I received a transmission bypass filter kit from Dieselsite. The instructions are to mount it on the outside of the frame. The question is, can I mount it sideways or at a 45* angle so that it is a little less exposed?

 

I'm sure if you email them, they would tell you. I had one, I mounted vertical....up pretty high though. But yes, it's exposed.

 

Check out springerpop f350.... Cloned his setup with a DIY and used the bumper bracket bolts. Sits perfect, tucked away high but easy to service

 

Careful about putting things in the wheel wells. If you throw a tread on a tire, and that tread whips around bang bang bang bang with every rotation of the wheel as you slow down to ease to the side of the road while maintaining control to a very squirrelly vehicle (rather than panic stopping in the middle of the freeway)... a lot of damage to the truck can be done in the wheel well area.

Ask me how I know. Damaged fender, running board, bumper, air dam (yes, and completely wiped away my "Dam, Double Dam" addition for fuel economy as detailed in a thread by the same name), and... damaged the very bumper bracket that Marv may have used to attach his transmission filter. Just sayin...

I've suffered three blow outs on the front axle over the last 16 years, on stock tires, stock wheels, and stock suspension, while under the GAWR and GVWR of my F-550, when travelling under the speed limit. All three of the blow outs were on the General LMT400 and LMT460 series of tire, which used to be OEM issue, but were subsequently discontinued, not just by Ford, but from being manufactured period. Ford replaced those tires with the Continental HSR and HDR series, but not before my welts were received, along with thousands of other chassis cab owners, some of whose fenders I notice are a different color than the rest of their trucks.

Granted, the tires of pickup truck owners do not have the same sordid and storied past that mine had... but at least learn from my experience when it comes to mounting equipment like transmission, coolant, and bypass oil filters in the wheel well area that potentially could be exposed to a furious beating with a black rotating steel belted road alligator tail. What could be just sheet metal damage might turn into a sudden loss of fluid, that punctuates an already bad blow out with a ruined transmission.

 

I've had Goodyears throw tread before. Not a pretty sight.
My truck sits pretty high and I know the filters can actually take their share of abuse, all that wouldn't mean much as I watched a stream of tranny fluid running down the pavement. There's always that one thing that escapes our line of thinking.
I had the same thought as Springerpop, that is using a Simpson foundation anchor as a mounting plate. Maybe I can use other Simpson hardware to box the filter in and give it additional protection.
Dieselsite's instructions are to mount the filter to the outside of the frame, on the passenger side of the transmission. Using the Simpson flat foundation anchor, I could mount the filter up higher on the frame and it would also save me from drilling an additional bolt hole in my frame. This would save the filter from hanging below the frame. The lines go up and above the exhaust heat shield, so they're pretty well protected. It's just the hanging filter that concerns me.

 

I used SpringerPop's write up as a guide for locating my filter. Thanks, Marv! It is tucked up close to the frame and protected by the bumper brace. It looks pretty close, but the filter is still easily maneuvered out from behind it. I used 2 different sized fittings to act as one of my adapters for installing the 6.0 trans cooler hoses.

 

Thanks for the photos Roland. That filter looks very tidily tucked away up in there.

The triangular looking bracket (1C34-17B749-AB) in front of your external filter was one of the items that got beat on by my flapping tread... and my bumper extends 5 inches further forward than the stock bumper position due to the hidden winch mount.

On some models (2004-2007), Ford mounts an external transmission filter to the inside of the passenger side frame rail, in between the front end accessory drive and the heat exchanger stack. There is a nice pocket of room in there for a filter, and the transmission cooling lines both to and from the coolers are already conveniently plumbed directly to that area.

The same general transmission plumbing path exists for the 99-03, and the same space on the inside of the forward boxed portion of the passenger side frame rail is available on the 99-03 as well. Might as well take advantage of it, as it is out of the wheel well and tire tread trajectory.


I added a bash plate for further protection, but it wasn't unnecessary.

 

Mine don't doesn't have that cross brace, but maybe because it's 2wd. However, with mine being way up in there, can't see how the tread can hit I with the fender hanging below it Say something about this photo
Say something about this photo

 

Goodyear tires are junk.


Any canister type filter works best in the vertical position because any bigger particles will settle to the bottom. The element should stop these particles from being circulated (it is its job after all) but if the particles are close to the element and continually are hammering the element from flow they can "break threw" or work their way threw the element. If they are allowed to settle on the bottom they normally aren't in much fluid turbulence so they stay settled instead of working on the element.

 

Early 99's and 99.5's didn't have that triangular brace, even in 4WD. Now that I think about it, my 2000 4WD didn't come with it either. I gave my original bumper away and obtained a spare 2003 bumper, which had the triangular brace, which I assume was incorporated beginning in 2001.


My tire flap reached all the way back to the running board, in the middle of the driver's door, and bent the steel backing plate for the running board. The tire tread reached forward enough to not only bend the triangular brace, but also bend the bumper flange itself. It literally ripped a hole open in the fender... I'm not talking about the plastic part, I'm talking about the sheetmetal.

 

 

Added pictures to my last post to show mounting position.
Found a 1' x 1' square piece of 16 gauge stainless at Home Depot for a mount. Drilled it out to fit over the mounting bolts for the transmission support cross member. Then used a second nut on these bolts. I used 3 washers behind the filter head for a temporary spacer so the filter would clear the cross member bolts. Leaving space to get a filter wrench in, I bent the bottom of my mount so that it was underneath the filter.

This allowed me to raise the filter a couple of inches so that it was above the bottom of the frame and save me from drilling into the frame to mount it.

Next I'll fashion some sort of cover to attach to the mount or maybe just a piece of angle on the front of the mount. The tranny lines will go up and above the heat shield, so they won't be exposed. I will replace the temporary spacers with a t strap for added reinforcement. I will also stick a piece of rubber behind the filter as added insurance that it doesn't rub on the cross member bolts. I need to bend over the top of the mount so there are no sharp edges for the lines to rub on.
Total cost about $20 plus the filter kit.

 

Who would have ever thought that HD would carry stainless plate stock? When I need stainless stock, I generally order from Metals Depot online.

 

They don't have much and 16 ga. is as thick as it gets, so it's not very stiff, but in this application it should be fine.

 

All I've ever seen in our local HD's is aluminum, carbon steel, some galvanized, and occasionally some brass rod.