Front Mount Spare Tire and coolant or trans temp's

Not with the 2013 Mercedes Sprinter 3500. Sprinter Store front receiver hitch, Curt C31006 and LT215/85R16 tire on a Sprinter steel wheel. I think there is more than sufficient air flow from below.

I had a spare front mouted on 99 Ford 250, never had a heating problem even when driving in Death Valley. Was loaded with 9.5ft. truck camper.
Bill

A Tiger CX (19' C on a Silverado, Duramax/Allison) owner reported on another board a few years ago that when he took the front mounted spare off of his truck, the water temp didn't change, but the transmission temps dropped by 10 degrees F. I can't say how this would translate to a van cutaway.

Jim, "There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't escape."

When I added my Buckstop bumper with 4-6" lights in front of the grill, it made my trans temp almost 30F hotter than stock. A tire may not be so bad because it won't be as close. I ended up going to a larger cooler to compensate (Tru-Cool Max 40,000 GVW). Since then, I've upgraded to a Rigid LED bar to replace the round lights. Now it over-cools and I keep the grill insert in year round unless I'm towing heavy in the summer dessert heat. I've also carried motorcycles up front, and they did not affect trans temps like the lights did.

I ordered a Reese front mount receiver hitch from Amazon, should be here today. Going on my 2012 E-450 based Lexington. Figure it and the mount and tire/wheel will add around 150-175 lbs to the front where it's light to begin with. Also removing around 100 lbs from the far rear under-chassie where its not needed.
Not really worried about coolant temp but as for tranny temp, I'll keep an eye on it. Easy fix is a large additional aux. transmission cooler, which would probably be a good addition anyway.
Grumpy

I installed a front receiver on mine and did a very detailed write-up on the process: Front Hitch Install

trnfla wrote:
I installed a front receiver on mine and did a very detailed write-up on the process: Front Hitch Install

Good writeup! Like the pictures and the step by step hand holding. I am thinking about doing this. Is a 2" receiver available. I would not be using to to pull or push anything, that happens to be the size of the bike rack.

EDIT... I followed the web site. Found my answer. Again thanks.

It was late '02 or early '03 that I mounted ours. So I don't remember real well. I didn't take the bumper off but drilled a small hole a little ways into the end of the end of the bolts, and used a steel wire to guide the bolts to and through the holes.

Dusty