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How To: Relocate Radiator - Brute Force 750

108K views 205 replies 92 participants last post by  BikerDude5 
#1 ·
If you hit the mudholes a lot and over heat afterwards, relocating the radiator will save you the grief and possible engine damage from overheating on the trails.

Removing The Radiator
Start by removing both front tires. Then remove the screw on each side of the radiator shroud. There is one on each side. This is to make room to remove the radiator fan.



Now remove the 3 10mm bolts holding the fan on. Disconnect the drain tube and also the electrical connector.





Now that the fan is out go ahead and remove the upper and lower hoses from the radiator and let it drain into a bucket. Remove the lower one first. Loosen the radiator cap to help it drain.



Now it is time to remove the radiator from the chassis. The radiator is held in place by 2 8mm bolts on the top hear the end corners. Just lift up the shroud plastic a little bit and u can get a 1/4" ratchet with extension up there to remove them. Once they are out the radiator lifts out of the rubber grommets on the bottom. Pull these rubber grommets out. You can use them in the brackets you make.

Put the fan back on now. you will need it there so that you take that space it occupies into account when fabricating your brackets.





Fabricating the brackets

We made 2 simple brackets to hold the radiator on the rack. The brackets are held in place by 2 U-Bolts on each bracket. The setup is very study.

We chose 1½" x 1/8" flat bar steel. It comes in 3 foot lengths at lowes.
2 pieces are needed for this project. I bought 4 pieces so I made an extra set for BigP.



Each bracket was made in 2 pieces - a bottom piece and an upright.
For the bottom piece we started with a 12" piece of flat bar. We decided to build these brackets to hold teh radiator at a 50 degreen angle. I thought that looked best. Based on this your design may change.

On that flat bar we drilled a 5/8 inch hole to hold the rubber grommet the radiator sat in on the frame.



Once the holes were in place we measure off 2 inches on the drilled end and made a bend of approximately 40 degrees.



We then put the brackets on the rack and marked and drilled the holes for the u-bolts.



Once the bottom pieces were bolted on we set the radiator on to get 50 degrees slant. Once we had that I laid the back pieces up to figure how tall to make them.




The vertical pieces started out cut 11" with a bend 2" from the top at a approx 25 degree angle. We decided to use the same 8mm top bolts so a 7/32" hole was drilled then tapped with a 6mm x 1.0 tap.
(The curved marker line is marked where i decided to cut it off and round it)



The vertical pieces were then welded on.






The brackets were affixed to the racks with u-bolts and the radiator was put in place.











Making the Connections (hoses, vents, and fan connection)

Now that you have your radiator bolted into place now is a great time to hookup the fan. I found that you do not have to cut and extend the wires at all. i ran the connector from the fan down thru the shroud where the snorks exit. The connector was easily long enougn to reach its plug underneath. Also now is the time to hookup the fan vent thought it's likely not needed now.

You will need to remove the left side floorboard so that you can install the the lower radiator hose (3/4" I.D.).

Up above I decided to cut holes in the plastc rather than using the shroud. The bends the hose would have to make not to mention clearing the exhaust would have made the shroud a difficult entry point.












Once your hoses are connected back you now need to run the overflow tube. i had to go to lowes and buy 10ft. This was enough to run the tube from the radiator to the bottle as well as run the bottle vent all the way back up to the pod. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO DO if you take your bike deep..

This is what can happen if you dont extend the bottle vent!






Once you got everything hooked up it's time to fill up the radiator! Fill it up and run it with the cap off. Any air trapped in the system should work its way to the radiator. Keep filling up the radiator as the air bubbles are released.



Costs of Materials
4 pieces of steel - 24.00
10 ft vent tube (5/16")- 8.38
1 jug coolant - 10.00
13ft Radiator Hose (3/4 I.D.) - free

Total cost about 43 bucks
Time spent about 4 hours - we did not rush

There are many ways to do this project. This is the way we chose. i hope it helps someone out!
 
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#2 ·
Good job on the relocate and write up Steve!! This will help a lot of folks out.:rock-on:

PS.....Dont forget to send yourself a sticker :laugh2:
 
#5 ·
If you don't put your rad cap on until all the air is out (just fill it and leave it run at idle or slightly higher), it should not overheat. By putting the cap on you are causing an air lock in the system. Air from the system will naturally work to the highest point and by putting the cap on you are not letting it escape.
 
#6 ·
true dat.

Instructions modified.
 
#7 ·
thanks for the writeup will be using that in a couple of weeks. Will be relocating the radiator before the Marengo Swamp Ride.
 
#9 ·
From what i have seen of marengo on youtube a relocated radiator is a must!
Man yer gonna have a good time!
 
#8 ·
yes,that was another great how to only thing i did different was use 3/16" plate for the base. Easy and saved alot of money, Looks and works great:bigok:
 
#11 ·
thanks!
 
#12 ·
Great write up! Lots of people doing this now. Much needed upgrade for the Brutes!!!
 
#13 ·
Thanks. I did mine last night. Those two 8mm bolts were a pain. I have big hands and that took the longest to do.
 
#16 ·
Drilled the hole 9/32 and the 6mm tap is to small. Am I suppose to use a 8mm tap? The write up says to use a 6mm tap.
 
#18 ·
I will double check. I bet the drill bit size is wrong. I hollered across the shop asking what size it was while i was tapping the first hole and he was drilling the second one.
 
#19 ·
ok i double checked.
the bit is a 7/32 not 9/32. if u want to tap the 9/32 hole u drilled an 8mm tap fits that hole.

sorry for the typo. i corrected the information in the how-to.
 
#20 ·
No big deal. I used a number 9 drill bit. Then tap it out with 6mm. The write up is awsome and is a must for a brute.:mimbrules:
 
#21 ·
thank you, sir! :)
 
#22 ·
Phreebsd, this tutorial is simply beautiful and is now saved as a favorite on my comp...I cant wait to do mine now that it actually looks possible!
 
#23 ·
Excellent :)
We saw that noone had one of these writeups and decided to fill the gap.
I looked for one for a long while with no results.

Im glad this will help you. Take your time and you will be pleased in the end.
 
#24 ·
Ok, well got snorks done and now i'm ready to do my radiator. Only problem is that marengo is on this comming saturday, the 6th... 2 questions. For an 07 like mine, do you know if the front plastic have to be pulled?? Also, do you think that i could tackle this relocation and get it done given that i have only 5 days to complete it? Thanks!
 
#25 ·
I do not think that front plastic need be removed. With a little reaching u can remove the top radiator bolts.

You can complete this totally in 4 hours or less
 
#26 ·
I will be doing this SOON. The stuff we went thru last weekend was peanut butter! I rode with 2 other brutes and they had the rad on the rack.
 
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