80 series and towing

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Enigma

Enigma

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Well I wasn't too concerned about, until I started searching and reading about here on 'mud. Now I'm scared to drive anywhere ;)

Anyways, ATEB gave me an approx. price of 350$ installed (about $160 bucks for the cooler plus 1-2 hours labour).
Looking at the website for tru-coolers, the 22,000 gvw one is 65$ (USD), plus any hosing I guess.
Anyone done their own hook up before? No clue myself as to how it's done, stick it front of the rad somehow and plumb it in....somehow, is about as much as I know.
Then I need to wire in some trailer lights, gauges would nice as well, who's free this weekend? :)
 
I'd be glad to help but I have to get my mom back to Princeton this weekend - or go crazy.

ATEB's kind of pricey. A decent tranny shopp should do it for a lot less. Its fairly simple. Buy a kit or a cooler and the correct hose and fittings. Some people put the cooler in front of the rad or behind it (if there is room). You'll get your best cooling in front but also be at a higher risk for branch or rock damage. If none of these work well for you, try to find another spot which gets decent air flow.

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Here's a good article which takes you through the process: Transmission Maintenance - Keep Your Transmission Cooler - Car Craft Magazine


Be careful to make sure that you use proper quality fittings for it.
 
Pop into Lordco or your favorite parts supplier - grab a nice big unit and you'll manage the installation yourself no problem. You can likely be finished in an hour or so depending on your beer consumption.

*you'll likely know this already but for towing you'll really want a tran. temp guage and egt...
 
its not too hard Jeff...im sure with your girls supervising you...youd be able to knock it out in an afternoon. its pretty simple...just bolt it to the easiest location, usually in front of AC condensor. then just tap into the pressure (feed line i think?) and run the in/out of the cooler in before the line hits the tranny. done. thats how it was with my PS pump cooler anyway...tranny cooler should be the same. and if you're really stuck, you can just read the instructions :D
 
Hey Jeff,

Most of the other guys have covered it. The instructions with the unit I got (Tru-Cool LPD4589 - 24,000 GVW. 8X11X1.5", and it fits nicely in front of the rad) were very good. The trickiest part, and probably the most important was bleeding the system once the cooler was installed. We (I had a mechanic buddy helping me. For bleeding its a 2 man job) would run the truck until the fluid sputtered then shut it off IMMEDIATLY, and add a couple litres through the dipstick tube. Repeat quite a few times. Once we got the air all out, and the level close, then we would cycle it through all the gears and check level again. Its pretty critical to get the level right. Too much is just as bad as not enough. It took around 15 litres to flush all the old stuff out, and fill the cooler.

Also, if you get the same brand as I did, the hoses that come with the cooler will fit on the steel lines leading to/from the existing cooler in the bottom of the rad, but they were really, really, really, really tough to push on. But they do fit, and probably won't leak easily this way.

Lemme know if you have any other questions, and I'll try to remember what I did.
Cheers, Jason
 
If you are towing I think a tranny temp gage is most important even if you have a cooler. The Probe needs to go in the outlet union (between tranny and cooler). The dude at automatictransmissions.com.au sells one or you can drill and tap your own. Reason being the inefficient torque converter on the 80 series can get very hot and burn out before the pan even gets very hot (so the cooler may not help that much). Keeping the revs up around 3000 rpm when towing uphill out of TC lockup will help a lot. The TC temperature can climb to 150 C scarily fast even when not towing if you are going up steep hills at lower revs. I know this because i watch my temp gage when going up hills even when not towing anything.
 
Like Jonathan says... really Jeff, a cooler is best mod you can make to your truck. Grapevine could take out your transmission before you ever get to Cali.
GG
 
No, mine is still going strong, they just need keeping an eye on the temps. So long as you don't cook them they are fantastic trannies! If I hadnt installed a temp gage I wouldnt have known how they heat up at lower rpms.... I do think it is very important the temp probe goes in the outlet union, this tells you what your T/C temp is rather than your oil pan temp.....
 
Like Jonathon says, they put these trannies in Coaster buses. They are very hardy... as long as you don't cook them. Not cooking yours will cost you a couple hundred dollars, a cooked tranny will cost you a couple of thousand.
GG
 
temperature gauge - before and after would document temp reductions for others as well.
Glenn
 
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