Anyone have an aux. tranny cooler? I plan to do some towing with this truck, around 4000-5000# and so I had the dealer install a tranny cooler. They subbed the work out to another shop that installed and aftermarket one and 3 weeks later its leaking. Dodge doesn't make a factory cooler so is one even really needed?

 

well number one killer of trannys is heat, so id say the cooler the better.

 

I installed a B&M cooler a few years ago, no problems to report.

Won't be home for a few days, otherwise I'd do a write-up.

 

I installed an external cooler tha I bought from NAPA, as soon as I bought my truck.

A little back story:
I bought my truck with a blown tranny, that was caused by the radiator mounted tranny cooler cracking, and then exchanging fluids between the tranny and the engine (coolant). When I replaced the rad, I didn't use the radiator mounted tranny cooler, and opted for an external, to avoid the same problem on the future. I'm told this same rad failure is pretty common.

I'll post a picture or two later when I'm back at my PC.

 

I installed a tranny cooler from autozone. 15min install, no cmplaints

Here you see mine, in between the radiator and IC:
IMAG0582.jpg

 

I went to a u-pull yard and snagged a factory cooler from a 2nd or 3rd gen ram. Used some old furniture corner braces to mount it in front of my rad. Used my double-flare tool to put flares on the pipe ends that I will use to plumb it. Not done the plumbing yet - it's -20 out there now, I don't need a colder tranny!







I have since trimmed the mounts with a die-grinder to make it look "factory" so my neighbour says.

 

B&M Supercooler, Model 70264. Includes low-pressure drop feature with two bypass channels nearest the fittings to allow fluid to flow freely, especially when cold. 14,400 BTU.

Drilled mounting holes into the radiator header frame and cross-member, cut anodized aluminum strapping and L-bracket to fit:




Plumbing like so. I didn't have to cut anything, just undid the quick-connect line coming from the radiator to the trans, pressed the hose coming from the aux cooler over the existing male quick-connect tube, and hose-clamped it. The line from the radiator to the aux cooler used a male quick-connect to hose-barb fitting, with hose clamp to secure. The line from the trans to the radiator was left alone. (Also, it might not be noticed at first, but I have two rubberized cable clamps like these bolted together, end to end, to keep the lines secured):





Two more of the cable clamps bolted end-to-end to secure the hoses. Here, they are through-bolted to the A/C condenser core support using the existing mounting bolt:










It's been about two years since I did the job, no problems at all. Before installation, after a while of stop-and-go traffic in a typical South Florida summer, the shifts became very firm...I'm guessing it was a transmission program for when the fluid was nearing an upper limit to keep it from getting any hotter. But since installation the shifts stay smooth, which tells me the fluid is staying at a more comfortable temp for the transmission.

For $60-70 plus hardware, it's probably one of the best investments you can make to ensure longevity for your truck.

 

Nice install. I didn't want to go too big on a cooler as it would cool off too much in the winter, was -35C here last week but that bypass is a neat feature.

 

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X2 awesome write up erau.