Just curious if anyone has successfully installed a new SakeBomb Garage Smart Cooler dual oil cooler system? I personally purchased a Smart Cooler dual 25 row Setrab Competition Core kit which I have my setup completely sorted out but I used my own brackets and re-did the lines completely. I could not figure out how to get the included brackets and lines to work and would like to see the kit as it comes from SBG properly installed to see where I went wrong. Chances are I would have had to redo most if not all of the lines and brackets regardless since I am using dual Setrab fan kits and a dual fan controller but I did try to get the kit mocked up before adding these item to the equation.

 

My buddy installed them on my NA 4rotor FD. He doesn't get into it a whole lot of detail but it's in one of his videos. Search for Rad Potential on YouTube.

I could also get you in contact with him if you sent me your number via PM.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I did find one video that kind of showed them but there were definitely no lines run yet. Main take away was the oil coolers were mounted upside down! The one picture I got form SakeBomb had them orientated with the Smart Cooler on the top and the brackets that come with the kit definitely give space for the Smart Coolers. Mounting them upside down would definitely solve a ton of issues if the brackets are meant for this. Wish I would have given it a try but I am happy with how mine turned out.

If anyone has installed this kit with all the parts that comes with the kit, please post. Would love to see how it was supposed to come together.

 

I just ordered the exact kit from sakebomb 2 weeks ago. I'm still waiting on the order but once I receive it, I'll be installing it and I'll post pictures here.

Are the directions not clear on the kit? Also how long did the kit take to arrive after you purchased it?

 

No instructions at all for the kit yet. Atleast not when I recieved mine. I did get some help from SBG in regards to the brackets but no response back at all in regards to the lines/routing. After reaching out a few times I decided to do my own thing. I'll post some pictures of how my installation turned out.

I can also post the picture I recieved from SBG on how the supplied brackets and oil coolers are supposed to be mounted if your interested.

 

Yes, please post the pictures here, I'm sure future forum members will benefit from it. Also Full Detail Automotive made a replacement kit for the OEM oil lines. I'm assuming Sakebomb's kit routes the same way. Here's the link to the Full Detail Automotive kit, he goes over how to route his kit:
I might combine the 2 kits, depending on which one fits better but Full Detail Automotive's kit is very nice. It was well thought out.

 

Here is how my install turned out. Again, I am using a Setrab fan kits on each oil cooler and a dual fan controller which requires a temp sensor to be plumed in but I did try to install the kit as it came from SBG without any of these extra parts without success.

All in all, the Smart Coolers are very cool. Extremely flexible. Since I re-did all the lines and fittings, I found that using Setrab M22 O-Ring to AN adapters with normal AN fittings on the hose to be much easier to work with then the M22 O-Ring AN fittings.

Front view both coolers


Pass front


Pass top


Pass Side


Driver Side front


Driver Top


Driver Side

 

This is the one photo I received from SBG on how the bracket and oil cooler is supposed to be mounted.

 

None of the pictures are loading for me, could you try again?

 

Humm, they should work. I'll attached them rather the embed them.

Pass side top


Pass side front


Front both coolers


Driver side view


Driver top


Driver front


Pass side view

 

Here is the picture I received form SBG

 

Cool product, and nice-looking car based on what I can see of it. Mind showing your engine bay? I like what you did with your wiring?

 

Here is the newest pic I have. I have changed to a LS3 DBW which allowed me to add a strut bar back since this pic was taken.

 

Holy hell

 

My thought exactly!

 

Damn fam, that's a big *** turbo.

This is how sakebomb routed their old kit so your routing is correct because on their website they have this under "Available Configurations":
"SBG Race -> 'Smart Cooler' Kit - Upgrade kit to convert a previous SBG Oil Cooler Kit to 'Smart Cooler' setup (eliminating existing H-pattern thermostat)"


After seeing how the routing goes, I'll be going with FDAUTO's soft lines. I personally don't like how it crosses through the front bumper. I'll still post pictures here once I'm done but I'm still waiting on Sakebomb to send my order.

 

So why would you want 2 thermostatically independent coolers rather than the usual dual series cooler with single thermostat? (other than simpler lines)
Will there be any difference in restriction to flow and oil pressure? Differences in reaching and maintaining operating temps? Differences in heat rejection and cooling performance?

