I'm trying to decide if I need the bypass or not. I'm in SoCal so the temps don't get as low as the northern areas but we do have some 39 degree mornings and I also want to travel to other areas. I do want to keep the OEM cooler in the radiator so maybe that will be enough to bring the fluid up to temp for my use.

When towing or on long road trips, I’ll watch temps in both the pan and converter. Without a doubt, the temps in the converter rise quickly when it’s unlocked. I’ve often seen as much as 20 degree high temps in the converter versus the pan when unlocked.

When towing, I just put it in 4th gear. I’ve never had an issue with high temps and the fuel mileage difference isn’t enough to worry over. It should be noted however that I’m in North Louisiana. We’ve got hills but, not mountains.

Do you mean a "bypass" model of the Hayden cooler?

I went with the bypass model in the hope that it would minimize the amount of added cooling before the engine coolant was up to 185.

Correct. I know the trans in my Tacoma had an internal thermostat that would bypass the AUX cooler. I'm thinking I want the bypass in case I end up some colder.

I've never delved into the workings of the trans but it would be logical that the internal thermostat of the trans would shut off the line to the external cooler if temps of the fluid get too low. So cold weather should not be a worry especially since the engine coolant radiator is bringing the trans fluid up in temperature to 185 or so.

Therefore my main worry is when the fluid gets too hot; low speed, uphill crawling (pulling a trailer in my case) in very hot weather. There would be little airflow over the trans housing so that bit of cooling is lost.

If I lived in a very hot climate full time I would go with a non bypass.

In the brief set of numbers in my previous post the trans fluid was always warmer than ambient temp. To me that suggests that the trans cooler is not too big so as to "overcool" the fluid

Who else has ordered the kit? I'd like to hear about your fitment and the model year it's going in to. Am just curious......

Of the 4 orders I've received for the 5th gen brackets I've only managed to ship out 1 bracket so far. Manufacturing issues prevented all but one part of the latest (small) batch from being viable. I've emailed the other 3 customers and they are aware the delay and are willing to wait another 2 weeks for another batch to be finished.

Don't worry, once the design has all the kinks worked out we will be ready to rock and roll with parts. Its just costing me alot of $ to get to this point. Look at this as a chance for you guys to do a little "beta" testing.

-Devon

That's good news! I'll look forward to seeing how the installs go.

Please share a link to your thread once it's started. Thanks!

I was having a beast of a time with this site, but managed to get to a pc. I'll make a thread here on t4r.
@Whippersnapper02 had replied to a post of mine with a link to this bracket. I had no idea otherwise and was going to rig something with aluminum flat bar.

So I have a procharger with a front mount intercooler, and a cbi front bumper/winch/onx6 30" going in.

For now I've just ordered the bracket to kind of figure out the fitment of things but will probably buy a Derale 13613 for this bracket to keep everything -6an. I'm assuming I'll install rivnuts for it. I have the hf tool with stainless and also zinc plated rivnuts (not sure if it makes a difference, will stainless react here?).

Here's what I have on hand from some previous plans but never installed. I need a dedicated cooler setup that can handle az offroading on a supercharged heavy 4runner. I am not dead set on using any or all of the items.

Improved Racing Bypass
B&M 10x7.5 w/ spal fan cooler
Derale 24" frame rail cooler
Koyo Aluminum Radiator with no transmission cooler loop.


I'm at least using the bypass thermostat and probably at 140f. I think a youtuber tested it and they believe there is a thermostat in the transmission around 140 but not absolutely confirmed.

There is loose theory that the coolant loop won't heat up the transmission fluid for several minutes as there is a thermostat for the coolant as well. But the coolant loop will most likely actively cool it. I'm an IT guy so don't take anything as professional knowledge here.

I previously had a CSF aluminum radiator, but had to remove it due to the procharger kit (Found out a few hours into the install!)

Hello all.

I really like the idea of this transmission cooler. I have some questions for others before I order though.

I like the way the cooler mounts on the passenger side (eliminated the need to relocate the horn), but it looks like it would change the way it should be plumbed to the transmission cooler exit from the radiator. On the FJ Cruise the cooler is mounted on the drivers side, and attaches where the elbow joint hose was at the exit of the factory transmission cooler integrated into the radiator.

With the add on cooler mounted on the passenger side, that would mean the hoses need to be a lot longer, which might not be idea.

I was looking under the hood of my 4Runner and the hose from the radiator mounted transmission cooler runs along the base of the radiator, then turns and runs up the passenger side of the radiator before turning again and running back to the radiator.

To me (not a mechanic) it looks like the best way to route the hose to the new external transmission cooler would be from the cold metal tube near the top passenger side of the radiator to the external cooler, then from the external cooler using a union to tie back to the hose that runs to the transmission.

Is anyone else doing the above when routing theirs?

I also have a side question. From what I have read, add on coolers (transmission cooler, power steering cooler, etc) all benefit more by being closer to the radiator (because of how the fan draws air through the front grill and into the engine compartment). Is there enough room, and would I benefit from mounting the cooler to the inside (opposite side) of the mount?

Thanks,


Charlie

It's about 3.5" between the condenser and the front edge of the upper rail.

I ordered a bracket and can give you a better idea once it arrives

I'm guessing you didn't see all of the pictures I posted? Scroll back to message #41 and up and they may answer a number of questions.

The FJ's engine radiator mounting is different as are the openings available for hose routing. The best routing on the 4R is on the passenger side as the steel lines from the trans run along the passenger side.

In my install I ran both of the cooler's hoses together but in hindsight I could have run them differently and shortened them a bit. As I recall, one could have home-runned to the steel trans line and the other could have attached to the short steel line coming up from the radiator that you mentioned. The second short steel line can be capped off and abandoned in place. When I get the energy I'll go back and do all that.

The problem with the ideal routing is that it was near impossible to get my hand and a tool in there to remove the factory line clamp. I think a lot of other things will have to be unbolted to create access.

I don't think there is enough room to mount the cooler on the other side of the bracket but I suppose you can try and let us know. I think it might require an entirely new bracket to gain probably very little in terms of air flow coupling if there is such a term. Probably need a engine-mechanical engineer to weigh in.

As an aside, buy some replacement plastic fasteners for the top radiator cover. Some of the Amazon offerings are so brittle they break easily. I bought these and although they look different from OEM they seem to hold well and don't easily break.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6HGJ2TY...roduct_details

Mine arrived today, pretty much exactly what I expected. A nice clean cut bracket that allows you to easily mount a transmission cooler. Worth the $ for me vs some rigged homedepot/autozone setup on my off-road adventure vehicle.

As best as I can tell there is about 1 3/4" between the bracket and the condenser. I bet you could mount a cooler behind it but there is a pinch weld on the lower frame/brace that sticks up about 1/2" that might cause some clearance issues.

I have an intercooler and a transmission cooler already in the way that is going to take a little bit of work to sort out before I can get a pic of this bracket mounted.

Looking forward to the pictures!

If the cooler is moved behind the bracket the lower inlet tube and attached hose will have to contend with the radiator mount being squarely in the way. I think the bracket would be mounted first then try to get the cooler in there to rotate into different positions for fitment check. The bracket that you now have is the result of three different designs iterations that I received and tested.