Re: [VAC] transmission coolers-

["terry tyler" <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Mike,
Yes - transmission coolers are only used in automatic transmissions.
But, your suspicion that you don't need to "sweat it out" about your
manual transmission getting too warm, isn't true.

Example: In a previous life during 1950s when I knew everything
and no one could tell me anything, we towed a 35' Spartan house 
trailer from Norfolk, Virginia to Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

Our tow vehicle was a 1952 Plymouth 4 door sedan with a 6 cylinder
engine and a manual transmission. I had inserted coils springs 
over the rear leaf springs to cope with the 1,000 pounds hitch
weight that the equalizing hitch (it was called something else)
had to distribute onto all four wheels. 

As long as I used 2nd gear most of the time, I could sustain 
forward momentum up most rises in the highway. When it came to 
small hills, I quickly learned to make a run at them. 

The reason for telling you about this experience is each
hill required a half hour wait along side the road while the 
clutch cooled down. There was never any question about what 
was required.

The clutch plate would get hot, it would begin to slip and 
the choice was to pull off and ease into a safe place to 
park or don't pull off and don't have a safe place to park.
The car would stop all forward movement within a minute or 
two of when the clutch began slipping.

We never heated up because the speed seldom reached 45 mph
and we stopped often to let the clutch cool down, sometimes
every half hour.  

Maybe manual transmissions are different today. Fifty years 
have passed and changes may have occurred. 

Mike, the engine in your truck may have to work very 
hard. You may want to make sure the cores in your 
radiator are not clogged. That's easy to do. Just siphon 
off some coolant until you can see the tops of each core.
Then, look in and see if they are crusted or wide open. 

If crusty, go to a radiator shop, tell them what you 
are planning and ask for an opinion or estimate. 

Terry