I have a 1999 dodge durango 4x4 with the 5.2 It has the transmission cooler built inside the radiator and an auxillary transmission cooler that bolts to the front of the radiator. I drove it about 150 miles to wrightsville beach towing a trailer, but when I got there the radiator had a big crack in the plastic by the upper radiator hose... So I replaced it. Test drove it, got 2 miles down the road and saw blue smoke from the hood so I pulled over and popped the hood and there was transmission fluid everywere! Drove it back 2 miles and there was blue smoke rolling out the back!!!
I took it all back apart and somehow during the install the auxilary transmission cooler got a big crack in it by were the line connects.
I went to every auto parts store and nobody has the tranny cooler I need. They could only special order the radiator with the built and tranny cooler and auxillary tranny cooler as one, so I returened the originaly radiator that I had just bought and special ordered the right one. 2 days later they shipped the wrong dang part!! ( this is what I deeded) http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-99-Durang...c0b2bc&vxp=mtr

Finally I just bought a radiator with only the transmission cooler built inside the radiator, and installed that with the existing transmission lines without the auxilary tranny cooler added 4 quarts of atf +4 and drove it home with no problem.

I had went to a junkyard looking for a tranny cooler and I found a D just like mine except a 98 and It did not have the aux tranny cooler just the one inside the rad thats what gave me the idea to bypass it.

I also called a dodge dealership and talked to somebody about it and he had never seen one with an auxillary tranny cooler and thought that it was a universal one but I know that it has to be a factory one the way that it was set up. He wanted me to take it in so he could see for himself but i would have had to tow it there.

Now should I order a new radiator with built in cooler and the auxuillary transmission cooler, and return the one i have on the D now, well i dont even have the box anymore. OR Install a universal transmission cooler and possibly have to eliminate the cooler in the radiator. OR leave it the hell alone and say the tranny cooler built the rad in is enough for a truck with 252,000 miles? But I need it to last.

 

Wrightville beach huh... you trailering a boat or two with it? If you are, I would start looking into getting another aux cooler. I know how hot it can get there, and depending on the size you are pulling, you may need it! If you arent pulling that much, might just want to stick with the stock for now to see how it handles.

Side note: you might have bought a tinker toy from a marine up the road, no telling what they might have done to it out of sheer boredom!

 

Not towing any boats just a little trailer, not even as wide as the D and not even as long as it. Dont know the dimentions.. On the way down there I had a little coffee table and 2 end tables, and 5 people, and on the way back I had 4 chairs and a treadmill. and had a bunch of stuff in the trunk and 5 people in the car. I could deffinently tell that the D struggled a little more to get going and took a little more to stop it. Thats about the only time this thing has towed anything in about 2 years.

If I could find were to buy JUST the factory auxilary tranny cooler that would be AWESOME! Wink Wink. If you got a good one let me know. Thanks.

 

Not that i think this is what you had, but impressive none the less and right about what you were talking about...
http://image.4wheeloffroad.com/f/310...ion_cooler.jpg

 

Ive seen that, I think thats what im going to go with, a universal one, but I dont think I need 2 lol
The only thing I need to figure out is which tranny line is the feed and which line is the return? Could I just unhook them and stick the lines in a bucket and have someone crank it up and see which one is shooting out fluid?

I talked to a transmission mechanic, I just need to get a small simple pipe cutter, cut the metal part of the feed line, flare both ends of it and hook up the cooler lines, fasten it securely and WALA. Shouldnt take too long. and that way i get to keep the cooler inside the radiator.

Wait now that I think about it does it even matter if it is the return or the feed?

 

I have always seen them connected to the top line on the radiator... if it where me i would order one of the universal kits, hook it up and call it a day.

 

Ok, now that ive been thinking about it I think I will hook up the tranny cooler to the return line back to the tranny so that the fluid can run through the radiators cooler and then get even cooler when it runs through the universal one because I dont think the transmission fluid would be any cooler that what the coolant in the radiator is and would be pointless to run it to the feed line if the radiators already really freakin hot. You feel me?

 

wish we had a picture of your origional setup bc from what you are saying it does not sound like the factory setup, the trans cooler was only on tow package Ds and they called it an auxillary cooler iirc, never seen a dual cooler setup come out of the factory.

 

That's how its routed though the factory setup. The bottom line is the return line i guess alot of people that install the aftermarket ones use the feed line because it is easier to get to idk but, it does make since to let the radiator cooling do its work first.

 

Just increase the foot print of your current Transmission cooling coil then add low profile electric fans to it.