5.7L Transmission Cooler Kits

This thread makes my head spin. So many choices!! Are there any truly to stay away from? I have a '21 and do tow a fair amount of weight from time to time (5k to 9k). Landscape trailer with Tractor/loader/backhoe and lumber/firewood. Any synoptic suggestions are appreciated.

Also what would be a fair expectation for price for someone to do the full install?

 

Just bought a cable and techstream to check for myself.

 

I'm really happy with how my mhx install went and the performance i'm getting since installing. If you're decently handy with a wrench you can do this install yourself. just watch that video the one dude from this forum made and it's pretty easy along with the instructions you get for whichever cooler you decide to go with as the instructions will vary slightly for the cooler part of the install but everything else will be identical to the video. just take your time and double check everything as you go. I just dedicated a whole saturday to it (i also installed the valhalla cat theft plates) the last thing you wanna do is be in a rush to get it done. just wake up early and knock it out because idk about everyone else here but it always takes me twice as long to install anything as what other people say, but i'm a detail freak and go over my work constantly lol.

As far as price i can see this varying from $500 and up. I think this might be best left to someone who you can trust at a toyota dealership since they've probably got people that work there that have either replaced or installed toyota's cooler on a tundra before.

 

Hardest part of the installation was routing the hardlines. Took me about 5 minutes. Everything else is very straight forward. Just take your time drilling through the plastic shroud (so the holes aren't too big).

If I had to do it again, it would take me 1.5 hours start to finish. If you have a good set of tools and you're handy, I suggest saving some coin and doing it yourself.

But if you hire someone to do it, take it to a shop you trust and pay no more than 2-3 hours their shop rate.

 

Yep hardlines gave me the most trouble as well. I also suggest using painters tape to wrap the ends of the hardlines while you're snaking it through so it doesn't get any dirt in it. I had to do this for all hardlines and hoses as well because I had to be extra careful with having the woolwax undercoating, definitely made it take longer, but oh well. one other tip when you're pulling the shroud from the front, you pop out the 6 little pop clips with a screw driver by popping out the round center piece and when you're putting the hose on the hardlines closer to the engine from the cooler, dump a little ATF down each hose and put some on the hardlines and you'll have a much easier time getting them on. it's still tough, but you need to support the hard lines with your other hand so you don't bend them trying to put the hoses on. @doggiecareman

 

Need to install my full mhx kit , my truck is running high Temps from normal around town drives .

 

yep i was getting these kinda temps before installing my mhx kit. 30 minute drive mostly highway with first and last 5 mins hitting a couple lights.

 

Those are normal and IMO perfectly fine. When you get near 250 you should still be fine. I did add a Setrab because I tow a boat often and now consider my transmission protected better keeping it from hitting mid-240s.

 

Normal without a cooler, yes. Perfectly fine, I don't think so. You can't tell me seeing a consistently lower temperature of about 40 deg f day to day won't affect the life of the transmission and any components the fluids come in contact with. It certainly affects the life of the fluid and guys on here who are able to access the techstream info for life of the fluid starting at 50,000 or whatever said with their new cooler installed the same trip that would take 8 or 9 off of the life, now only takes 1.

 

LOL! Whatever. It's an oil, not water.

 

Between painting a MHX cooler and just buying the Setrab, you are better off buying the Setrab. Both of these coolers are complete overkill in terms of cooling capacity, so your limitation will be the thermostat (assuming your remove the pin like you are supposed too). Adding paint, you risk messing with the airflow and heat transfer properties of the cooler, thus potentially reducing it. Why buy a possibly more effective cooler to then reduce the effectiveness?

Back when these kits first came out, one of the first iterations shown on the forum used the Hayden 777HD, which is smaller than the Hayden 778HD that was available for a while. Even the smaller 777HD never had any issues with keeping the temps under control. I believe that post has since been deleted unfortunately. Either kit will provide more than enough cooling for your trans regardless of how hard you run the truck.

Last point, this is the OG trans cooler from Toyota back in 2007. It is nowhere near these aftermarket units in terms of performance. Its a very basic single pass unit.

 

Sorry for the late response, I don't check the forums as often. For a faster response to questions please email me at genuinecoolingsystems@gmail.com. To answer your questions...

