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slowmover:
--> It's my opinion that many cooling techniques used on the tops of cars can do well on the bottoms of cars . . . . Or you could even just use metal mesh type holes. If you cover the bottom of your truck with a belly pan, I think you will be able to achieve the kind of cooling you need. You'll need to go with something heat resistant/something that doesn't get destroyed by heat over time. I've had lots of ideas about trucks and SUV's over the years, so maybe soon I can sit down and draw them out.
Thanks for addressing this. Yes, plenty of ideas from the world of Class 8, also, where hoods are modified to speed underhood air out (to accommodate smaller radiator openings).
Any thing you choose to add is welcomed by truck owners as they tend to be double duty (making some money, directly or indirectly, and doing personal service as well).
As to heat control on a turbocharged diesel, there are manifold blankets, turbocharger blankets and exhaust wrap to keep some heat problems within narrower confines, but airflow is the sine qua non. "Expanded metal" [mesh] has been mentioned before, but how effective it is as a bellypan material . . . ?
Oilpan4, I'm aware of water mist cooling. It has limits. At best a short duration solution (not dismissing it, just contextualizing it). SNOW PERFORMANCE has a line of products that their website describes for those interested. We used water misting on big block V8's in the 1960's and '70's for trailer towing in mountains and desert.
Further, with a grille block and/or winter front I can easily remove or modify the opening based on workload against conditions. A bellypan might be set up to do the same, but I don't think it would be as workable (one would want to leave it alone).
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