an annoying creaking sound I get over rough surfaces. I was underneath and noticed this crack in the fan shroud due to contact with the fan. I'd estimate a gap from the shroud to the fan of less than a ¼", while at the top I've got 3 fingers.

I just replaced my motor mounts which must have raised my engine enough to start making contact with the shroud. The other morning I braked hard for a red light which caused a loud vibration which now makes sense.

I started looking at the fan shroud and radiator more closely and noticed these brackets that the radiator is mounted to. Are these brackets stock or are these some sort of means to lower the radiator for some reason?

It seems like I either need to raise the radiator by eliminating those brackets or lower the fan shroud, but which is the right way to go, any advice is appreciated.

 

[Gilaguy23]

Do you have a body lift?

 

[GregBelleville]

Do you have a body lift?

Yes, it's got a 2" body lift the PO put on it.

 

[Gilaguy23]

There ya have it. In theory the shroud works best centered over the radiator core so it draws air from over the entire core surface area. Dropping the shroud alone maybe be a bigger PITA than lowering the rad/shroud with new brackets. That being said I personally would get a piece of band iron material from any local hardward store and make slightly longer brackets. But....I dont like/have a BL's and you need to make sure you have clearance everywhere to lower them both. Not to go off the rails but with your lift are you having vibes? Is the T case lowered or do you have a SYE?. If you have the T case lowering kit you could take it out and consider a MML which should get you back in the ball park fand wise and help ground clearance and vibes. Just sayin but thats a S load to ponder for a simple fan issue.

 

[GregBelleville]

There ya have it. In theory the shroud works best centered over the radiator core so it draws air from over the entire core surface area. Dropping the shroud alone maybe be a bigger PITA than lowering the rad/shroud with new brackets. That being said I personally would get a piece of band iron material from any local hardward store and make slightly longer brackets. But....I dont like/have a BL's and you need to make sure you have clearance everywhere to lower them both. Not to go off the rails but with your lift are you having vibes? Is the T case lowered or do you have a SYE?. If you have the T case lowering kit you could take it out and consider a MML which should get you back in the ball park fand wise and help ground clearance and vibes. Just sayin but thats a S load to ponder for a simple fan issue.

You're suggesting adding something like this to further drop both the radiator and shroud together?

Whatever solution I come up with is going to be a temporary one until I am ready to redo the suspension and drop the body lift down to maybe 1¼".

 

[Frank M]

1” motor mount lift or lower the shroud. I think the hanger strap material is too flimsy.

 

[GregBelleville]

1” motor mount lift or lower the shroud. I think the hanger strap material is too flimsy.

I'll look into the 1" MML blocks. Does a MML generally require any adjustments with shift linkage or the shifter for the trans?

 

[GregBelleville]

1” motor mount lift or lower the shroud. I think the hanger strap material is too flimsy.

Ordered. Went with these.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Ordered. Went with these.

View attachment 553313

I have that same motor mount lift. The only issue I had with it was they sent the wrong size bolts and I didn’t check them when I got it. Some time later when I went to install it late one evening I found out they were incorrect. Had to wait until the next day to run up to the hardware store and get two correct sized bolts. They included two M8 bolts instead of two M10’s.

 

[GregBelleville]

I have that same motor mount lift. The only issue I had with it was they sent the wrong size bolts and I didn’t check them when I got it. Some time later when I went to install it late one evening I found out they were incorrect. Had to wait until the next day to run up to the hardware store and get two correct sized bolts. They included two M8 bolts instead of two M10’s.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

 

[Frank M]

I'll look into the 1" MML blocks. Does a MML generally require any adjustments with shift linkage or the shifter for the trans?

I didn’t have any issues with the shifter for the transmission and have a cable linkage for the transfer case.