Tranny cooler question for my ‘21 TRD 5.7

Would a similar year, 2021, Lexus, tranny oil cooler be a direct bolt in for my ‘21? Obviously I’d need to either fab lines, or pick up a set of oem’s, I’m just curious if the cooler will physically bolt right in without having to fabricate and brackets. Thanks guys.

 

What application was the Lexus cooler designed for? I would err on the side of larger is better if you’re installing it in a truck that will be doing heavy towing or hauling. Any aftermarket radiator up front will work if you fab up a bracket to hold it secure. I doubt the Lexus cooler’s mounts (assuming for an LX570?) will bolt right into behind the grille of the Tundra.

The important part is to order the thermostat and hardlines from a 2018 Tundra. Aside from that, you only need hoses, clamps, radiator, and mounting bracket. Your truck has a thermostat-shaped plate to block the ports for the external cooler system where the 2018 OEM parts will bolt right in.

 

@Terndrerrr yes, a 570 , great. Thanks for the info.

 

Have you looked at https://genuinecoolingsystems.com/ ? it is mostly OEM parts.

 

Good am Salty. As a reference for photos only. I’m way too thrifty to spend that kind of scratch when I can do it myself for a half $$ or better, more likely. Thanks though.

 

This is what I’m going to install someday. Sure it’s more money than piecing together one but it’s all in one box for the entire job.

 

I hear you. Prices certainly have gone up since I purchased the kit. Great kit though.

 

I recently asked the same question about a OEM cooler. I ended up piecing together a kit.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/transmission-cooler-bracket.136129/

 

Their kit with 15-row trans cooler is blocking half the radiator, how is that any good? the original trans cooler from toyota didn’t interfere with airflow to radiator like this one does?

 

I have the 15-row, it’s not exactly half the radiator, I believe the 25-row is closer to that. Regardless, I tow all the time and have had zero issues with the coolant temperature or A/C condenser being affected.

 

Given the distance from the backside of the cooler to the condenser I don’t think it’s an issue as there is a few inches. This creates plenty of air gap. Finding a good spot to mount the cooler where it gets decent airflow is pretty much always going to be competing for the same area as condenser and radiator.

 

Yeah he was selling those kits for like 800$ now they are like 1300

 

I have an OEM LC200/570 trans cooler that might be finding a home on my 2011. It probably won’t bolt in to any existing mounting points, but I’ll take a closer look asap. Unsure if the 2.5 radiator support is different enough to matter. The cooler is similar in size to the 2007 - 2010 side mounted Tundra trans cooler, which probably has a higher likelihood of fitting up. The side mount is better in that it doesn’t preheat any air prior to the ac condenser or radiator. The downside is that low speed driving doesn’t provide enough cooling air under higher loads. A small fan can solve that, along with other things.

 

I ended up piecing together my own kit and getting a bracket plasma cut on my own. I saved a good amount of money. I’ll have to go back one day and add up what I spent.

 

Curious to see in the next 10 years if there is any data that supports adding or not adding a transmission cooler and how it affected the 19-2021 Tundras.

I did add a GCS system because I have towing plans in the future for this truck, but got a great deal at $900 for the full kit (new) from someone who sold their truck before install and didn't need it anymore. Lucky on my end and win-win for us both. ~$1000 would be a good price point for this kit to sell more and I'm sure there is a reason they are at that price; kits convenance, customer service, high quality parts.

 

Guess what? With ATF/coolant heat exchanger still in place, extra transmisison cooler cools the coolant as well

 

There’s a lot of high mileage tundras from those years starting to apppear on car sites. Over 200k miles. Obviously hard to know how many have the cooler

 

They will die quicker, but not quick enough for most of the owners. Also lesser parts can be reused for rebuild. A properly designed and well cooled transmission usually wears out mostly frictions and steel, as well as valve body. So a regular $500 overhaul kit + new valve body is usually all is needed.

