ctcost

This thing works flawlessly. Don't know the GRVW. Lost the cooler on the radiator, went to ebay and found this in an 18 incher...Will save my new $3500 tranny from trouble!!! Really does seem to work great and it will hide right under the valance...There is also a dual pass one. Mounted in about an hour.

midiwall

wow... ummm... what happens if you bump a rock, or need to get a tug from the front end? It seems kinda exposed for off-road play. Cool idea, I just woulda' mounted it somewhere "safer".

Jimmeh

I saw a picture of a car that had the License plate screwed to the actual intercooler. Dumbass...

There really is no other area to mount an intercooler is there?

ctcost

Can't. It won't fit anywhere else (18" by about 3.5" width) and get good airflow. The valance will just have to cover it., or make a small box but I really am not too worried about it. Seems pretty secure and safe. Guess if for some reason it ever did I would pull over, call AAA and buy another...All I know is after driving it around it works well.

Lol on the intercooler license mount!

gonzo

I agree. I wouldn't want it out there. Go park at the mall. I'll bet ya one of those "back-up till you hit something people" will find it. lol
Good luck

Gonzo

snap-on

mmmm look at the shiny rock detector...

ctcost

Shiny rock detector like the bumpers, fenders, headlights, grille, valance...Well if ya don't like it, don't do it. Merely presented for your approval, or disproval. Works for me.

regularguy412

Seems like it would work just as well mounted parallell to the frame as it does perpendicular to it, as long as there was good air flow around it. In my view, every fluid-holding / fluid-carrying member needs some kind of protection when mounted on an off-road vehicle, no matter if it's mounted underneath or on front / rear.

Keep us posted on how it's doing.

Mike in AR

timw.

where did you get that tranny cooler? What kind is it? How much?

Schooler

What if it was mounted on the roof? That would be something to talk about.

ctcost

Yeah baja bug style like the old days.

I don't even know the brand. Just goto ebay and search transmission coolers for the 18 inch model. Then go get some 3/8 inch hose, clamps and zip ties. Overall it took about 45 minutes and it really is pretty protected. Really a pretty good cooler as it's finned inside as well, solid aluminum.

If you were really all that worried you can always carry an extra 2 foot piece of hose to bypass. After that girl hit me (another thread) and rebuilding my front end, all I can say is it doesn't even bug me to have it there and, after I get the bull bar (promise to myself to protect the front of my vehicle in case of another person deciding to pull into my lane) and valance on it will be even more protected as well as still gettiing good airflow.

Will do on the posting regularguy.

Tacoma Dude

I've heard that the tube/fin type of cooler wasn't the best to get?


Reference point #3 in this thread:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f16/extending-automatic-transmission-life-27318/

Not telling you that it's good or bad, don't get me mistaken but that *is* the tube/fin type, right?

ctcost

I didn't see that thread before buying. but I wanted one where I didn't have to take off the new grille I installed and had enough surface area to do the job...So far it seems to be covering both areas just fine. Yup it's the fin/tube type.

Hmmm didn't think about it before and should have, I have a two wheel drive truck. Mine sees light offroading but no big rock climbing etc. Thing about tranny coolers I found out after some research is they come in different sizes for different applications, I think the gross towing capability on these cars was like 3500 (will have to look inside my door again)...That was the one thing I could not find out was the GRVW on this cooler but assumed (correctly it seems) that it would handle the vehicle weight plus anything I wanted to tow within the designed towing limits. I would say that is I were goi ng across country in the summer, especially through say, Death Valley, I would not be even meeting the designed towing weight as it just gets too hot out there. But for normal, every day applications/light to medium offroad this thing seems to be just fine.

They do make a dual pass one as well but not sure that would increase the efficiency rating too much.

WATRD

You are correct. They are not very efficient are easily beaten in cooling capacity by smaller stacked plate coolers.

I would love to see the before and after temps with this set up.

I would also add 12 quarts or so of good tranny fluid to your "2 foot piece of hose to bypass". By the time you notice the cooler has been compromised, and mounted there, it will happen eventually, much of your fluid is likely to be laying on the ground.

It seems like this was more work than it was worth.

ctcost

Updates forthcoming...

And meh...It only took 45 minutes or so. Don't make it more than it is.

Red3.slow

I've seen those on horse power TV I think they mounted it to a muscle car on the bottom side of the frame rail. I think on the inside would be the safest for off road.

ctcost

Yeah thought about that but it actually seemed like it was closer to rocks and road debris. This thing will be just fine once the valance and bull bar are on...heck it works great now (day 3)

4Hummer

This cooler would work good for anyone with a body lift on a 2nd Gen Runner. with a 3" body lift there is 6" of clearance between the bottom of the rad and the front cross member.

It would be protected by the front bumper/Valance in the front, and the cross member in the bottom.

However the stacked plate type is much better.

ctcost

!st report: 3 weeks in and all's working great! I'll give another in a month or two. Seems to work just fine though.

ctcost

Well still seems to be working great.