I'm with you on this. I think that if there was any real benefit to opening them up, Jeep would have done so from the factory. Specially in regards to the Gladiator. They opened up the front grill for extra cooling but didn't touch the hood vents. Why is that?
There has been a lot of talk and testing in the hard core wheeling community and there really hasnt been a debate. Vented hoods keep things cooler.
Ok, here is the "Poor man's" version of open the venting!! I've had around 45 vehicles since 1970 and 98% have been Mopars. (Not all wonderful experiences, but most have been) I usually take the inside hood pad off every performance car including the Hellcat Charger I had. It's never affected the paint or anything else.
NICE! Can you cut out a slot in the front and back too?Ok, here is the "Poor man's" version of open the venting!! I've had around 45 vehicles since 1970 and 98% have been Mopars. (Not all wonderful experiences, but most have been) I usually take the inside hood pad off every performance car including the Hellcat Charger I had. It's never affected the paint or anything else.
I have to say that the JL underhood pad is rather brittle and started discoloring from water stains so removing it was part of my plan anyway.
Not wanting to get water in places that it wasn't meant to be (really no harm, I used to wash all my engines in the car wash) I simply took out the vents, made ovals in the sides where the mesh leans down, added a couple of pieces of plexiglass with pvc elbows and clear hose to the bottom of the rectangular hole they provide for drainage. If you look at the photos you'll see the sides opened, drain hose and guess what....the drain hose fits in the rubber seal which allows the water to drain right behind the rear fenders and not in the engine compartment!!!! Bottom line, believe it or not, coolant is running 5-6 degrees cooler than before, performance is the same and gas mileage hasn't changed. Total cost of parts: $2.49 for the elbows and $1.39 for the clear drainage tubes.
I just looked and yes, you could cut a slit in the front and the back being careful not to penetrate the top layer.
I just did mine in a similar fashion.. I didnt add a drain to it yet. I want to digest the setup a little more. I'm contemplating removing the whole or part of the bottom and fashioning a tray of sorts to get the water off to the side. I did this on my TJ and it came out amazing.
Go for it man! After checking with my brother (mopar engineer for 35 years..various depts.) I have confirmed that the pad is there for noise suppression it has nothing to do with insulation. It also serves as a drain pan for the vents. It gets very brittle and starts deteriorating after about 2 years.
It'll be a bit.
Good idea! I’ll remove mine too.
Nope Mr Video Maker, we definitely don't want to see the output in front. Just that they turn on.
Just completed this project on my JL. Really easy and it works, can feel heat pouring from the vents once parked. Thanks FUHL.I opened up the vents to let the heat out. Not particularly while driving but while slow moving or stopped.
I cut the vent in a way that the water will still drain as if there was no cutout, like from the factory. I drilled 3 1.75" holes in each vent directly under the solid portion of the top part of the vent. This will prevent rain from going directly down the drilled holes. I then 3-d printed small vent rings that sit higher in the vent to prevent drain water from going into the engine compartment.
The 6 1.75" holes equal about 12 square inches of vent area.
