Cooler location

[lunkerman]

The A4LD had a fatal blowout back in Feb. this year and I had it rebuilt by a very good shop. He says he made sure he put the latest updated parts in it. I occasionally pull a boat or tent trailer with a 600 lb. quad in the back and I'm now turning 30" mud tires. The stock tires were P215. Guess what, I checked the speedo to my GPS and it's dead on now.
My questions are- should I add a after market trans cooler? There's no room for one between the fan and radiator. In front there's the a/c condensor on one side which is also the side the trans line go into the radiator. Should I put a cooler in front on the other side? Mount it in front of the a/c condensor?
My ranger sits a lot in front of the house because I drive a long haul truck, but when I get home every couple weeks, I put it hard to work pulling some weight up some decent grades to go have fun.

 

[locovaca]

Usually you mount auxiliary coolers in front of the condenser. I always plumb them inline and after the cooler in the radiator. I recommend a cooler to everyone, no matter if they pull loads or not. They're the cheapest tranny insurance you can buy. I highly recommend the Tru-Cool line up, the fin and plates do a good job for the price.

http://www.bulkpart.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=2&Category_Code=tru-cool-lpd

 

[lunkerman]

I finally got around to looking for the size of cooler I want at the parts store and noticed in the kit was a flared tube that connects to the radiator and you put one of the hoses on to run to the cooler. My problem with that tube is its too long and by the time I put the hose on, it will not have clearance from the a/c compressor pulley. The tube is about 3 in. long and bending it to any degree would most likely distort it too much for a good seal and probably be difficult to bend anyway. I went to bulkparts website and saw male/female hose barb fittings, but I'm not sure what size the tube is. It looks like it could be 5/16 or 3/8 tube. If I can get a 90deg. fitting, that would be even better because then that would be one less bend in the hose to worry about.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

There are a ton of different configurations of coolers out there, you might have to look at an aftermarket place like Summit.

My coolers (both stock and Carquest Hayden ones) used 3/8" hose. I did use 90 degree elbows in places to make turns.

 

[lunkerman]

So is it right to assume the top line coming out of the radiator is the return line?

 

[locovaca]

So is it right to assume the top line coming out of the radiator is the return line?

Normally it is the bottom line. Oil gets pumped up to the top and then uses gravity to aid in the flow back to the transmission.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You sure you don't have a secondary cooler already?

My 91 has the cooler built into the rad and an aux cooler from the factory.

 

[lunkerman]

I'm sure I don't have a secondary cooler already. The a/c condensor is all that's in front of the radiator. Both tranny lines go directly into the radiator.

 

[lunkerman]

Hey Sasquatch. You are right. My brother has had my ranger for the last couple weeks and after what you said about a factory external cooler, I had him look closer and what I thought was the a/c condensor is a factory cooler. Thanks for the info.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Thought so!