steel braided oil lines.

[T77911S]

i am upgrading the tranny oil cooler on my daughters f250 7.3 with a 4r100 tranny in it. I am putting in a 26 row cooler from the later trucks.
the current lines are 3/8, the new cooler lines are 1/2.
the current install just has you adapt the 1/2 to 3/8 with rubber hose and clamps.
i may still do this but was thinking of a batter way....to spend more money

I am thinking about having oil lines made that go from the tranny to the cooler.
I THINK the fittings on the tranny are "AN" fittings, maybe 6. I am still investigating this. i also need a 90 at the cooler, maybe a sweeping 90 but then it has to go to 1/2 in hose to go over the cooler fitting and then a hose clamp on it.

how do i know what size and type the fitting is on the tranny side?
should i look at putting in a filter in line with the cooler
there is one of those micro filters on there already.
any suggestions on where to get the lines made


i have not pulled it apart yet to get a better look at all this. i may do that this afternoon.
i will have to get the new cooler in and get a final look at the routing of the lines as there could be a space issue at the cooler where the lines attach.

[Evans, Marv]

There are several Ford truck forums. You should be able to get some info there, since lots of guys have installed the larger 6.0L coolers. I've had one for quite a while I haven't gotten around to installing yet. I sometimes look at this website for simple things, but you might find some info you can use there.
http://www.superdutypsd.com/

[john70t]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

The SS braiding will absolutely eat whatever it is in contact with.
It has to have standoffs etc to keep them suspended and away from everything..

Excellent. Never knew that about SS.

Hoses tend to be pulled tight and rub themselves raw on surrounding parts until they burst under high pressure.
This occurs whenever engine torque twists the whole power train. During every single takeoff from start.
Ya need to leave a little extra curve because motor mounts eventually get soft and engines flex too far out of spec.

But the converse is the hose pinching, from being too long.
Driving a buddy's front loader and the bucket operation was way too jerky.
The return hose was kinking at a pivot point and pump was gasping for fluid.
The solution was a more natural routing of the hose and ziptie an extra layer or two of protective split-open hose section over the weak point to reinforce it.

[whiskyb]

I used the cloth over steel braided lines from the local farm depot. Did it about 100.000kms ago. Also added a spin on trans filter and spin on coolant filter. Dieselstop sells both

[John Rogers]

I agree with looking at the Ford Super Duty forums as they will probably have posts on doing this mod. Several things to consider when doing this are: Do not use hose clamps especially on stainless braided lines as the heat/cool cycles and vibrations will make the lines come loose. When going into or out of the transmission or the cooler use 90 or 45 degree fittings, don't try tp bend the hose as it goes into the fitting as it might come loose. Use plenty of line clamps holding the lines to the body or frame so they do not flop around and if they cross other lines or wire bundles use some "separators" to keep things apart.

I learned these things when making up oil lines for the 914-6 race car and if they are not done right you'll get oil leakage which used to happen several times every year!

[speeder]

I have a 6.0 trans cooler in my 7.3, I'll have to look and see how I did it. I remember the discrepancy in the size of the lines.

I like stainless braided brake lines, (as long as they are DOT legal), but SS is completely unnecessary in this low-pressure application.

[T77911S]

I was trying to come up with a way to have larger lines all the way to the cooler for more oil flow.

I originally thought about barbed fittings at the tranny, will have to look at the tranny side again,.

I dropped the new cooler in yesterday. I don't have the reducers yet. cant believe no one sells a barbed 1/2 to 3/8 adapter.
i also had to get 1/2 hydraulic oil hose because no one sells 1/2 trans oil line.

i may just install one of the inline micro filters and go the easy route for the oil lines for now.

[T77911S]

yea that's what I keep telling my self as I am sure the fittings AT the tranny are small so putting in 1/2 in hose all the way wont really help flow......will it

[speeder]

I bought a barbed, 1/2" to 3/8" fitting online. Brass. Google it, they are out there.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

As long as the ida is same as or larger than the cooler fittings, it will not inhibit flow.
Smarter plumbers then I say "the system is always no bigger than the smallest hole."
IOW it cannot make up for a smaller orifice somewhere in the middle.

Originally Posted by T77911S

yea that's what I keep telling my self as I am sure the fittings AT the tranny are small so putting in 1/2 in hose all the way wont really help flow......will it

And this. Don't worry about it, it flows fine and you can't improve it.

[T77911S]

ordered last week.
just cant believe none local

[whiskyb]

Dieselstop.com is a great place to ask about this. I have been a member since buying my 01 diesel dually. One of their members who posts often is actually a engineer for Ford that helped design that trans. Best info you are going to get.

Great move by the way switching to the 6.0ltr cooler. I pull a 35' fifth wheel and my transmission temp have dropped way down. The original cooler on the 7.3 is a known weak spot

[speeder]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Lets be really real-
If they actually wanted much oil cooling the would have ported something much larger then 3/8.
AS P car people we know oil is not a great cooling agent.

The larger 6.0 trans cooler is effective, though. It's a lot bigger. Guys who have changed them and have trans temp gauge report a 10-15 degree drop towing. That's significant.

[fanaudical]

Steel braided is abrasive as everybody has mentioned. One relatively inexpensive option that is often overlooked is to install HDPE wear guard over either steel braided or even just regular hydraulic hose.

Stuff like this:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#spiral-bundling-wrap/=1c5qqer

[T77911S]

the other reason I was thinking steel braided is to eliminate all the clamps. I will have 10 clamps including the ones on the cooler. was looking to do 1 run and just have clamps on the cooler only and maybe add a screw on oil filter down the road.

she already has the larger oil pan on it so with this cooler she should be good to go.
she pulls a 4 horse trailer.