Mishimoto R&D: 2015+ F-150 / Raptor Aluminum Expansion Tank

Hey everybody,

My name is Steve and I work with Mishimoto Automotive. My job here is to share our R&D process with and gather feedback to help make our products a better value for our customers. If you're a member of one of the many other F-150 forums, you've likely seen our 2015+ F-150 Aluminum Expansion Tank, but, now that we're a part of FRF, we wanted to share our R&D here as well.

As many of you probably know, the stock expansion tank on the 2015+ F-150 and Raptor isn't the most attractive, and it's plastic construction could definitely be stronger. Our goal for this project was to create just the opposite: an attractive and strong expansion tank that suits the F-150 and Raptor's legendary reputation. Check out the first step in our R&D process below and let us know what you think!

-Steve

Modern society tends to view vanity as an unwanted trait. But, without a certain level of vanity, our lives would be dull, to say the least. People care about how something looks, whether we put a value on that appearance or not. We use our eyes to recognize danger and make critical decisions about our lives. The weight we naturally apply to our vision affects less important decisions, too. We choose our clothing, our food, our homes, largely based on how they look. If it weren’t for our natural vanity, nobody would care about Lamborghinis or Ferraris. We’d all drive brown Camrys, wearing brown shirts and brown pants on our way to our brown houses.

We surround ourselves with things that we like to look at, and those things say something about us, which is why the great divide between form and function in the automotive community has always been confusing to me. On one hand, there are enthusiasts who are obsessed with function and only function. It doesn’t matter how it looks as long as it works. On the other hand, there are those who only care about form. They don’t care that 10 degrees of wheel camber kills traction and wears tires in half a mile; it looks good (or something).


Whether either side wants to admit it or not, these two ideals often bleed together. To survive as a manufacturer of automotive parts, a business must cater to both groups. Hammering on beautiful lug nuts is not acceptable to even the most aesthetically focused customer, and a high-flowing exhaust with caked-on welds is not appealing to anyone.

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That's a nice looking piece.

Very nice, adds some bling and on my list, but rather low in the list.

mattrofact said:

That's a nice looking piece.

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pastorwug said:

Very nice, adds some bling and on my list, but rather low in the list.

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Thank you both!

-Steve

The tank looks good and would match well with aluminum intake and intercooler piping. Have you tested it on the higher output motor or only on the base 3.5? Not that I think there would be much difference but maybe additional heat from the higher output/boost of the motor.

757Nomad said:

The tank looks good and would match well with aluminum intake and intercooler piping. Have you tested it on the higher output motor or only on the base 3.5? Not that I think there would be much difference but maybe additional heat from the higher output/boost of the motor.

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Thanks! We've had a couple customers so far run these on modified trucks with larger turbos and have not heard of any issues. Are you concerned with the aluminum possibly transferring more heat into the coolant?

Thanks again,
-Steve

I can’t imagine there would be much difference in heat transfer between the aluminum and plastic. I was thinking higher intake temps from higher boost and the transfer into the cooling system. You guys consistently make good pieces so I’m not concerned. Just curious if you’ve tested on raptors/higher hp 3.5 motors.

757Nomad said:

I can’t imagine there would be much difference in heat transfer between the aluminum and plastic. I was thinking higher intake temps from higher boost and the transfer into the cooling system. You guys consistently make good pieces so I’m not concerned. Just curious if you’ve tested on raptors/higher hp 3.5 motors.

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Thank you! We didn't directly test this tank with a modified 3.5L, but like I said, we have several customers running these on pretty highly-modified 3.5L's and Raptors without issue

Thanks!

-Steve

Hey everybody,

Hope you all had a great New Year! I realized I forgot to share the second post in this development with you all. If you haven't already seen it, check it out below and let us know what you think!

-Steve

The last time we saw our 2015+ F-150, it was still equipped with the plastic bag of dinner rolls that is the stock expansion tank. Since then, we’ve been busy designing, prototyping, and sampling a stronger and better-looking expansion tank for all 2015+ F-150s. Before we dive into our tank and the progress we’ve made, let’s look back at the stock tank and some of its shortcomings.


The expansion tank equipped to the 2015+ F-150 is fine enough for the average driver who spends most of their time looking at the outside of the truck or sitting in the cabin. For the enthusiast who spends hours under the hood, however, it presents a few problems. The clear plastic construction makes it easy to see how much coolant is in the tank, but it’s not particularly attractive. If you’ve spent hours of your time washing the outside of your truck and detailing the interior, you probably want the engine bay to look just as good.

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