PDACPA wrote:
We are heading to the Florida Key's towing the boat with our 2002 Ford Sporttrac. We are well under the maximum towing weight on the truck with the boat and trailer (I estimate that to be around 3200 pounds). Obviously we will have a bunch of gear and 3 of us in the truck.
The trip is 400 miles each way. Florida is flat and I typically trailer at about 70 - 75. We usually have to stop for gas or restroom breaks. Is that enough to let things rest and cool down?
I am debating whether I need to add a transmission cooler or not to the truck.
Always run an external cooler on any tow vehicle. Factory "coolers" are just heat exchanger in the radiator. Their purpose is mainly to heat up the fluid to operating temperature, not cool it down. Transmission fluid heat is the #1 killer of transmissions. They are designed to last 100k miles between rebuilds from the OEM @ 175* fluid temp. Make that fluid temp 215*, and you're down to 25k. Sure, in real life it might last longer but that's the general rule of thumb.
So in other words....... run the biggest cooler you can fit stuck on the front of the radiator. My car has 2. Use these:
http://www.bmracing.com/PRODUCTS/Automa ... perCoolersIf you tow a lot, I'd also add in a temp gauge to the tranny oil pan. $150 worth of kit is much cheaper then a $3000 transmission