I'm going to have a guy make a bottom bumper that will fully cover the tranny cooler and radiator, in addition to making a nice place for two lights to be mounted on too. It will be constructed out of tubing that's 1/4" thick and bent around to sort of look like a bull bar, I guess, like they put a lot on the superduty fords that I've seen here lately. My goal is to make it as small possible, both guarding the undercarriage, not decreasing the approach angle, and a nice place to mount some additional lights on the top.

That's the goal, and yes it will be very strong too.

Chris

 

Sometime you just demonstrate just how odd you are...

OK, so I guess I should of said, the ARB is MASS produced better then the TJM is MASS produced out of sheet steel.

Gadget

www.GadgetOnline.com

 

For those of you that are confused about the difference between a stacked plate aux tranny cooler and a tube-in-fin cooler, the link here shows a tube-n-fin type. They are much more restrictive then the stacked plate type and that is why the stacked plate is much better to use.

You can go over to my site and see what a stacked plate cooler looks like.

Gadget

www.GadgetOnline.com

 

Thanks for pointing out that I obviously bought junk. What's the best one then, Gadget?

Chris

 

Most people go with a stacked plate cooler from Hayden (model is Transaver Plus).

I ordered mine from Makco Distributing.

 

It is not junk so do not think that. It is just the other type, stacked plate, is preferred as it has more surface area for heat exchange and less resistance to flow so more fluid can flow through it and get back to the pan.

There is so much confusion between the two types and your picture is an excellent example of the tube-n-fin type. If it is alright with you I would like to put it on my site so people can see the difference and understand what I am talking about.

Gadget

www.GadgetOnline.com

 

Jeez Schaef, easy, easy! There are definitely better ways to say what you just said, my friend.

Bob

 

No problem at all Gadget! Thanks for the explanation, and I may change to the better one someday.

Chris

 

Well, I went to the fab shop today to find out what I was looking at on the front bumper I had in mind, and I've decided that a buddy of mine and me are going to do it ourselves if I ever get the time. I'll keep everyone posted.

Chris

 

Here's the plan:

I'm either going to use 6" or 5" C-Channel that's about 1/4" thick and replace the entire front bumper. It's going to be straight across the front, with two bends in the side to fit the contour of the truck. The ends will end up just inside the front fender flares, which should look really good. Then, in the center a 36" skid plate will go from the bottom of the bumper to the lower frame rails and then bolt into the existing skid plate underneath for a completely protected and much better approach angle. I'll reinforce the side of the skid plate and have 1"x1/4" flat stock that runs from left to right on the skid plate to reinforce it too. I'm probably going to paint it the same color as my fender flares so it blends nicely.

In addition, I'm going to mount driving lights and fog lights within the bumper that will be slightly recessed and well protected, along with some side marker lights that will only kick on when I turn my turn signals on. It should be pretty sweet, but it's going to take some time for sure.

Chris