Inventive location for transmission cooler?

Hi all,

I have pretty much decidied that since I frequently take long road trips through very hot weather over the Rockies with 5 people and a loaded to the max jeep... it's time for me to get a transmission cooler and inline filter in my Jeep. However, I don't particularly want to mount it in the normal location (in front of the condenser) and I would like to install a very large unit, perhaps this Hayden motorhome cooler I have seen in somebody's writeup. Anyway, I need to be able to run the AC at highway speed or suffer a screaming family, and I hear that this can cause the engine temp to rise if the cooler is installed in front of the condenser. It would be great if the cooling of the transmission would have neutral or better yet a positive impact on the overall engine temp. Anyway, has anyone thought of / mounted a clever location for a transmission cooler? For extreme coolness, I could maybe mount a fan to the cooler, which would be just awesome for my peace of mind.

http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoAutoCooler.htm
GoJeep put it behind the bumper. check it out

That's interesting, but I'm not sure how well it would work with the stock bumper. Has anyone tried putting a fairly small one in the space at the bottom of the windshield on the driver's side where there are vents?

darjevon said:

That's interesting, but I'm not sure how well it would work with the stock bumper. Has anyone tried putting a fairly small one in the space at the bottom of the windshield on the driver's side where there are vents?

Click to expand...

Not knowing the year of you Jeep, and not really knowing if the pre97s have vents on both sides. The 97+ only have one actual vent there on the drivers side. That location would be nice in the winter, but would make your AC system work very hard in the summer. The best place to put it is behind the grill. Size matters too. You don't want to big a cooler to the point the fluid can't warm up to operating temp. driving at highway speed is easy on the transmission as long as it's not shifting in, and out of overdrive. I have a Permacool 1012 on my rig with a oil thermostat, plumbed in with the standard OEM cooler. The temps stay around 140/150* on the highway, and have got as high as 190* just driving around in traffic. I can understand your concern for not wanting to mount any extra heat load in front of the AC condenser, but if you wheel your rig at all that is the safest place for it. If your Jeep is a family hauler that only sees roads then you can get a frame rail mounted unit, and put it on the drivers side rail, another option would be to put a small fan cooled unit in the hump for the axle housing, or in a bumper.