Beat the heat!

[GCncsuHD]

Well summer is almost here, and for those of us without AC and living in pretty humid areas it gets miserable.

So this is a thread to post your suggestions of how to keep cool in these old trucks. If there is already a related thread, please link it, I could not find anything.


My backstory, my 78 1 ton does not have AC,and has vinyl seats. I took it out for a cruise in on Saturday, and then to Church and out to eat Sunday. Saturday was fine, it was really humid, but I was in shorts and a t-shirt, and I didn't care how much I sweated, but Sunday I was sweating like a pig in long pants and a buttoned up shirt, with a back drenched from the vinyl seats. The wife usually doesn't complain much as she is very cold natured, but I guess with the additional little human in her belly she doesn't handle the heat as good as she used to. AC is in the plans, but it will be a few years out, so I'm looking to do little things to make it more tolerable.

• So far I tinted the windows in the truck, this helped to keep the seats from being scorching hot after parking in the sun, as long as you park with the untinted windshield away from the sun. This also keeps the sun off your neck while driving with the sun to your back.
  
• I also installed new rubber floors, but while they were out I added sound dampening material/insulation, and new carpet insulation. Now the floors don't get piping hot from the exhaust. This mostly helped with keeping groceries, drinks, etc from getting hot on the floor, but doesn't really help keep us any cooler.
  
• I will be recovering the bench seat with tweed, I'm hoping that will keep the wet sticky back under control.
  
• I'm thinking about installing a 12v fan or two on the dash to keep a breeze going when stopped or in traffic, there's already holes across the dash from radios and such from the truck's previous life as a fire truck. I've even considered taking it a step farther, getting the AC grilles and ducting, then hooking up something like an inline boat ventilation blower fan to plumb in fresh air. Then, a few years down the road when I do install AC, that part would be done.
  
• I currently have the roof with no headliner. I wonder how much, if any a headliner with some insulation above it would help?

Suggestions would be appreciated!

[77ChevySharkBite]

This might sound a little silly but if you have a functional cigarette lighter in your truck, I bought it a few years ago but it's a little fan that you can clip on to your dash or something it can grip. It is quite handy, it wont be cold chilling wind but it'll keep you cool. I actually bought it when me and my gf would go to the drive-in movie, your not allowed to keep your car running and well in Texas it's almost too hot always to just have your windows down. So that was my solution if I remember correctly it was only about $10-15, it definitely does it's job I would look into getting one of those maybe? That's the best suggestion I can give you.

Here's something similar to what I have at target, only thing different is that I have a cord so when my car is off it's off when my car is on, it's on. http://www.target.com/p/lasko-2-spee...m_1_5&term=fan

[Truck Guy99]

I was about to suggest the same with the fan.

I don't much care for the look, but a visor helps keep the cab cooler. If they aren't your style, you can also put a tint visor on it. Unless you've done tint before, HIRE IT DONE! Its well worth the investment.


You can also try putting in something to better insulate the roof along with the headliner to keep the cool air in, but it may also keep in the heat.
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[77ChevySharkBite]

I would also say if you didn't get it done already get what they call the "eye brow" done. It's sad to admit but with Texas heat every little thing you can do to keep the heat out helps more than you can believe.

[thirdstreettito]

Insulate the roof and put a headliner in. HUGE difference.

[Pork Chop]

I work on a paving crew. Have worked 14-16 hour days pretty regular. So anything is better than standing 6" above the asphalt on a hot August day
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[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by Pork Chop

I work on a paving crew. Have worked 14-16 hour days pretty regular. So anything is better than standing 6" above the asphalt on a hot August day
Posted via Mobile Device

I used to do residential HVAC work, working for hours in a cramped 140* attic, moving to a damp, cramped, spider and snake infested crawlspace was a welcome change... Now I do industrial HVAC design behind a computer in an AC'd office.

I didn't make this thread because I couldn't handle the heat, it's more of an inconvenience to be sweaty while driving for me than anything, but rather because I want to keep my pregnant wife comfortable, the 90* and 100% humidity conditions this weekend are only a taste of what is to come this summer.

