[jettech]

If any of the vendors here have one of the upgraded (suncoast,ppe) trans coolers for an 06 LBZ in stock,in your hands give me a yell. They are proving to be very hard to find these days.

 

[jettech]

Talked to Ron from Suncoast today and he said these are at least 2 months out on availability. The older coolers had the lines go straight up to the bottom of the cooler, the 06 and on have the lines go in directly from the front, 90 degrees different from the old ones, and thats the issue. He gave me a tip to try with the stock cooler that he said he had good results with. The way the stock cooler is mounted the lines are at the top of the cooler and the cooler sits behind the bumper area, you can take the cooler and flip it 180 degrees so the lines are at the bottom. This raises the cooler into the more open airflow behind the grill area. You need to fab some new straps to anchor it in place also.

 

[jettech]

Since no one has the upgraded Transmission coolers for the LBZ models and there doesn’t seem to be any availability in the near future per my conversations with numerous vendors, I’ve relocated the stock cooler per a tip I received from Ron over at Suncoast Transmissions. The stock cooler on the LBZ has the lines enter the cooler at the top front corners and the cooler is positioned behind the front bumper area. It relies on airflow through the smaller slots in the bumper for most of its cooling airflow. You can take the cooler off and flip it 180 degrees which will require the manufacture of a couple of easily made brackets to re-secure the cooler. This will place the cooler above the bumper area and in the more open airflow area behind the grill.

Here is a picture with the grill removed with the cooler in the stock location. You can see the cooler lines and upper mounting tabs just barely sticking above the bumper. Also the mirror temp sensor can be seen attached to the cross brace

To remove the cooler slide back the plastic retainers on the 2 lines, they just snap in place.

Carefully remove the retaining clip holding the lines in place. Be careful the clip doesn’t fly away on you

Pull straight out on the lines so you don’t damage the seal which should stay in the cooler.

Release the plastic line support from the hole at the bottom passenger side of the cooler. I didn’t reuse this as the hole it goes into on the cooler will be on top after the cooler is repositioned. I just used some rubber hose as chafe protection and secured the lines with tie straps when I was done.

Remove the 2 bolts from the upper cooler attachment tabs, the cooler will now lift out. There are 2 rubber isolators that are retained in the cooler lower tabs. They sit in 2 holes in the lower frame. This picture shows the cooler flipped upside down so you can see the rubber isolator and the hole it sits in normally

Next you will need to remove the temp sensor for the mirror temp indication that’s mounted on the top of the cross brace. I relocated my temp sensor over to the left headlight area.

Remove the cross brace. The cross brace needs to be moved up slightly higher. The picture shows where the original cross brace was located and the location it needs to be moved to. The left side has an unused threaded insert already in place that I used that is 2 5/16” center to center away from the original location. On the right side you will need to drill and install an insert or use a self tapping fastener if you prefer for easier installation. I used a piece of 1/16” thick 1”x1” approx. 24” long aluminum angle to fabricate a new cross brace and attach in place at the new location.

Now with the cooler flipped 180 degrees so the lines are now at the bottom, remove the rubber isolators. Reattach the lines to the cooler. Place the cooler in position with the tabs resting on top of the new cross brace. Position the cooler left or right to find a spot that provides the least tension on the lines and more importantly aligns the lower mounting tab holes (used to be the upper attachment) with the holes in the lower frame where the rubber isolators used be. Mark the holes for the rubber isolators in the new upper cross brace. Move the cooler out of the way and drill the 2 locations you just marked in the new cross brace to 1/2”. Install the isolators from the top into the cross brace pointing up. Place the cooler onto the rubber isolators.

For the lower attachment I fabricated 2 aluminum brackets that are 2” wide and 2”x3.5”. I bolted the brackets to the lower frame using the holes the rubber isolators used to sit in using 5/16” bolts with large area washers. I used the original hardware to attach the brackets to the cooler mounting tabs.

View of the relocated stock cooler now sitting above the bumper and in more direct cooling airflow. Don’t know how much extra cooling to expect but Ron from Suncoast said he had good results doing it. I had more pics but the software here wouldn't let me post more than 5 so I tried to pick the most valuable ones.

 

[palukie]

Jettech - how long did it take you to do this? I been wanting to see how this was done - Great write up. Where do you live? Do you think it will make a difference? I live in a hot area and tow in the summer where I see my trans temp raise more than I like.

 

[jettech]

Jettech - how long did it take you to do this? I been wanting to see how this was done - Great write up. Where do you live? Do you think it will make a difference? I live in a hot area and tow in the summer where I see my trans temp raise more than I like.