1. The Setrab 15-Row kit was tested with the Magnuson and Whipple superchargers. The Whipple SC was the only one that fit because the intercooler did not use a mounting point for the cooler bracket. Is there a SC in mind that you would like to add?
2. When you intall the MHX kit on a Magnuson SC Tundra you will need to add spiral hose protection. I provide high temp spiral hose protection which you will find on a lot of industrial hydraulic lines. All this does is protect against abrasion since the hose will come in contact with the Magnuson intercooler.
3. The MHX cooler can be painted/powder coated. Performance degradation will be there however, it should be negligible if the coat is thin.
4. The MHX cooler does have a higher cooling efficiency rating due to the fact it is a larger cooler. Will it perform better? Well it depends. Since the thermostat opens at around 185-190 degrees both coolers do a great job at maintaining pan temperatures in the 190-205 degree range with light loads. Where the MHX will shine is in high load situations such as towing up a steep grade for long durations. Since it does have a higher cooling efficiency (BTU) the ATF temperatures will be slightly more regulated towards the thermostat opening range (185-190 degrees).

 

Harrop is the only other main vendor that I'm aware of. I think you may have addressed it a few pages back.

 

All good. This is all just wishlisting at the moment, so the delay didn't matter. I appreciate you posting it up, because these were mainly just questions that popped in my mind that I thought might be good info for others.

A SC is a complete pie in the sky idea for me. Personally, I'd go Magnusson, just because Toyota was in on it at one point. Just asking questions in case others could benefit from the info.

 

I'll 2nd this.

I was supposed to send Nic pictures of my intercooler but Hurricane Nicholas balled us up. lost some fence.

I just need to figger out how to snap pictures of the intercooler without taking the damn grill off. I can see it's behind the center support that Nic relocates the horn to.

anybody got pictures of this?

 

Thats my issue. I have an aftermarket grille thats not the easiest to take off. I should ask my installer if they can send me a pic of the installed intercooler.

 

Here are pictures with the Setrab cooler and Harrop supercharger.

 

platinum714 u da man.

 

Looks clean!

 

Thanks Nick,
I liked installing it so much, I helped my friend install one on his truck too!

 

Good test yesterday.

95-97F yesterday. About 3200ft elevation.

I creeped along at 1-4 mph in 1st gear for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Minor technical obstacles that required a small throttle input. Basically like creeping through pasture land.

Highest TC temp seen was 221F. Highest pan temp seen was 200F.

This is important because in 1st gear the TC stays unlocked which drives the heat load way up.

This is important feedback for the folks that do alot of trails.

 

We're you in 4lo or 2wd?

 

Mix of 2wd and 4 hi.

 

You need a Honda Foreman, not a truck, lol.

 

Legitimate question: if travelling at those speeds for an extended period, would it not be easier on the truck to be in 4Lo?

 

If 4wd is needed then 4lo is better for slow speeds, yes. Perfectly fine to run 2wd slowly, but 4hi heats things up pretty quickly.

 

Got mine installed Monday. Local transmission shop charged $480.

I’ve noticed pan temps have gone down from 210-212 driving empty highway speeds to 190-191.

 

Unpinned

 

I’ve had mine installed for 1700 miles and towed a 3800lb dry 5000lb GVWR travel trailer. Mine is unpinned. Driving empty I see 190-195 no matter what. Towing the highest temp I’ve seen is 197 in the pan and 233 on the torque converter climbing from 1500 feet to 4000 feet at 55-60 MPH. On the Interstate going 65 MPH it maintains the same temps as empty. I leave it in D and let the computer manage shifting.

I’m very happy with the MHX-514. After seeing how small and basic the OEM cooler is in the older trucks I suspect the MHX-514 makes a huge difference especially in the overdrive gears.

 

Just another testimonial. Just bought a 2021 SR5 TRD Off Road DC, installed the MHX-514 kit with 800 miles on it. Never towed without the cooler, but I saw temps as high a 216F on a quick 15 minute highway ride to test out the OBD Fusion app to see that I was reading ATF temp. Installed the kit and Towed my 4400# boat to the lake and never saw higher than 190F. Mostly stayed between 180F - 185F. I would watch the TQ hit temps as high as 225F and cool down in seconds to ATF temp after cresting the top of the hill in cruise control. I have the thermostat unpinned to let it do it's job if you are wondering. I couldn't be happier.

The directions were well done, and mixed with the install video on youtube, it couldn't have been any easier.

Not here to debate if you need it or not, (obviously I feel it make sense) but if your on the fence, I'd recommend it. I plan on having this truck for a long time.

Thanks chasenicholas93. Well put together kit.