77ChevySharkBite and Truck Guy99, I have been considering the fan, I am just trying to think up a clean way to mount it, clip on just won't cut it for me. I don't care for the look of the visor at all, nor the tinted strip on the windshield (at least anything beyond the AS1 line) although I have been considering a full windshield tint, in a light tint, something like 70%, or LLumar has an almost completely clear tint that is supposed to do well at blocking heat.

Thirdstreettito, thanks, I have been looking into adding a headliner, I just wasn't sure if it would make much of a difference.

Also, I have been considering adding a sliding back glass, but I don't like the double window versions, and I have had no luck finding a single sliding window.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

I added a headliner and can't say it made any diff. But it did look better and the suede was a nice touch
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[bigwheel15]

Not sure how much truth there is to this, but ive heard painting the roof white helps reflect heat and keep things a bit cooler inside.

[86c20]

sun visar. they work greak i didnt like them at all till my buddy put one on his 87 dump no lie it droped the cab temps a good 10-15*. now that i am doing mine little by little i am geting one for every truck and adding ac too. the humidity here is killer.

[Rich84]

I know everybody pulls them out, but I really think the sliding rear window helps alot.

[Shyguy]

I have a couple of the old 12v electric fans out of the big trucks that my Dad use to drive. I am going to mount one in the '67 and one in the '75. Also it will give the trucks a retro look.

I don't like the sliding back windows for trucks like my '67, but I probably will put one in the '75 since it is a truck that I will use more often to haul stuff. I had one in a black '88 Ranger and it helped a lot.

My '75 has the visor over the windshield and I kind of like the looks with the way the '75 is set-up.

[rs74]

Originally Posted by Rich84

I know everybody pulls them out, but I really think the sliding rear window helps alot.

I agree. I wouldn't be without one. My short bed has the power slider window and my others all have a regular slider. Even though the one piece rear glass looks alot cleaner, the sliders will provide airflow through the cab. You can control how much air and what side it blows on by adjusting the side windows and rear window.

[rs74]

I need to figure out why my 84 K30 still blows hot air when everything is off. You don't notice it as much when just driving around kind of slow but as soon as you jump on the highway or pickup some good speed then you feel the heat start to come out.

[wraprail]

Here is my suggestions,

Install A/C

Install headliner, cut hole in roof and install one of these.....http://www.turbokool.com/

Move to a cooler climate....!

Become a stay at home mom.

Stop complaining....Lots of us have it worst than you.
Yesterday was 113....next week...... 118

[vegadesign]

this is a fairly tough topic..
alot of this stuff will comprimise the look of your truck but yet it beats being misrable.
my 70 is my daily driver and all it has is rubber floors, leather bench, very dark tinted back window(almost cant see through unless inside), no ac(only mexican ac)lol, and no headliner but because the headliner in it is steel the is more than just the bodys steels so it insulates very well. absolutly no radiant heat from above.
when i cruise in 110 degree weather i have my window vents push all the way forward and the lower fotwell vents open to keep a good circulation.

i know every one thinks san diego has such great weather but its a lie lol
summer here blows!!
better off in the desert where the sweat just evaporates lol

[Shyguy]

Originally Posted by vegadesign

this is a fairly tough topic..
alot of this stuff will comprimise the look of your truck but yet it beats being misrable.
my 70 is my daily driver and all it has is rubber floors, leather bench, very dark tinted back window(almost cant see through unless inside), no ac(only mexican ac)lol, and no headliner but because the headliner in it is steel the is more than just the bodys steels so it insulates very well. absolutly no radiant heat from above.
when i cruise in 110 degree weather i have my window vents push all the way forward and the lower fotwell vents open to keep a good circulation.

i know every one thinks san diego has such great weather but its a lie lol
summer here blows!!
better off in the desert where the sweat just evaporates lol

I lived in San Diego for a couple of years in the late 1960's while in the military and yes it does get hot in the summer.

The summer heat did not bother me much back then since I was use to the 120 degree plus machinery spaces on the ships I was on.

I guess it was about 10 years ago in the summer we went back to San Diego to visit some friends and yep the heat bothered me then.

