I went to the new radiator on my 99 and it dropped the temps about 20 degrees. Mine ran about the same as yours. The new rad and the old 502 rad is about 3/4" thicker than the old style. I picked mine up from Mountain Boss Hoss as it was a take off from a 502. I think I paid about 700.00 for the radiator and chrome fan. To me it was well worth the money.