I went a little different route hooking up my 6.0 trans cooler. I didn't like the idea of two different size hoses and all those worm clamps holding everything together. I also wanted something that could be disconnected fairly reliably and had connections that were at little risk of blowing apart.

I came up with this method of flaring the OE lines, and adapting it to the 1/2 transmission hose with minimal connections.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6842356911/http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6842356911/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cmaldridge/, on Flickr
The three pieces I used to adapt the steel line to the rubber hose

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841489927/http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841489927/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cmaldridge/, on Flickr
Close up of driver side connection and routing from radiator cooler

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841491897/http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841491897/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cmaldridge/, on Flickr
Assembled flare adapter and hose routing for the driver side trans cooler connection.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841493805/http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841493805/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cmaldridge/, on Flickr
Assembled flare adapter and hose passenger side.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841495727/http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmaldridge/6841495727/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/cmaldridge/, on Flickr
I used 1/2 inch hose back to my flare fitting adapter. You can see the trans cooler mounted between the condenser and the intercooler (which is also a 6.0L unit)

 

Looks real nice. Good job and nice pictures Chris.

 

Good job Chris. Thanks for posting.

Chet

 

So, you cut off the factory line, slid the ferrule over it, then flared the line, to make your connections? If so, that's an elegant way to do it.

 

Yep Steve you got it!

 

looks good, nice job

 

Good Job for sure!! Looks good!

 

So I'd just need to get a flare tool, right?

 

Late with the reply because i wasn't subscribed, but yes you need a flare too. It's just a single flare which is plenty strong for cooler line pressure.

 

Is there a problem with your truck, why you all install the trans cooler from a 6.0? I ask because with tunes and now with even a new transmission my mechanic has no want or need for me to have this installed on my 7.3, not even with the oncoming 38r turbo and stage I injectors. He says there is no reason to do this, doesn't have it on any of his hot rod 7.3's (and he's got some seriously stupid fast hot rod 7.3's running stock trans coolers with zero issues) so why is this so the thing the do?

I would think that he'd be trying to protect his transmission and save some money by wanting me to have this bigger cooler but he's adamantly against me having to do this for any reason, and again, he just put my tranny in and told me to run my truck in whatever tunes I want. His thing is if it's broken than fix it, don't cover up the problem.

Just trying to understand this. I'm guessing it's a protective measure..?

 

dont know about where you live but here it is 110* and 89% humidity, on a stock cooler i could get to 225* in 20 miles.
most 7.3 trans run hotter than they should so to prolong there life most put a bigger cooler on them. mine runs 145* and i have never seen over 185* even in town pulling 12000lbs.

 

Yes, protective measure by way of increasing the life of your tranny. The accepted rule of thumb is for every 20 degF (10 degC) you reduce an oil's operating temperature, you DOUBLE it's life. This is true for hydraulic oils, engine oils, transmission fluids, gear oils, etc. The same rule of thumb applies to the transmission itself. Cool the oil temperature 20 degF and you have effectively doubled the life of the hardware inside the tranny.

These accepted rules of thumb go all the way back to basic chemistry rules of thumb which operate on the same principle... for every 18 degF (10 degC) you increase the temperature of a process, you double the speed of the chemical reactions taking place in that process, and vice-versa for decreasing the temperature. The chemical reactions in question for lube oils/fluids is temperature driven viscosity breakdown and oil oxidation, either/both of which reduce an oil's ability to provide protection to mechanical components.

 

I have the Napa Ultra Cool tranny cooler on mine, and yes....it is a HUGE difference when towing. I never see anything over 180* towing the boat in the heat of summer now, and it was under $100 bucks for the entire install...

 

The biggest thing you have to be careful with when you start stacking coolers is not increasing the pressure drop (friction in the oil's flow path) to the point where you begin reducing oil flow rate through the coolers and back to the tranny. That is both bad for the pump and then also allows the oil in the tranny to build up with heat.

Not saying that anyone here has done that... just pointing out the caution for anyone who wants to or is running multiple coolers in series. A parallel configuration avoids this potential, but can also become ineffective at reducing temperature if one of the coolers receives too little flow due to differences in designed pressure drops for the two units being used... won't hurt the oil flow characteristics, but just may not be as helpful as hoped for.

 

Aldridgec, I did the identical thing to mine. Couldn't stand all the reducers, fittings, clamps etc. This makes a nice neat transition from the hose to hard line. Less points to leak and disconnects easily.