Trans cooler

[Chris]

i didnt say it was easy, and approx 9000 loaded no fuel in the trailers tank. and stopping well you have to ride the trailers brake sown the grade. should i be towing that weight? thats an opinionated question, many people have various thoughts and theories based on the truck and driving experience. i can do it and i have. i dont do it often. my normal haul is a 18 ft horse trailer with about 5 pigs or 3 steers.

[wavery]

Here are the specs on that vehicle from cars.com:

 

http://www.cars.com/...e&&aff=national

 

Curb weight 4,563 lbs.

GVWR 6,200 lbs.

Front GAWR 3,600 lbs.

Rear GAWR 3,686 lbs.

Payload 1,637 lbs.

Front axle capacity 3,600 lbs.

Rear axle capacity 3,750 lbs.

Front spring rating 3,739 lbs.

Rear spring rating 3,686 lbs.

Towing capacity 8,100 lbs.

GCWR 13,000 lbs.

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Subtract the Curb weight of 4,563# from the GCWR of 13,000# and you have a max tow capacity of 8437# minus the weight of the driver, passengers and cargo.

 

These ratings are a lot higher than the ratings on the newer vehicles.

 

Personally............... I wouldn't tow a 9K# trailer with that truck. Not only do you risk messing up the trans and other mechanical parts of the trauck but if you have to make a panic stop with that rig, someone is going to be in a world of hurt.

 

The tongue wt on that trailer has got to be well over 1,000# and I'm pretty sure that you will have passengers and cargo in the truck.. That is really the job of a 3/4 or 1-ton truck.

 

You mentioned "Riding the trailer brakes". NOT a good idea. It's best to use the break controller (propery adjusted for the conditions) to distribute the load (heat) to all of the brakes at once to keep from over-heating the trailer brakes.

 

Once you over-heat the trailer brakes, they are useless and now you are depending on the truck brakes alone to slow this 15,000# load. Those brakes are designed to handle a maximum of a 6200# load (GVWR) on their own and will soon fade as well...... then...... just bend over and kiss your a$$ good-bye because you will have a run-away rig.

 

It would be a lot cheaper and safer (in the long run) to sell that truck now, while it is in good condition) and upgrade to a 3/4 ton truck with a factory tow package. IMHO, you may spend a lot more than the cost of that upgrade in repairs to that vehice. In the end, you will still be faced with doing the upgrade anyway.

[Chris]

i tow this trailer once a year at most. and we have a 3/4 ton truck, mine is the back up if the dodge fails. like last year the transfer case grenaded

[CapitalTruck]

Regardless of anything, it should be mentioned that in the stack of two lines that are on the side of the transmission, the top one is the return line (FROM the oil cooler) This should be almost without argument. I have snow and ice on the ground right now. When it clears up I'll go trace the lines from tranny to radiator.

 

From my installation of the original equipment cooler kit, the transmission oil comes out the TOP of of the vehicle's radiator. UNLESS on the OEM installation of the auxilary oil cooler they had it plumbed so that the auxiliary cooler (air to oil) is in line BEFORE the vehicle's radiator.

 

Prior to this thread, it had been nearly universally accepted on this board that the upper outlet of the radiator was the return line to the transmission.

 

If this was incorrect information and I screwed up your install I sincerely apologize for it.

[Chris]

i was told lower line was return, so it wasnt you, im having a hit of bad weather so i havent changed my lines back around

[wavery]

i was told lower line was return, so it wasnt you, im having a hit of bad weather so i havent changed my lines back around

 

Did you physically check yours by running the engine and checking?

[Chris]

no ii followed the advice. i have yet tried to fix my mistake, been a little too busy this week

[CapitalTruck]

If the lines are pointed down, the cooler will drain back into the trans when the engine is off. You don't want that.

 

 

The oem cooler has the lines pointed down, with no problems.

[redvett]

KC4 is the RPO for the aux trans cooler.