tranny cooler idea

[gomerpile]

alright so in talking to my dad, we had an idea for a tranny cooler on the cheap. he said for me to just take some soft bendable copper line and just run it under the whole length of the bed and just loop it back and forth as much as possible. how well would this work for a tranny cooler on the cheap?


and if this will work i have some more questions.
1st- what size line would be the best
2nd- will there be enough air blowing past to pass up the extra fan?
3rd- would this work as good if not better than an aftermarket cooler
4th- any extra input? (ideas,comments,sugestions," you cheapo genius" )

[PToombs]

Cheap? Have you priced copper lately? You could buy a fan/cooler from Summit cheaper than a roll of copper.
1-Size would be up to you.
2-If it's fastened to the bed, there won't be much airflow.
3-Maybe, maybe not.
4-Buy the cooler with the fan, for $150 or so you can get a good unit that works.

[oldestof11]

Also if you run that much copper, not only is it more likey to be more expensive to build but to repair too!

Now a tranny cooler is built to do what it does. Ever wonder why they have fins? It increases the surface area so it can better cool itself. If you run that much copper, it might be the same surface area as a tranny cooler but the downside would be a lot more ATF would be needed....

Something to think about.

Jon

[gomerpile]

well what do yall suggest.
brand
placement
size
best place to buy

i want something that can cool a 400 hp engine while towing. but i will be adding a shift kit and a rebuilt hughes tc in the future. but i still want a good reliable one,

preferably mounted in a spot where a fan is not required.

[eyoung429]

C'mon guys.....how many wrecking yards are near you???? I went over to the one close to work and there was a Frito Lay truck in there that didn't quite make an offramp.

For $8 I now have a tranny cooler that is rated 20000....dug around a bit and found a fan off an import pos.

Took them home, ran the cooler through the parts washer and then ran some MEK to clean out the rest of the crud, let it dry overnight, zip tied the fan on the cooler and mounted it up under the bed. $6 worth of hose and 2 fittings later I have a tranny cooler that didn't cost me that much.

There are tons of them just lying around in station wagons, trucks.....just look around.

[PToombs]

eyoung has the right idea! That's the way to do it on the cheap. Or a regular trans cooler from a truck, mount a fan, anything like that will help. I bought 1 from Summit, $165, rated 26k with a fan, put it on my cousins F550 with a thermostatic switch. Kicks on when it gets hot, off when cool. Works great on that. He says he hasn't seen temps go over 190 since. He tows 10 k regularly.