The usual setup the thermostat is right at the front cover, cold oil gets bypassed directly to the oil filter. As it warms up, hot oil goes through 2x coolers, back to the thermostat and to the oil filter.
Since the hot and cold side of the thermostat are connected by the bypass the amount of oil flow through the coolers or bypassed finds a balance and changes continuously depending on engine and ambient temps.
First cooler will usually be hotter than the second (in series).

The factory dual and now SBG new setup has the oil when cold reach the first cooler then getting bypassed to the second cooler then bypassed to the oil filter.
As it warms up the first cooler will get hot oil but the second may still get bypassed. As it warms up further so that the oil exiting the first cooler is still above thermostat temp then the second cooler will see hot oil.
Like the single thermostat series system, there's a balance reached that continuously fluctuates and the first cooler will run hotter than the second.
So to me, this only adds a second thermostat that could fail but there's some simplification of the lines. What am I missing?

 

Gets rid of large temperature fluctuations, stabilizes temperature, won’t have big swings between hot and cold, and like you said it has less lines or one less thing that needs to be bolted down in the engine bay​​​​​​ since the thermostat is on board.

Right now I’m running a parallel setup which is the best out of the two

Independent Flow Path, Oil flows separately through each cooler, ensuring consistent cooling efficiency without sequential restrictions. Optimal Distribution, Evenly distributes oil flow to each cooler, maximizing heat dissipation across all components. Finally, redundancy, which provides a backup in case one oil cooler malfunctions, enhancing reliability during critical operations.



The only reason why I’m switching to the OEM+ or smart cooler setup is because I’m running a Greddy vmount and routing a parallel setup would be a pain in the *** to fit. I’m not tracking my car so smart cooler it is.

 

I have the 19 row coolers. I mounted the coolers with the Smart Cooler bodies on the bottom and reused the OEM dual oil cooler lines without using any additional AN lines. Mounting directly to the OEM lines required the position of the coolers to be slightly different than where the SakeBomb brackets place them. I designed some sheet metal brackets and had fabworks.com make them from 1/8" aluminum. The yellow parts in the photos are 3D printed prototype mounts. I needed to slightly trim the bumper rebar and and one of the mounting tabs on each of the oil coolers, but besides that everything fit great. This was with a 93 bumper. I like this solution as it reduces the number of lines and fittings and therefore potential points of failure.

 

Very cool! The disappointing aspect is you had to do something custom outside the parameters of what come with the kit, just like my experience. My car being super modified, not being able to using any stock components at all. Your car being much closer to stock and wanting to use stock components.

 

Great job!

Did you use Sakebomb's adapter fittings for the OEM hardlines? It looks like you might have used four male adapter fittings, two for each thermostat, or did you reuse the old fittings from the OEM oil cooler? It's unfortunate their brackets don't work well with the OEM hardlines. I was planning to use the hardlines, but soft lines seem easier to install.

Also, do you think the 25-row would work with the OEM hardlines? I might go your route but it's hard to decide.

 

For my setup, the fittings that screwed into the Smart Coolers are from the OEM coolers. None of the SakeBomb fittings were used. With the vertical mounting the 19-row coolers are all that will fit. The Smart Coolers nearly touch the undertray and the top of the oil coolers are almost touching the turn signal assemblies.

 

You mean a horizonal setup like you have pictured? That's unfortunate because I really wanted to use the 25 row with OEM lines.

Also is there a way we can order the same brackets designed by you from that website? What was the order number?

 

This is great—my one criticism with all current oil cooler kits is that the fittings are at the top, which has to impact oil drainage and potentially dirt collection in the cooler. Mine is the old CWR kit (the original after market one) and while the hanging fittings pose more of a packaging challenge around brake ducts and such, I like it for the aforementioned reason, as well as the fact that they can be installed/removed or leaky fittings seen/replaced much more easily and without removing the bumper.

 

To fit the 25 row coolers I believe the SakeBomb mounts tilt the coolers back at the top such that they take up about the same vertical space as the 19 row coolers. The OEM oil cooler lines have a rubber section, but it is quite stiff. I'm not sure it would allow for the tilt.

I've attached the CAD files for the brackets I designed. Just upload them fabworks.com and select 0.125" Aluminum 5052-H32 for the material type. These brackets mount the inner upper and inner lower corners of the coolers. My setup used the SakeBomb bracket for the upper outer corner. Since fabworks.com has a minimum order amount of $39 and with these parts being pretty small and simple you can pretty much order 2 sets for price of one. Coupon code FRC2910 also always gets you another 5% off.

The fabworks order should look something like this for 2 cars worth of brackets.