I have a 04 Lightning and was thinking of doing some towing.

Where does the Lightning stand on transmission cooling?
I am thinking it would be upgraded or be heavy duty because of our extra HP.

I know the radiator issue they had a few years ago and mine has room for the extra row of tubes. (3 pass) but it looks like the stock is a 2 pass.

At anyrate, I am planning on towing a 6,000 lbs 8 ft wide trailer from Denver to the Glamis Sand dunes and back sometime in January. I am thinking that the winter temps being cooler will be a big plus, but since our tranny's seem to be a weak link anyway I don't want to screw things up or have probs on the trip.

I did a search in the towing and hauling but those folks don't know to much about Lightnings.

So the question is: What kind of tranny cooler comes in a 03-04 lightning?
Just a stock F150 cooler?
Heavy duty?
Same as a F-250?

Should I just run what I brung in veiw of the winter temps or go with aftermarket upgrade and what would you recomend?

I don't plan on using the overdrive while I am towing unless it is downhill or no/low boost.
I know the gas milage is going to really suck but my 4X4 deseil is very noisey and I would like to just get rid of it if the L will do the job.
Thanks in advance

 

The tranny cooler in my '04 L is exactly the same as the one that came on my '01 SuperCrew with the towing package. My SuperCrew had the 5.4L engine & 4R70W tranny.

You can get a nice aftermarket one for $165 or so that includes braided stainless lines. One line will connect into the existing factory cooler, the other you cut into the existing line on the tranny and use a compession fitting to tie it in.

Tim @ Chikenears hooked me up with mine and I couldn't be happier. Gregg Evans supplies them and the quality is top-notch.

While your at it, get the FTVB too. That will help your tranny out as well.

If you don't want to spend that much, you can get the MaxiKool XL at Advance Autoparts for $65 that is physically identical to Gregg's, but does not include the stainless lines or compression fittings. They give you rubber hose and clamps and you have to "splice" it into the return line of the tranny.

If I am not mistaken, the L is only rated by Ford to tow 5,000 lbs.

I could be wrong, but I can't get to my owner's manual right now.

I would definitely get a cooler if I were going to tow a trailer that heavy, but that is just me.

 

Thanks for the help.

Your right about the 5000 rating and the 04 is 1200 capacity.

I just figured I might bend the rules and hope the factory put in some room for error not knowing what the general public will do.

I can't tell from the top how many rows my radiator has but I can see that there is room for more at the back.
Was just hoping to get a few responses from folks that overdid the rating with no ill effects.

I might install a tranny temp gauge and do some trial runs in the area to see how it feels.

My logic is that we have the bigger brakes, swaybar, 3/4 ton tranny and my 04 has the 3:73 gears and more rear spring than my old 99 L.

I tried towing this trailer with it but it had a serious case of the squats and air lift bags wouldn't fit real nice because we are lower than stock F-150's. I didn't want to try the equalizer hitch and would have had to use a floor jack to raise it up and try it.

 

I am not a towing expert, but I bet that some of the rating is based on the towing vehicle's ability to "man-handle" the load it is pulling.

Since the Lightning is a short wheelbase "light" truck, it probably has the power to pull a much heavier load than it can stop and control safely.

I doubt you would hurt your truck pulling the trailer but it might not be safe doing it, from Ford's perspective.

I have a tranny temp gauge and the following seems to hold true - the temp seems to stay around 50-70 degrees above the outside air temp, in steady driving. In stop and go, I never see mine go over 170*, unless there is a burnout included in the trip.

 

As man said, my cooler comes with a really good package of hoses etc... to make the install more professional looking, but if you just want a cooler, it is possible to get the same one I use a lot cheaper. I pay more for the hoses and fittings that I use than I do for the cooler, and believe it or not it's almost a break even same for me on them, it's more about opffering a good product than making a profit on the coolers.
One thing I will advise, whatever you use, do not get a "fin and tube" cooler, I tested them some time back and they're next to useless as far as cooling goes, you want to use a stacked plate low pressure drop design, it works a lot better and isn't that much more to do. Also, the models with a fan on them are also a waste of money, the amount of air that the fans moves is next to nothing compared to what flows over them at even 30 MPH if you put them in the airflow. I have heard that people buy them to use when the truck is not running/moving and that would be a place where they do actually work, but that's such a small percentage of the time you use it I don't think it's worth the effort.

Hope this helps,

G

 

You have the supercooling. You have the larger, Class III AT cooler. Many F-150 owners tow heavy loads with that exact cooler. Your radiator should be approx. 1.5". This radiator adequately replaced the approx. 2" radiator a few years back. The Lightning setup is very nice for it's towing capacity.

 

Let me throw in my towing experience. I have an 02' Lightning. Bone stock except for airbags in the rear.

I tow a 19' NASH travel trailer 3,800lbs plus gear and dirt bikes in bed of the truck = about 5,000lbs. No problem.
And that is pulling mountain passes here in Washington State where I'm in the boost rolling 70mph for 10-12 minutes at a stretch. Its amazing that the thing will still accelerate if you want it to while pulling up a mountain.

I'm just now at 30k and going to do a complete trans flush to refresh the fluid even though it looks and smells like new.

BTW, the 1,500 lb air bags are the ticket to allow the Lighting to be used as regular truck. Installed them myself in two hours. A few strokes of air with a bicycle pump and I can load it to the top of the bed with fire wood or hitch up the trailer and no squat or bounce.