Hello good folk,

I recently bought a 98 F150 with 165k as a work truck. It is in mechanically sound shape after a couple months of working on it. It is mostly stock with no special towing package.

This truck is used for weekly trips towing a 2500 lbs boat to/from the lake. Trips are usually 140 miles round-trip with a stretch of it going up and down a small mountain. I live in the southeast, so temps in the summer will be upward of 100F.

With that in mind, would you please recommend towing upgrades for the truck? I'm not looking at spending a ton of money, but am willing to spend a few hundred dollars for major upgrades (each). I'm thinking useful upgrades may be brakes (currently has stock front disc/rear drum), additional transmission intercooler, etc. Parts that I can find at a junk yard would be great, but definitely not required.

For background info, the truck is an automatic with 3.55 gears that I recently rebuilt (new bearings, old gears). I'm not opposed to a gear swap if that is doable for DIY.

Thoughts?

 

You shouldn't need any upgrades to tow 2500#. However, if you want to add a transmission cooler, just get the stock one that comes with the towing package or one out of a Super Duty, make sure you flush it out thoroughly if you get it out of the boneyard, drop the pan and drain the torque converter (yes, it has a plug) and fill it with Amsoil ATF. A good set of ceramic brake pads in the front would help. Lock out overdrive when towing.

 

Not sure if you have a hitch or bumper mounted ball, but I wouldn't recommend using the latter.

 

Good ideas.

I'm sure I can find the stock transmission intercooler at my local junk yard. I'd rather not pull the hard lines from the same vehicle if I can help it. Can I use some fuel-rated rubber hosing to extend my current ATF lines to the new cooler?

Are slotted/cross-drilled rotors worth it if I upgrade to ceramic pads? Current rotors are original with 165k miles on them. I'll need to have them turned if I go with new pads (they have slight grooving), so I'm looking at additional expense either way.

Also good call on the frame mounted hitch. I'm using the ball now, but have been used to towing with vehicles that have a frame mounted hitch.

Any other ideas? I had a previous tow vehicle (GMC Envoy) tranny fluid boil over hauling this boat over the mountain in summer. Just don't want a repeat of that or worse.

 

There is a special hose for transmission fluid. The auto parts stores have it.

I have added an OE trans cooler bought from a salvage yard to an 86 F150 before and it worked out fine. However, if it was in a truck that had a failed transmission and it picked up debris from the failure, you may not be able to flush all of the debris out of a plate style cooler. Some element of risk there. One good thing about using an OE cooler is that the mounting holes are already pre-drilled in the frame.

There isn't much you can do to the brakes to improve braking power. They suck. That's all there is to it.

 

Tranny cooler first most. Get a Stacked Plate style over the 'tube and fin' type. They cost more, but work a lot better.

Hold on upgrading the brakes unless you just need new brakes anyway, but don't go for those slotted/drilled rotors either way... I've only used the semi-metallic pads on all my rigs and have never had any issues... My Dad got those ceramic pads on his Ram Dually and they ate up his rotors big time.. But it is a Dodge, so there you go!!

Good luck!

Mitch

 

Not sure about your 98 but my 99 xl 4.2 auto with out towing came with a trans cooler.

 

Stock trans coolers are not all that great get an aftermarket stacked plate type cooler. I am running to 11 inch coolers with fans and have rerouted the transmission cooling out of the radiator. The 4R70W requires fluid changes every 25,000 miles. Especially when towing and in hotter climates.
But I live in Las Vegas Nevada where a 100° degree day is a cool summer day. I mounted mind underneath the truck, and have a thermostatic switch that turns them on when he transmission fluid reaches 180°.



I added a set of airbag lift helpers from airlift, and they are amazing. I will forever add them to every single truck I ever owned. They help maintain ride level when loaded down, and improve the ride under every circumstance. I got my kit on Amazon for $250 delivered.

 

The advantage of running the fluid through the radiator cooler is that it gets heated on a cold day. Adding a large trans cooler in series with the radiator trans cooler will actually help cool the engine when the trans isn't generating a super amount of heat such as towing over the Rockies.

 

Thanks for the great ideas so far.

Yes, kd4gij, mine does have a tiny stock cooler. I didn't notice it until you mentioned it. It is much smaller than I would have expected (maybe 3" by 7").

Roadie: if I run an aftermarket cooler in series with the radiator, would you run the fluid from the transmission to the aftermarket cooler, then the radiator? Or radiator then cooler?

I took another look at trucks in the local junk yard. Tons of frame-mounted receiver hitches to choose from. I just need to find a dry day to pull one off. I also found a SuperDuty with the upgraded transmission cooler, but the truck was totaled in the front. Welp. I'll keep looking, or may just buy a Hayden stacked plate cooler new.

Thanks again for all the input. Really appreciated.

 

That sounds more like the power steering fluid cooler than a aux trans cooler.. Is it down low, and more on the driver side? A factory aux trans cooler would be down low on the pass side and be more 'square' in shape.

Mitch

 

The trans coolers are connected such that the fluid goes through the radiator trans cooler first. The OE coolers are not that large. the plate coolers are much more efficient than the tube and fin coolers. For what you are towing, the small OE cooler is sufficient.