5th Gen Trans Cooler

Two of my past 4Runners had trans cooler, factory tow pkg. My 2018 not. I am going to start towing a Teardrop trailer, total pulling unit with hitch, 4600 lbs. Anyone on this subject, appreciate your info. We will be doing mountain areas in west.
Thanks,
Vince
TN

 

I put a small B&M cooler (dont know model #) with a 5" Derale pusher fan (manually switched) on mine, just because of bigger tires and heavy armor. Definitely helps. Towing in the mountains, I would go as big as you can fit.

 

My question is when you tow. Do you tow in sport mode on the transmission? I have not found anything in the owners manual on towing.

 

I would think yes, you do not want to be in 5th gear. I am sure others will chime in soon.

 

Thank you. Also I am looking at a set of Tacoma towing mirrors. You know the truck type that when you need to they pull out. The seller says they won’t work on the 4Runner but I think that is due to the tow mirrors having turn signals in them.

 

In the owners manual for my 2017, for towing it says it’s rated to tow 5k with a single axle trailer, a bit more with a tandem axle but doesn’t say anything about transmission or shifting. But with the trailer your going to tow it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a brake controller and they are a plug and play. I plan on putting mine in S and shifting if I’m towing anything with weight like my boat (I just got the runner first part of this month).

 

I am looking to install this one this winter. https://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller/Curt/C51170.html

Along with a set of airbag man airbags for the rear suspension

 

I am curious to see if I can make these mirrors http://www.topgearautosport.com/par...zgbTa0xsB_wLUk8sOVg3KIf5bsdFvgRBoCZf0QAvD_BwE

 

I tow in s4 mostly.

I'm usually towing a medium sized fishing boat, probably about 2K# boat/motor/trailer/etc.

On flat stretches I'll put it in s5, then back to s4 if it gets hilly. Sometimes I'll even drop into s3 on bigger hills. This way, the transmission isn't trying to upshift until you get over the hill and put it back into s4 or s5.

You'll hear and feel when the engine is struggling. That's when I downshift.

Keeping your speed down will make it a lot easier on your motor and transmission. I like to keep it around 60-65. At higher speeds, especially with larger trailers(travel trailer, enclosed cargo trailer), you're fighting the wind more than the weight of the trailer.

 

When you install the controller let me know how you like it, I will be looking for one in the spring.

Bassguy, that makes sense. I’ll be pulling a 19’ CC, my father in law used to pull it with a ‘97 Taco 5spd and I pulled it with a 04 Ranger until I got rid of it for the Runner. But they both had 4.10s and the Ranger was programmed for towing lol. I am looking forward to pulling it with the Runner just to see how it does.

 

I also tow in S4 only. I have a cooler sitting in a box now for a couple of years. One of these days I need to install it.

 

I've been considering a transmission cooler since I bought the truck. Even though I don't tow heavy or often, I think it would be beneficial for off-roading as well. I really take advantage of the torque converter on steep obstacles. I'm not sure if that's actually hard on it, but I figure it must get warm with so much time spent driving at slow speeds. I should get a scan-gauge to keep track of it.

 

I have a scan gauge and it, plus I am known to be lazy at times, is probably the reasons I have not put the cooler in yet. I have not seen any temps that I needed to be nervous about yet, towing or not.

 

What’s the heaviest thing you tow and what kind of temps will it get up to with that? I tow a 21 ft boat 30 mile round trip just a handful of times a year but still do a tranny drain and fill every 10k with maxlife. Overkill maybe but heat will put an ass woopin on some atf

 

I haven’t towed with my Runner yet, but from past experience with my 2003 Tacoma, various Chevy trucks, and 18 wheelers, it works better to downshift going uphill before the trans wants to do it automatically. First of all, the resulting earlier shift will have result in higher rpm in the lower gear which translates into more horsepower being output by the motor. Often times this can result in being able to hold the grade without having to downshift again. Secondly, with the earlier downshift, the torque converter lockout will stay locked thereby not “wasting” power through the fluid drive of the torque converter (this also lessening transmission fluid heating). You will find that you can pull the hill more effectively.

 

The heaviest I tow is probably about 2500 lbs with the vehicle loaded down with 3 people and gear. The highest heat I saw this summer was about 194 degrees. As mentioned I just keep it in 4S and let the trans work. Max speed 70 mph.

