My F150 isn't terribly hot, but it was very noisy before I installed Killmat and insulated foam on the firewall/transmission tunnel before installing my engine back in after a rebuild. It dropped the DBs by 9 in the cab. I would imagine that would be very helpful too in keeping heat off. The problem with wheeling is that everything gets hot because of how slow you are moving. I assume that it is not causing a heat problem on the highway, right?

 

I really don't use the Jeep for off-roading much, It's more of a commuter or toy if anything.

If the ambient temps are above 65 it gets noticeably uncomfortable in the cab. It doesn't matter if I'm on the highway, in the city, of offroad...

I don't drive the truck in the winter to keep the salt off it. Air Conditioning wasn't a priority since I often had the top or doors off. Last year i kept them on most of the time and got really annoyed by this problem. I installed a new Sanden compressor on the engine when i swapped it in plans to connect the AC and I've recently been collecting parts to complete that.

Issue is, there is so much damn heat radiating in to the cab that I honestly don't think the AC will make a significant improvement and it certainly won't solve the issue.

There's a lot more room under the hood on an F150, curious how close your downpipe is to the firewall. I'll look into the Killmat product as well, I'm really trying to prevent pulling the motor again to remedy this... Thanks...

 

I wrapped everything from the exhaust manifold, hx30's turbine housing, hot pipe, wh1c's exhaust housing and wh1c downpipe extending to the Pack Brake V-band,
it sits directly below the passengers feet. I used the braided header wrap and broke the sections into the above sections, after I secure the wrap with SS tie wire I
saturated it real well with the VHT clear paint to seal the whole thing and control those nasty glass spears. It is a uncomfortable PITA kinda job to do but it has done what I needed in keeping the heat where it's useful and out of engine compartment and cab...$.02
A Tyvek jumpsuit tape and gloves will keep the # of showers needed after to a minimum.

 

Did you do this work pre build or post build. If post build curious to know the level of improvement? Thank you Steve... I've looked for a turbo blanket to fit the HX30W but doesn't seem like any of them are wastegate friendly.

 

your custom crossover could be pulling heat over to the drivers side, I would only be guessing on how this is configured, does this exhaust pipe crossover in the engine bay or under the cab, trans? imo it's best to give all exhaust components plenty of air space and away from the drivers side... the cobra head exhaust elbow might give you some extra air space near the turbo downpipe and allowing you to install more insulation...

 

I too think the crossover exhaust is just allowing the exhaust heat to linger in the engine bay too long. My truck has a mid-mount turbo set up and it goes right into a 3" 90 aiming straight down the back on the passenger side. I have about 1.5" airgap between the firewall and the downpipe.

 

Two options, insulate the fire wall, front floor and drive train tunnel with high grade thermal barrier, or wrap your turbine if you can't find a cover, as for the down down pipe with good quality wrap. It is best too use high temp silicone spray as you wrap each layer of the down pipe, if you can remove the down pipe and coat with ceramic coating inside and out before wrapping.
The exhaust manifold can be wrapped or find a good quality thermal cover.

 

1.5in should give you enough to double wrap the downpipe and add some insulation to the firewall, you'll likely need to add heat barrier to the inside as well... underneath you could add aluminum plates at least 8in wide running over the top of your exhaust pipe, with a air gap, I have this before on one of my pickups, the aluminum sheet helps to keep heat from radiating to the cab sheet metal...

 

I’m looking for advice on the easiest and most economic fix...
I’ve even toyed with the idea of cutting the hood and installing louvers to direct air flow down from cowl across the front of the cab.

thanks for any input or suggestions guys...

Venting hood just after the radiator, will pull the heat up through the vent and off the cooling stack, this helps over the road. Keep in mind the area just after the radiator support the air flows up and out, about midway on your hood the air is pulled into the engine bay, there are plenty of Jeep sites that information on hood vent placement.
As for the down pipe being close to the firewall, thick ceramic coating inside and out should be your starting point.
The wrap follows the ceramic, by using the high temp silicone on the pipe as you wrap it and after you finish each layer.
Three (3) to four (4) layers of "lava rock wrap" is best, this way the heat goes through the pipe and does not radiate from it.
My wrap blocks all the heat radiating so much so, I can place my hand on the pipe always even after a hard run w/o any burns or discomfort.
In the end an exhaust manifold blanket my or may not be needed.

 

Digging up an old thread, but this may help others with the same issue. I can't say enough good things about using thermal insulation on the firewall and front part of the floor. The 4bt downpipe on my Durango was about 1/2" from the firewall but with good thermal insulation, the passenger firewall and floor barely got warm. I did have heat wrap on the downpipe as well. I hate the stuff because it shortens the life of the pipe, but it was necessary. That Durango was our daily driver, so heat would have been noticed if it was a problem.

 

Actually, heat wrap when installed as stated below, "will not shorten the life of the pipes".
Starting with "new or older pipes", requires the surface of the pipes too be clean and free of any oil and rust.
Ceramic coating, is used inside and outside of down pipe, as the first step.
Then thermal 1,200 degree heat rejection silicone coating is applied, to the down pipe, run the engine "to start the curing process of the silicone".
From here, one tight wrap of heat wrap, "soaking through and through with silicone after the wrap",
then repeat, the same process three or four more times, running the engine between each wrap and coating.
Finally when the wrap and silicone are finished, there should be no dry fibers whatsoever of wrap showing, if so coat with exhaust silicone coating some more, the curing process will happen while driving, "that should not allow any corrosion if applied this way".
Cheap low quality steel down pipes, should not be used, for this process.
In my case, I live in a salty environment, my stainless down pipe shows no corrosion, with this method.

 

When insulating fire walls and floors, they should be sealed from the environment, with a barrier coating like, Durabak which is UV and IR resistant.
Metal body plugs on the floor, can be removed and replaced with rubber stopper plugs, so water can be drained, from interior when needed.
If not sealed, and you play in the mud or water, sitting water will corrode the floor and other metal parts that stay wet.
Carpet is a no, no and "quality sealed" foam panels, with a commercial or military floor covering usually made of rubber makes drying up and cleaning up a breeze.