Transmission Cooler

Glad to be a new member. I recently purchased a 2017 SR5 Premium. I will be towing a 3,500 lb bass boat. That weight is with full gas tank and all gear. Trailer has surge brakes. Twice a year I will be towing about 5 hours 1 way, otherwise mainly local trips. My question, is it necessary to add an external transmission cooler or is the one they supply next to the radiator sufficient?

 

Sorry no towing experience first hand other seeing my bud towing camper.
I wonder if it help for our experienced folks to advice you if you have a scale slip to see what exact weight (boat with gas + gear + trailer weight) you have?

 

I'd install one. Here's one writeup:

 

I'd definitely consider it. I had one on my Tacoma for towing the family camper and the transmission temps stayed healthy even on long uphill grades. You might think about getting a ScanGauge or UltraGauge so you have visibility into your trans temps, then decide based on that.

 

If you are going up hills/mountains might be worth looking into. I have a 18ft Crestliner aluminum boat (all in weight is just shy of 3,000 lbs) and I towed it with a 4.0 Liter V6 90's Explorer without issue for years. My plan is to do the same with the 4Runner. My trips though are 60 miles each way to the lake on flat land.

 

If you use an iPhone and have a Carista dongle get the app Car Scanner OBDII and monitor your transmission temps on a test run. Then decide if you need an additional cooler. There are other apps and OBDII apps that will work also. As well as a Scan-gauge as mentioned above.

 

I used to do some towing with my 15 Tacoma, and I replaced the factory cooler with a B&M Supercooler. Pretty easy to do. Never had any issues.