Also it depends a lot on how they've been used. I monitor ATF temps in wife's 22 Sequoia, which is the same engine/transmission and about the same weight (Sequoia is heavier out of assembly line, but my Toyota is offroad modded) and no cooler, however her temps were always consistently lower. Even on a hot day crossing a mountain range with the whole family and camping gear in wind-picking roof basket. Down to a point it would not worry me at all. Go figure.

 

For bad transmissions you actually need to look at lower miles ones. On highway it locks the torque converter and does not general much heat at all, plus favorable air cooling conditions. Traffic lights is what kills the transmission.

 

I'd say, monitor your ATF temp, both pan and torque converter ones, and see if they regularly go above 210-220. Mine was above 250 regularly on a freeway and I knew it needs one. ATF turned brown after only 20k, it was a huge sign the cooler is needed.

Also keep changing your ATF. Even if it still looks pink it does not mean it has proper amounts of additives, which are crucial for a proper frictions wear. Cheap and simple drain & fill every 20-30k or every year or two will prolong the transmission life a few times.

 

When I had to replace my '08 tundra trans cooler (trauma), I searched for a used OEM unit from a tundra. All were $300.

Found out the Sequoia uses the same one. Found one for $110.

I will be sourcing the cooler parts for my '21 tundra soon.

 

True, but there's likely high mileage specimens that towed frequently too. That's where it gets more interesting. Lots of data would need to be collected and analyzed, not likely to happen.

 

That's a great idea! Source a used thermostat and hard lines. Flush them well and GTG. I would roll with a new heat exchanger though as you don't want to take any chances of foreign debris being introduced to a good tranny. Just my .02

 

No doubt, very satisfied I added a cooler to my 2021. A piece originally added when the motor was designed and in every other Tundra, excluding 2019-2021, the expense was justified as it likely should have never been removed, IMO. Just unfortunate I had to take the hit vs. toyota, but then again I could've kept my 2018, my dumb fault lol. Maybe the engineers were like, "these trucks last too long, profits are down" <- jokes obviously, I don't think that's toyota's business model.

 

Definitely cheaper to warranty a few transmissions vs. a few hundred bucks for every truck produced. Shareholders like!

 

Correction: Toyota Corp and shareholders, not engineers.

I'll agree with that.

 

I think they saw how long people tend to hold onto their Tundras and thought, “we can remove this and be ok. Nothing will happen within warranty anyway except in very rare cases.”

Toyota is the master of omitting items during a mid-gen refresh (look at the 2.5 gen interior storage and grab handle omission) or system redesign (in this case the AC) to quickly recoup their R&D, tooling, and whatever other costs are incurred for these updates.

 

Yes.

I'd actually pay a few grands more to have a 2.5 gen Tundra interior in wife's 2 gen Sequoia Storage in door handles... Sure, I opened it once accidentally, thought "WTF is it for?", closed and never opened again I already paid $3xx for the armrest rework to have a charging pad for the phone. Grab handle for the Tundra for sure was easier and much cheaper.

 

Since you brought up the grab handle, I saw crash testing was done and results were better without it because it was contacting the dummy's head during the test. Just thought I'd share that tidbit. My gripe is the change to the fixed rear seats in the Crewmax. Probably saved a bunch on that one too! Gonna look at a swap one day.

 

This is the original design of the system from the LC200. Most markets did not receive the thermostat or transmission mounted heater, that was a USA increase in efficiency part, though benefits are obvious for colder climates. Note the heat exchanger tank in the lower radiator, then the oil to air heat exchanger. Set up in this manner, low and high speed cooling requirements were covered.. pretty standard. Can improvements be made to this? Sure. Mounting the transmission cooler in front of other heat exchangers is just not desirable, even when spaced forward, it’s preheating a good chunk of air that headed for what is probably the most exposed (to cooling air stream) and thus efficient part of the condenser and radiator. My recollection is that the second half of any core does roughly 1/4 the work of the of the first half. Let that sink in, no pun intended.