I'm in the Chicago area. My temps never really concerned me locally but last year we went to the Grand Canyon and Hoover dam, there were a few days 110+ and the temps towing were a little more than I was used to seeing and wanted to try and improve it a little if possible. After talking to several vendors and PPE and Suncoast it didn't sound like an upgraded cooler was going to be available anytime soon for this model. As I said earlier, Ron over at Suncoast gave me the heads up that he had done it with good results. So I gave it a try and just wanted to put it out there for others to see and comment on it. I'm not sure what kind of improvement it will produce but in theory (and on Ron's recommendation) I'm expecting some improvement. As for how long, it took me a couple days but that involved trying to figure it out the first time and needing to wait to get to my workplace where I was able to make the brackets. If I had the brackets and angle material in my hands at the start I can't see it taking more than 1-2 hours,it's actually pretty simple to do. I've got some more pics if you want, pm me your email address and I'll send them to you.

 

[DMF]

you should make some more brackets and sell em

 

[Wood]

my lbz came like that. already flipped 180

 

[DMF]

what would be stopping you from, say, getting a large GVW rated cooler from tru-cool or something and doing just as much fab work to mount it to that bracket? probly a dumb question

 

[Wood]

sorry, I was wrong. Cool mod

 

[jettech]

what would be stopping you from, say, getting a large GVW rated cooler from tru-cool or something and doing just as much fab work to mount it to that bracket? probly a dumb question

Nothing really,I looked at their site and they don't list any coolers specifically for the Allison. The one you referred to looks like the ports come out the bottom,90 degrees different than the 06, so you would have to find the required fittings to turn 90 degrees and mate to the stock lines also, because I don't think the line fittings come off the stock cooler. This is just a simple relocation that doesn't really have much if any out of pocket expense depending on your resources.

 

[DMF]

true, I'm interested in and may do this mod for that reason, but was just seeing if there was something making it a huge PITA or costly to go aftermarket

 

[jettech]

I just got back from my first long highway trip since the relocation and I've definately seen some worthwhile improvement considering how easy this was to do. This was NOT towing,just the family and luggage from Chicago to Pittsburgh. Normally I used to see 150-160 degrees trans temp, now with the relocated cooler I'm seeing 135-145. The majority of the time it mostly read 140 degrees. Hopefully the improvement will carry over to the towing temps as well. I also should note that I didn't see any impact on the engine coolant temp as a result of moving the transcooler up and more inline with the radiator.

 

[palukie]

cooler flip

That's great that there was a noticable difference. Since I've moved mine I too have noticed a drop - but the real test will be in a few months in this Az heat. I did notice that one of my tranny lines is starting to leak a little. I don't know if it was from removing the lines or not but I have to check it out on my next day off. It looks like I might be in line to fix these lines.

 

[jettech]

That's great that there was a noticable difference. Since I've moved mine I too have noticed a drop - but the real test will be in a few months in this Az heat. I did notice that one of my tranny lines is starting to leak a little. I don't know if it was from removing the lines or not but I have to check it out on my next day off. It looks like I might be in line to fix these lines.

google "all season diesel performance" look under trans line repair kit. I won't post the link because it doesn't look like he's a site supporter here. Guys name is Tony Burkhart. He's the only person I've seen so far that has a repair kit made up for the leaky lines. I just had all 3 of mine replaced by the dealer,GM covered mine after raising hell. When they leak again I'll probably go with this kit.

here's another option I just stumbled on. Search ebay for user redsautorehab . He has an interesting looking kit that looks good. I know All Season diesel has a good reputation in the diesel forums. The ebay guy seems to have good feedback.

 

[jettech]

I finally got to tow with the cooler in the new "flipped" location. It was pretty much flat terrain, outside air temp was 84 degrees, trans temp never went above 170, most of the time it was 160-165. Result was, I got the temps towing that I used to get unloaded before, I'm very happy with that.

 

[sc3283]

Nice job!!

whats the trailer your towing and whats it weigh?

my 04.5 with stock everything in the stack would go 200 even when towing my hi profile camper with total weight of 18080lbs...even when engine water temps were climbing beyond my liking.....
In less than a week...the 1st long distance trip with my new aux radiator and will get to see how it does and how it effects ATF temps (if any) when towing

 

[jmaz268]

Mike L makes an upgraded tranny cooler kit....I'd talk to him about it.

 

[tomale]

aren't the cooler lines low pressure? couldn't you just use some brass ferrel fittings on the metal lines and a few npt fittings with some stratoflex? I would think 30 minutes at a hose supply store (stuart hose and supply is local to me) would be easy to make any cooler fit and work reliably.

 

[CAGLE DURAMAX]

subscribed

 

[Randy_S]

Nice writeup, thanks. Can anyone tell me what the small cooler that is mounted at the front of the gas tank and is hard wired to what I think is the tranny? They are hard lines.