If you’ve spent enough time around off-road rigs, you’ve probably fought overheating problems at some point. Rock crawlers, Ultra4 cars, rock bouncers, trail rigs, and LS swaps all put massive demands on cooling systems—especially during: hot summer trail rides, hard hill climbs, or slow-speed crawling.
At Wide Open Design, we’ve dealt with our fair share of overheating issues over the years, and through all of that testing we learned something important: Radiator size matters… but fan airflow matters even more. That realization is what led to the development of the WOD Radiator Combo Units.
Designed Around Real Off-Road Problems
Wide Open Design has been building radiator systems since the earliest production chassis days. Over time, we noticed:
- lower-quality radiator cores
- fan performance changes
- reduced airflow
- cooling systems that previously worked suddenly struggling
Instead of continuing to fight inconsistent quality, we decided to build a better system specifically for off-road use. The result became the WOD Dual Pass Radiator Combo Units. These systems combine:
- high-quality soldered radiator cores
- TIG welded aluminum tanks
- custom fan shrouds
- oversized SPAL fans
- off-road-friendly mounting systems
all designed specifically around what works in real-world off-road conditions.
Why the 15.5” Tall Design Works
One of the key features of the WOD radiator systems is the 15.5” tall radiator design. That shorter height provides several advantages:
- more suspension up-travel clearance
- lower mounting position
- cleaner chassis packaging
- improved rear visibility
- less interference with seat bars and chassis tubes
For front-mounted applications, it gives additional room for suspension movement. For rear-mounted buggy setups, it allows the radiator to sit lower in the chassis without sticking far above the rear cage.
SPAL Fans & Massive Airflow
Fan performance became one of the biggest focuses during development. Instead of running smaller fans, WOD designed these radiators around the largest SPAL fans possible.
The 31"x15.5"x3" radiator uses:
- dual 14” SPAL fans
- 1864 CFM each
- 3728 total CFM
The 27.5" x 15.5" x 3" radiator uses:
- dual 12” SPAL fans
- 1870 CFM each
- 3740 total CFM
That airflow increase made a massive improvement in cooling consistency across:
- LS engines
- LT engines
- high-horsepower off-road builds
especially in low-speed crawling situations where airflow becomes critical.
Clamp-Style Shroud Mount System
Another major improvement is the clamp-style shroud mounting system. Instead of drilling directly into the radiator core, the fan shrouds mount using external clamping points. This reduces stress on radiator cores, improves long-term durability, makes serviceability easier, and creates cleaner installation.
Final Thoughts
Cooling issues can ruin even the best off-road build. The WOD Radiator Combo Units were developed from years of real-world off-road testing to provide:
- better airflow
- improved reliability
- stronger construction
- easier mounting
- cleaner plumbing
- better cooling performance
These radiator combos were designed to solve the exact cooling problems off-roaders fight every day.
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