External tranny cooler or radiator replacement first?

[Kung]

So I'm about to take delivery of a 'new' (to me) 4Runner. Specifically, it's a 2000 SR5 Sport 4x4, with 130K miles.

Having done a *TON* of research into a lot of different vehicles before buying (which is the reason we did NOT go with an Explorer or a Sport Trac, or a Jeep, etc.), it's a foregone conclusion that the radiator WILL be replaced, and an external tranny cooler WILL be installed.

However, some other minor stuff needs to be done on it (e.g., valve cover gasket, brake pads), and so I'm going to do one right NOW, and the other in a month or so.

I'm thinking it might make a bit more sense to go ahead and replace the stock radiator first for 2 reasons:

- it'll allow me (us) to see what kind of corrosion it's had, and
- if I do the external tranny cooler first, it'll be more work to remove it when the time comes to replace the radiator

SO...thoughts on this? Any suggestions at all (well, aside from maybe 'Take a flying @$#$ at a rolling doughnut lol) would be appreciated.

 

[Stick Figure]

Personally I added just the external cooler, and bypassed the stock radiator all together. Of course I had a cooler laying around from another project at the time so it made my decision easier. I've not actually had any issues with the radiator yet, and to the best of my knowledge it is the original 186k mile part.
Either way your going to avoid one of the few potential problems with this platform though.

 

[ec8]

I agree with Stick Figure, I just bought the B&M tranny cooler off of Amazon for $50 and am just going to bypass the radiator all together. Then no issues or worries, don't need to replace the radiator until it starts to leak as there is no danger of mixing fluids or causing more problems (unless you let it leak all out and overheat the thing) but you should notice some signs long before then.

 

[Kung]

Good point; and as you mentioned, ec8, I'll notice it long before it COMPLETELY drains out. Thanks for the advice, guys.