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by wraprail

Here is my suggestions,

Install A/C

Install headliner, cut hole in roof and install one of these.....http://www.turbokool.com/

Move to a cooler climate....!

Become a stay at home mom.

Stop complaining....Lots of us have it worst than you.
Yesterday was 113....next week...... 118

1. AC is in the plans, just not yet.
2. Won't do jack here in this humid climate but make it wetter and stickier inside.
3. Not an option.
4. Read again, that is why this issue was started.
5. Where did I complain? My pregnant wife complained.
6. Your arid climate, 113-feels like 100, here in the humidity 100 feels like 113. See # 2 again, evaporative cooling is a wonderful thing, if it was possible over here that is. In your climate sweat evaporates, cooling the body, here it sticks, insulating the body and making you hotter.

[Rubble]

The humidity is the big thing,I used my old trucks for daily drivers for 3-4 years now with no a/c,but we have fairly dry heat up here.Black truck,no a/c but slider & both windows down even +30 was not bad when moving.I would still rather have cold than too hot...-30 vs +30.You can dress for the cold,only take off so many clothes in the heat & nomex coveralls don't help!!
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[wraprail]

Originally Posted by GCncsuHD

1. AC is in the plans, just not yet.
2. Won't do jack here in this humid climate but make it wetter and stickier inside.
3. Not an option.
4. Read again, that is why this issue was started.
5. Where did I complain? My pregnant wife complained.
6. Your arid climate, 113-feels like 100, here in the humidity 100 feels like 113. See # 2 again, evaporative cooling is a wonderful thing, if it was possible over here that is. In your climate sweat evaporates, cooling the body, here it sticks, insulating the body and making you hotter.

Having never been where you live or in that kind of humid climate I should not have commented.
I bet it does suck pretty bad.
You are right about the desert heat is a dry heat. Our humidaty is usually around 8-10 percent. Nothing like you have there.

[Liz]

Originally Posted by GCncsuHD

1. AC is in the plans, just not yet.
2. Won't do jack here in this humid climate but make it wetter and stickier inside.
3. Not an option.
4. Read again, that is why this issue was started.
5. Where did I complain? My pregnant wife complained.
6. Your arid climate, 113-feels like 100, here in the humidity 100 feels like 113. See # 2 again, evaporative cooling is a wonderful thing, if it was possible over here that is. In your climate sweat evaporates, cooling the body, here it sticks, insulating the body and making you hotter.

Didn't know you guys were pregnant. Or maybe I did and didn't realize it being half the "goofs" seem to be expecting lately. Congrats! Hope you get it figured out soon. An unhappy, expecting wife is not so much fun.

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by Liz

An unhappy, expecting wife is not so much fun.

so true

it only gets to about 90ish for maybe 3 weeks a year here, but in my garage i used Reflectix ins. on my big door & skylights & it drops the temp 15 degees within minutes, it does work awesome


people have been putting it in their vehicles with outstanding results. not mine, web shot

when i'm putting a torch-on roof down, you get about a 130 degree heat bubble around you, when i come down off the roof i open both wing vents, roll all 4 windows down, & crack open the rear slider(no a/c).

[GCncsuHD]

Originally Posted by Liz

Didn't know you guys were pregnant. Or maybe I did and didn't realize it being half the "goofs" seem to be expecting lately. Congrats! Hope you get it figured out soon. An unhappy, expecting wife is not so much fun.

Thank you Liz! Yep there are a few of us expecting! Luckily this is not either of our daily drivers, so we are not forced to ride around without AC, but with this being "her truck" that she likes to take out on weekend drives, I'd like for it to at least be comfortable enough for her to do so until I have the time and money to install AC in it.

[rollin thunder]

Something that has always saved me was the combo of vent windows floor vents and that fan you plug into a cigarette lighter! The humidity where I lived in the ozarks is outrageous. I swear you could feel the air with it being around 100 all the time and humidity at like 90% talk about . One time I even spliced more cord onto the fan and put a suction cup on it and stuck it to the roof and aimed straight down my back. though that never compared to my chrome gear shifter on the column (3 in the tree) and chrome in the steering wheel. or the side pipes My truck was dangerous.