iam wandering if it would hurt the truck to put a tranny cooler on and drive with it not bypassed or do i have to put a bypass of some type in? the reason i ask is cause i live in ontario which can get cold in the winter. or will the tranny cooler not effect the operation of the truck. it has been a few years since i had a tow vehicle. the truck is a 99 f150 with v6 4.2 thanks for the info.

 

I believe most aftermarket tranny coolers run an inline thermostat. If you install one of these, fluid will not flow through the cooler until the tranny reaches a certain temp, therefore the extreme colds shouldn't harm it. You could also, just stick a peice of cardboard over the cooling radiator (the tranny cooler in this case) blocking any air from passing through, and essentially stopping the cooling effect. Im sure either one of those would work, but being over in CA, right near the beach, I really don't experience sever cold weather like you, so maybe someone more used to it will be able to chime in with a smarter solution. Good luck!
P.S. Whatcha gunna be towing with that v6??

 

in the summer my 14 ft fibreglass runabout boat ,and ocassionaly my 6400# fifth wheeltrailer. I am putting in firestone airbags to support the extra weight .just for curiosidy what would the most weight i could haul be with just the cooler in the rad on this truck?

 

You will be way over gross with a 6400# fifth wheel. The V6 maxes out at 5000#.

 

i thought my truck was 5900# .with the 3.55 gears and the long box reg cab,2 wheel drive? i knew it was over a little .i was thinking with the bags and the better tires and a tranny cooler and didnt race it and only going 35km each way it would be ok. or not? also the truck has the limited slip axle,or is this not going to work for me? i just didnt think it would be all that bad for a couple times pulling a year . and this is also a daily driver.ps. the transmission is auto.

 

You will be way over the limit, but pulling a couple times a year? You should be fine. Maybe bump up the maintenance schedule before and after a trip like that. My old Man used to pull a 16' travel trailer, tons of camping gear and a family of four for camping trips (a week or two at a time... so LOTS of gear!) up some narly hills in the tahoe and grass valley areas around here (North CA). He did all this with the little (mighty) 2.4 Liter and 5spd manual ( a RANGER!!!). Total weight towing and hauling was right around 6,500#. He would change ALL fluids before and after each trip. probably did this 5 or 6x a year! Never use OD! Oh, my Dad bought his truck new, and sold it with about 140k on her!!! No iregular problems! It was a champ!

 

ok, if i wanted to haul this further and proper what ford truck should i buy to safely haul it? I dont really want to push the truck to the limit and abuse it.if where to buy a 2005 f150 with the 5.4l would this work ,if so the truck in question is at the local ford dealer with short box king cab and 4 wheel drive for $19,940. the truck has the tow package and only 32,356 km on it? this would probably be my daily driver as well. will the 2005 with the 5.4 do it with the 3,55 gears or would this be to wimpy or gutless to haul. any info greatly apreaceated. the dealer says yes but the dealer would also say the smart car on the lot would tow it just for the sale. so before i buyanother truck iam asking you guys the pros for some support and great advice.

 

A 5.4 with the factory tow package will tow it fine and be within limits. 4.10's would tow better but 3.55's will work fine. 5th wheels really aren't recommended with any 1/2 ton truck but 6400# isn't that bad. The right way is a F-250 but those are pretty rough unloaded as daily drivers.

 

if you get the f150 with the 5.4, you'll be fine. plus, as a daily driver, you will be very comfortable and happy. Just my 2 cents.

 

FWIW you can add an aux tranny cooler and not have to worry about it over cooling in the winter. It gets a lot colder the Sault and they run around with Aux coolers.

Before you buy the 05 check this out. https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/.../2005_F150.pdf

Pay close attention to the notes at the bottom. It reads as follows: • While F-150 SuperCrew and SuperCab (132.5" Wb) 51⁄2' box will accept a fifth-wheel hitch, current fifth-wheel trailer
designs are not compatible with these models. Any questions should be referred to the trailer dealer/manufacturer.

JMC

 

5th wheel and goose neck are not GENERALLY recommended for 1/2 ton pick up anyway... just what i was always taught (thing might have changed?)

 

well i might just aswell hold off untill spring and then figure out what i want to do. the other idea is just leave the fifth wheel parked in the campground and keep my current truck the way it is and have a good truck for hauling my 14 foot fibreglass boat to the lake .thanks for all the great responses.

 

Have you guys shopped for trailers lately?? Manufacturers are stepping up their game considerably for 1/2 ton trucks. I've seen quite a few nice 5th wheel trailers with the hitch designed for the 5 1/2' beds, and weights waaaay under 7k lbs.

Back on subject though...I have never seen an aftermarket tranny cooler with a thermostat. Only way I know to do it is add your own. Perma Cool makes a bypass thermostat that's pretty cool, but no cooler has one built in. If I thought my tranny was running too cool, I'd cover it with a piece of aluminum or cardboard or something. The only thermostat I've seen (the Perma Cool one) is rated at 180*. That's too late to start opening in the summer. If someone has seen a different thermostat or a cooler with some type of thermostat or bypass, by all means, please post it up.

 

Thanks for the heads up Galaxy... when i posted the thing about no 5th wheel for 1/2 tons I figured I was probably just behind the times. So, sorry if that was bad info. Troyer performance has a tranny cooler with an aux thermostat built into one of the lines I believe...? Also... i remember seeing a thermostat for aux tranny coolers that opened at 160 and 170 (two different ones you can choose from) I will search around again and see if I can find it. I think it was Moss motors magazine or something? I will re-post it once I find it.

 

Without looking (yes, I am assuming here ) I believe you are thinking about the cooler that comes with a fan mounted on it and the thermostat is to control the fan turn on temp...because those numbers sound very familiar for that. That's all it controls. Does not control fluid flow through the cooler.