 

I tow a 22 ft travel trailer 3100dry max rated 3900 lbswith a height of 10ft. Average speed 70 mph
I have tow in Drive and let the transmission do the work. It typically finds 4th and stays there. Will shift to 5th if no headwind and down hill grade. Have been times is has gone to 3rd.
I tow mainly in MN. There are some pretty good long grades.

 

You got a cooler or nah

 

Factory setup. No external cooler

 

Nothing says you need to fly up a 10 mile grade at light speed (except maybe one’s ego). It will take about a minute and a half longer to pull a 10 mile long grade at 60 mph (and about three and a half minutes longer at 50 mph) than at 70 mph. Drop a gear, save your Runner, enjoy the scenery, and another tune on the radio.

 

^^^^THIS has become my standard philosophy, especially while towing.

I see way too many idiots towing boats and, worse yet, travel trailers at 80 MPH! If you don't have the patience to tow safely, you shouldn't be towing.

I wish they would enforce a lower speed limit on vehicles that are towing.

 

Man that's one heavy teardrop!!!

 

Yeah, it is!

 

Hi everyone! New here, it's been a while since I last posted in any car forum.

Anyways, I have a 2016 TRD Pro which I love since day one. The wife and I are thinking about buying a 20 ft boat and we will need to tow it around. Its a Robalo R200 which is one heavy 20 footer. Dry weight acording to Robalo is 3000lbs but I believe that is without the T-top, add to that about 455lbs of gas (full tank) and about 900lbs worth of trailer plus a couple of hundred pounds of gear. I would be around 4500lbs more or less.

Question is, would it be ok to use the 4Runner as a tow vehicle for this setup? Just keep it in S4 and add a trans cooler if anything?

The truck has a Toytec 2 inch lift kit with oem Bilstein shocks, oem TRD springs up front and the upgrade Toytec springs that come with the kit out back.

Oh and we live in Miami but will probably be towing all around south/central Florida. Everything here is flat but the highway overpasses...

Any words of wisdom?

 

If your pushing over 80k miles on your Pro, you might want to do a trans fluid exchange, then you won't have to worry about it for quite awhile. A small B&M cooler will definitely help as well. Being in FLA myself I know how hot these highways can get in stop and go traffic jams. With the AC on it's coldest setting, the condenser gets pretty hot and then the trans temps can climb up well over 200*, so a small pusher fan on your cooler for those situations will help. I don't remember the model number but it's 5.5" X 11" B&M with a 5" Derale Pusher fan on a manual switch. I don't like auto switches because if I have battery charging issues, I can keep the fan turned off, but I also have the Torque Pro app set up on a tablet to monitor trans temps, so when they do get way up over 200*, I can shut her down to cool off. Having an auto switch may work better for you. This set up has helped drop my trans temps about 20*. You can also fit a bigger cooler in there with a little bit of work. Pan temps averaging around 200 in this heat is where I like to keep them, but towing a Robalo that heavy might get you up a little higher lol. Keeping it in S4 will help a lot too.

 

The truck only has 36k miles but swapping the ATF is not out of the question.
I come from a track-oriented sports cars background and we use high performance trans and diff fluids on those. Would it be wise to swap it for some sort of high performance fluid with higher temp tolerances? Is there such a thing?

 

I have no experience with any type of aftermarket trans fluid in my 4th or 5th gens. The general consensus is Toyota OEM WS (World Standard) fluid for the A750, and I've not read any claims on the forums to the contrary. People way smarter than me say Toyota has a certain amount of additives formulated into their fluid to be comparable with the bands and internals of their transmissions. At 36k miles I wouldn't worry about it now, that fluid should be like brand new. Wait and do it between 60 and 70k miles. My 12' owners manual calls for 60k mile replacement for severe duty (towing or hard off road use), and I believe that it should be the same interval for yours. Same trans for all the 5th gens. I really swear by an OBD telemetry app for keeping tabs on your temps. It really is nice having real time digital read outs of your pan and torque converter temps, as well as your engine coolant. I've added the battery voltage on my screen to round out the array. Torque Pro is what I use with a tablet, but I'm pretty sure there are other apps or devices out there now. Good Luck and Happy Boating!

 

My Derale tranny cooler works great. Dropped the temps to 25-30 degrees climbing a mountain in 4H. It never saw anything above 189 degrees

 

Yep, that is a good dimension. Wish I had gone w a larger one now. The only draw back is if you drive in sub freezing temps for part of the year. Being too cold can hurt your trans also. Aint worried here in Florida, but its something to consider if your up in the Norte.

 

Exactly too big of a cooler affects the tranny fluid in cold weather