Brothers truck parts 4 core aluminum radiator

[low1954]

Does anyone have any experience using brothers truck parts 4 core aluminum radiator. Looking at buying one, but thought I might see if anyone has any feed back on them. Going to put it in a 1972 Chevy k20 with a small block chevy 400.
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[leddzepp]

Find out who the manufacturer is, and go from there.

[Mike_The_Grad]

I bought a four row aluminum radiator from Brother's truck parts during last year's "Black Friday Sale". It was manufactured by "Champion Cooling" out of Lake Elsinore, CA. It's their "Monster Core" radiator 28" wide core, 4-5/8" rows, spaced 3/8" apart. Has internal transmission cooler. Drain petcock. 16lb. Rad. Cap. Billet fill neck with nipple for overflow tubing. "On Sale" for $360, with a 6 month back order timetable. I figured heck people must be buying these bad boys. So I did...lol. seemed like it would be a good surprise to me when it would just show up on my doorstep sometime in spring forgetting I ever even ordered it. Well, it showed up on my doorstep three days later. Big black box with big red lettering "monster core". I was stoked! Now to the review.... this radiator is advertised as a "drop in replacement, requiring little or no modification of the stock mounting location/brackets." Now, my 1972 c/10 with 350/th350 came with a heavy duty radiator but it was a 3 row. I don't have a/c. I was under the impression bigger was better and decided to go with the biggest. Meaning I ordered four row lower radiator mounts and four row upper hold down brackets along with the rubber saddles. Which I already had in my possession. (Forgot to mention these are reproduction parts.) So I set out swapping the radiators. First off I have to share that this radiator looks *****in right out of the box, fully tig welded, no epoxy, and nice and shiny. I also have stainless transmission cooler lines,(PITA to bend!) , so I drop in the radiator lower mounts look good, and thats when the problems started... upper brackets wouldn't line up properly with the end tanks, nor with my fan shroud mounting tabs, the transmission cooler connections are spaced a bit differently,(guess not such a big deal if you have o.e. material cooler lines.) Also the radiator sat at an angle leaning back towards the engine,not by much,but just enough for the upper brackets to be pretty much useless. After modifying the brackets and the fan shroud mounting I got it all hooked up. Burped the air out and off I was with a grin. Until about ten days later... I noticed coolant seeping from the passenger front and drivers rear where the top 5 rows were connected to each of the end tanks. And I could hear steam escaping after I shut down the engine. I wasn't sure if I had caused it to happen during installation or if it was a manufacturing defect. Either way it had to be fixed. Now here's a big tip for you if you decide to make the purchase. Pay attention to the fine print when ordering your particular radiator. One of the major selling points for me was that it was listed with a "Limited Lifetime" Warranty. I've noticed on the brothers website that they sell two identical radiators, one listed as "Brother's" aluminum radiator, and one listed "Champion Cooling" aluminum radiator. I don't remember seeing warranty anywhere in the "Brother's" description... I made one phone call to the guys over at Brother's and I have to say that I am completely satisfied with their customer service and responsiveness with my situation. They sent out UPS Two days later to pick up the radiator,(they said box it up in the original packaging, and leave it on the front porch.) About a week later I had another brand new 4 row radiator in a new box sitting on my front porch. Gotta love that right? So I installed it and about 2 months the go by and I notice coolant seeping from the driverside top of the connection where the rows connect to the tank...again.... this time I put some Alumaseal seal in it and been driving it like that since beginning of this year, the small leak comes and goes. I just can't afford to be without a ride for those 7-10 business days. When I'm able to I will send it back for another. Other than what I consider to be poor quality control, they sure do back it up with that warranty.
P.S. I haven't seen that same radiator at that same price since then... it's actually cheaper now at about $250. Compared to the $360 I bought it for.