Thought I would throw this out there. Live in the south and the heat and humidity are relentless all summer. In town I expect the engine temps to fluctuate, but it never sat well with me on the interstate. I get it, aerodynamics etc. Still, I never thought it was doing the drivetrain any good at a steady 80mph, heating up and cooling down over and over.
I've owned the truck for a few years now and it's not had any problems, but I decided to finish paying it off and run her till she drops. Accordingly, making some changes for longevity seemed worth it.
Last month, middle of the worst heat, it's clear that she feels more peppy BEFORE she's run for a long time and the engine and trans are heat soaked. I looked at the mods on YouTube for the Active Grill Shutter delete and really didn't feel like drilling and buying some kit etc. One I found, the guy just took out 6 fins and left the Active Grill Shutter as is. He left the top 2, middle 2 and bottom 2 fins and there was just 6 fins left, top row, middle row and bottom row. So, the AGS system kept working as intended, but only operated 3 rows. Maybe it took me 30 minutes. Boosted Motorsports also has a grill removal video on YouTube, it was easy! The motor still runs those 3 rows of fins and no codes get thrown but now, like, 90% of the radiator is open all the time.
Here's what I DID NOT expect! I did not do it for any other reason than keeping the temperatures more evened out so it would hopefully lower stress and last longer. Now, even on those miserable hot humid days, the temps all stay lower. Highway at 70 or 80 mph and she runs at 199 - STEADY. It feels like it's got more pep ALL the time. She used to bounce between 7th and 8th gear on the highway, all the time. Now she just hops into 8th and stays. My average MPG was pretty much always in the 18 MPG area, now it's low 21 MPG.
I think some of these performance things people get, like the cold air intake, they buy it believing it'll bring more power. The engine sound changes a bit, so they think it has more power, when it doesn't. I didn't do this expecting any performance or fuel economy added, but I think the lower temps might help performance more than expected. If you're thinking about the mod, just do the FREE one and delete 6 fins. It's been a month now and it's not just a fluke... it's been a consistent improvement.